I Apologize and I'm Sick at Heart - What a Disappointment!

I offer my apologies to Ukraine. With it almost a certainty that Trump will be in the White House for another four years (and how our nation will ever survive that is a good question), our support for Ukraine will bite the dust. Our promises will drift in the wind, our funding will disappear. Trump has made no secret that he'll pull out of the war in Ukraine. His "buddy" Putin will be delighted. He'll have an open road to Kiev. I'm absolutely sick at heart. 

I'm sick at heart. I haven't been this depressed over 
an election in my entire life. I really hope we make 
it through the next few years without a world war. 

I've lived through Nixon, through the Kennedy assassination, through election after election, and the nation has somehow survived all of the variety of Presidents we've elected. I have to hope that this will also be the case now. But Trump reminds me all too much of Hitler, and we all know what Hitler managed to do before he finally took his own life. We're in for a very bumpy ride, people. We're going to be maneuvering our way through the asteroid belt by the seat of our pants. I only hope we still have a democracy in four years because this will be challenging. 

I'm sick at heart. I'm quite sure I'm far from the only 
person who is looking at our immediate future with 
a bit of fear. I really HATE living in "interesting times". 

That's about all I can say right now, except that I'm very grateful I'm old. No matter what happens, I won't have to experience it for more than about 20 more years - 30 at the most. That's probably better numbers than most of my readership. Sometimes being old is a very good thing. Have an excellent Wednesday, I'm off to the swimming pool. Slava Ukraini. 

Tossing Around the Yiddish Because English Just Doesn't Cut It

I had a wonderful run ... yesterday morning. However, for the remainder of the day I was walking in pain from a pulled muscle in my upper thigh, something that had happened within the last five minutes or so on the treadmill yesterday. So, with the wisdom that hindsight brings, I've decided that I overdid it a bit yesterday, and also that I needed to give myself an additional amount of time to recover from this before going back to the equipment. So, I skipped today's run, and I'll be back on the treadmill on Monday. Of course, DH wants me to show him how to operate the machine tomorrow, so maybe I'll get a short workout on Sunday while demonstrating various things to him. Either way, however, today is a "rest" day instead. 

No treadmill today. My muscles are not very 
happy with me - I overdid it yesterday and all 
day I was in some serious hurt. I'll give myself 
until Monday to recover and should be fine to 
go by then. 

I survived the most recent LJ Idol round, and am entering the next one with the stories due on Thursday. Our topic this time is a quote from Thelonious Monk: "A genius is the one most like himself". It's leaving me a bit "bershpucked" (not sure of the Yiddish spelling, but the word is the right one for this event). I have things running through my brain, but will they be strong themes enough to survive writing and read-through? After all, for the previous post I wrote and discarded more than four tries before starting the acrostic out of desperation in my prayer. 

I'm completely "berspukled" by the latest 
topic for LJ Idol. I can tell I'm confused because 
I don't slip into Yiddish very often. But, as I 
was going through the Yiddish dictionary to see 
if I even remembered the word properly, I was 
quite amazed by how much Yiddish I actually 
know. Guess Mom raised me right - LOL. 

The Wild (hockey team) succeeded in their game against Tampa Bay last night. They were wearing their "Reverse Retro" alternate jerseys which confused me because it was North Stars colors but with the Wild logo. Very pretty. I still have an official North Stars jersey in my closet. It's not specific to any player, just a generic official one. But I still love it and I miss those colors. It was really nice to see them on the ice in Minnesota once again. I happily wear my current MN Wild jerseys too, though, especially my Kaprisov one given to me by a cherished online friend who also enjoys hockey. 

While watching the hockey game last night (we won - 
Yippee), I was initially confused by the uniform colors 
the players were wearing. These were MN North Stars 
colors, not MN Wild colors. Looking it up, it's called 
a "Reverse Retro" jersey, one of several specialty 
jerseys the team is authorized to wear for games. 
It was rather nice to see the green and gold back 
out on the ice again. 

Tuesday is Election Day where the challenge for the Presidency will enter the next phase. I guarantee if Trump isn't elected, he'll start legal crap, and people will be up in arms. Then again, if Harris doesn't win, the same thing might happen except I doubt she'll be crass enough to buy judges and influence outcomes. Either way, it's bound to be interesting, and I'm sure all of you remember that old Chinese curse ... "May you live in interesting times". ACK! 

There's something to be said about NOT living in 
interesting times. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending 
upon your viewpoint) interesting times are exactly 
where we are living right now. We're on a knife's edge 
and this election is more important than a LOT of 
elections in our past. 

So, I'm off for another day at the shop and some mulling over of directions I might take the current LJ Idol topic. I usually start and toss several story lines before settling into something I feel worth sharing with the group. The group is shrinking quickly, and for the first time ever, I'm in the final ten. It's mind-blowing and rather frightening in some respects, but I'm delighted to be among this group. I know if several people hadn't withdrawn (one in particular), I might not have survived this long. So, I'm off to the shop, then on to my truncated weekend, and finally marching into next week with a bit of trepidation. I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend and Slava Ukraini. 

Pushing Boundaries and Voting - LJ Idol and Presidential

I had a wonderful run this morning, a good 15-minute mile pace with a 4 elevation. Made me happy, and made my right hip sore by the end of my 45 minutes. *sigh* I'll be walking a bit slower today and I'm quite sure I'll twinge now and again reminding me that I overdid it a little bit. But, to get anywhere, you have to push boundaries. That's true on the treadmill, in the swimming pool, and in life. I'm sure I'll be fine by the time I'm back on the treadmill tomorrow morning. 

After my main 30 minute run, I started a second run, this 
time through the northern mountains of Italy. Lots of 
fun tunnels and narrow roadways. 

It's a "day off" for me today, and I have bills to pay, "Ogre Juice" (alkagizers) to make for the coming week, and a desk full of paperwork that has to be taken care of. Oh joy! LOL We had a quiet Halloween, as I had anticipated. We didn't have any goblins or ghouls come to the door, and were able to settle down and watch "Miss Marple" without interruption. So much fun! 

I need to get a batch of Alkagizers made today, but that's 
all of the kitchen work I need to do. I did find a new soup 
recipe I want to try, but not for another week or so. I'm 
totally stocked because I cooked ahead for Chickie's 
jury duty schedule. 

Because we had anticipated a possible two weeks of jury duty for Chickie, my refrigerator is full of lovely soups and stews, so I don't even need to do any cooking today. It's a day of luxury. So unexpected, and very welcome. 

I'm so sorry, but I think hand-made holiday cards will 
be impossible for me this year. I will take a serious 
hunt to find the nicest fun cards I can for all of you, 
my dear friends, and hope you can forgive me. 

I've come to the conclusion that hand-made holiday cards will be impossible for me this year. That causes me sorrow - I adore making my cards for all of you. But here it is November, and when I'm making cards, I usually start them in the summer months. Time simply hasn't been there this year. So I'm going to start a hunt to find something commercial, but incredible for all of my friends. I can't spend a total fortune, after all, I just bought a treadmill for several thousand dollars. But, I'm sure I can find something I'll be happy to send, and I hope all of you will understand that sometimes (rarely) life simply gets in the way. This will be one of those rare times. 

I'm delighted that I live to write again. I don't think I've 
ever made it this long/far in LJ Idol in the past, and 
I'm totally thrilled. I couldn't have gotten this far without 
all of your votes, and I hope that you will continue 
reading and voting for as long as I can participate. 
New prompt will be released later today. 

So I'm going to wrap this up and get moving again. Thank you to all of you who voted for my Prayer this time around. I'm honored that you thought enough of my thoughts to put in your vote. I didn't win, but I certainly didn't lose either. Instead, Xeena won with a VERY well deserved win for a beautiful composition, and we have a write-off between two others for who gets "kicked off the island" this week. The new prompt will be posted later today. I'll have to make sure to check in and find out what malicious idea our moderator has in his head this time - LOL. 

No matter who you vote for (or have already voted for), 
someone else will have a different opinion and will have 
voted the opposite. It's called democracy, and it actually 
works, despite the stumbles. Someone will be happy, 
someone else will not be. But, we need to keep the 
anger out of it. Be disappointed, but don't be angry. 
It's the way democracy works - someone wins and 
someone loses. 

Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the week. Please be kind to people - emotions are running a bit high right now with the election only a few days away. No matter who wins, someone will be happy and someone else will be disappointed - even angered. I'm looking ahead to Thanksgiving, by which time I hope all of the pent-up emotions will be laid to rest with the roasting of a very large bird. Enjoy your day - Slava Ukraini. 

May You Live in Interesting Times - Can We Go Back to Boring?

So I declare the new dehydrator a success, but I really don't want to sell or donate the tabletop grill. I did a bit of research and they're reselling for $125 and up, so it's got some value, and I had really enjoyed it when I had a good kitchen in which to use it. So I've decided that I'll wrap it up well, and put it into the downstairs storage room. It'll be out of the way, but if I ever decide I want it, or I want to post it and sell it (which is a distinct possibility), I'll have it available to box and ship. 

I always loved this little tabletop rotisserie. It did 
a great job on Cornish Game Hens, and it grilled 
steaks well also. But it could be a hazard if it wasn't 
in a good location, and I really don't have a good spot 
for it in my current kitchen. 

Sunday was relaxing - not because we had planned it that way. Mother Nature stepped in and gave us torrential thunderstorms in the morning, enough clearing in the early afternoon to harvest and look at the garden, and then more weather in the evening. It was not one of those days to enjoy sitting in the back yard, so we played computer games, watched the kerfluffle about Biden's pulling out of the presidential race in favor of Kamala Harris, and listened to DH complain that it should have been a more open choice. Me? I seriously love Kamala, and she's strong enough to face off against Trump. Some people will be stupid and not vote for her because she's a woman, but those of us who actually open our eyes know that females are the stronger species. You don't want to anger a male lion, but you REALLY don't want to anger a female lion with cubs. Nope ... not going there at ALL. LOL

I like Biden a lot, but he's rather like I'm becoming - a 
bit forgetful. It's frustrating because I grasp for a word 
and I'm just not finding it (rarely, but it does happen). 
I know both Biden and Trump have this issue now 
and again, but with Biden it's becoming very obvious 
that he's just a bit off his game. Time to allow yourself 
to rest, Joe. You've done a great job. Let Kamala take 
it into the next session. 

So as if there hadn't been enough DRAMA in this year's elections, we have one more thing to add to the slurry. What a crazy year. It's not exactly the way I pictured getting a woman in the White House, but if this is the way the Fates have decreed, I'm all in. 

Is the USA ready for a female, non-white person to be 
in the White House and help govern this nation? Why the 
hell not! Kamala is well spoken, highly educated, smart 
and unafraid to speak her mind if necessary. Other nations 
seem to have survived females in their top government 
over the years, I'm quite sure the USA would also survive 
four or eight years of Kamala. 

I want to review my current story for LJ Idol before posting it. I hope it will be well received. Thanks to all of you who voted for my previous story, I was one of two tied for second place last session, and that's amazing and only due to all of you, my online friends near and far, who were kind enough to vote for me. I'm hoping my next story will also appeal. We'll find out. I'll do a final read-through while at work today, and hopefully get it posted no later than tonight. I'll put links into tomorrow's post so that all can look and read, and when the voting is open, I'll spread the word. 

I'm never happy when the old Chinese curse of "May you live 
in interesting times" actually comes true, but we're living 
the dream now! Oy! LOL

So ... that Chinese curse is coming true for us. We are living in "interesting" times. Damn it all! LOL Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow for my first swimming day of the week. Slava Ukraini. 

A Storm is Coming - Are You Ready?

As soon as I get into the shop and type a shipping label for the Federal tax forms, I'm done with that task. It's been the usual nightmare, but we pulled through. This is all of the end-of-year payroll numbers and forms that have to go to the government as well as the individual forms for each employee so that they can file their own income tax returns whenever they get around to ti. So they're rather important, and there's a time deadline of the end of the month according to Federal law. 

There are so many taxes to be dealing with, and payroll 
taxes are just one type. However, it's an important one, 
and can't be messed up, so we double and triple check 
everything. 

I haven't listened to the news today, nor have I paid attention to my phone for anything more than my daily morning meditation and routine, so I don't know for sure. But, I make an assumption that Trump won in the New Hampshire primary last night. I'm resigned to four more years of this geriatric blow-hard, but the thing that worries me is that he sees himself more as a Dictator than as a President. In that case, he might try and emulate Putin to become the "Great Leader for Life" - an essence totally opposed in any democracy. It's worrisome, but there's nothing that I as one individual vote can do about it. 

I never had any great desire to live in "interesting" times. I 
wanted to float below the radar and just live my life to 
the best of my ability, creating small ripples in a very large 
pond. But, despite my best intentions, I am living in VERY 
interesting times, and am finding it very uncomfortable. 

So, that old Chinese curse of  "May you live in interesting times" may well be coming true in the USA over the next few years, and I'll be missing my peace and tranquility. The only question is how will DH and I be doing in four years - well, five years actually?  We'll be in our 70's, and DH doesn't do well with change. He's a Republican, but despises Trump and refuses to vote for him (thank goodness). 

All I ever wanted was to live in peace and 
tranquility. Instead, I've lived in a world of 
war and war and more war, and now we're 
one small step away from fighting in the 
streets. I'm grateful I was adamant about not 
having children. I wouldn't want kids of mine 
born into this world. 

The people I feel sorriest for are the younger people in my country. They'll have to live through this upheaval, and it may well turn out to be the crux of the US Revolution or the US equivalent of Hitler's rise to power. It could be VERY bad, yeah. VERY bad indeed. Between all of those headaches, we're also focused on getting the store closed. We're not in total agreement about how to accomplish that either. It's going to be a VERY interesting year in many ways, and I think I'll be glad to see the end of it when we get to December 31st. 

May we all have our own peace amid the storm that 
is coming. 

However, today I'm off to the pool. I need to work out some of this angst in some serious laps. Have an excellent day. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Did The Election Accomplish Anything? Not Much, To Be Truthful

So, it's looking like my state remains Democrat for the Senate (we're not up for election in that race again until 2024) but went Republican for the House of Representatives. That's unusual for us - we're usually a highly Democratic state. But it's been a year where everyone's healing wounds have been scratched open time and time again, never to truly heal. 

Right now, politics in this nation is rather like 
scratching an open wound. It re-infects the wound 
and stall the healing action. What we need more 
than anything in this country right now is 
healing, and instead, we're pulling more and more 
apart from each other. 

It's looking like Herschel Walker didn't win in Georgia (Hallelujah), and Fetterman pulled out Pennsylvania for the win (also, Hallelujah). We'll still have a Senate split almost straight down the middle with 50 senators Democratic and 50 senators Republican. The House of Representatives, however, has gained a little bit more Republican representation. If that blowhard with the bad hair job declares another run for the Presidency next week, as expected, I'm going to be living in "interesting times", something I NEVER wanted to be involved in. *sigh*

Although it's not final yet, the Senate looks as though 
it will have a 50/50 split between the Democrats 
and the Republicans. That means, in essence, we won't 
get anything of any import done in the National 
Congress for this term. We're at a deadlock in 
this country - not a lot of middle ground at all. 
It's a serious problem. 

DH said he would have voted Republican for our Governor's race if Trump hadn't "endorsed" the Republican candidate (unasked for). He hates Trump, and simply couldn't bring himself to vote for anyone the bubble-headed idiot endorsed. Thus, he voted Democratic for Governor, and Walz won, in a tight race with less than 200,000 votes between the two candidates. This was a nailbiter election, and I'm glad to see it over (at least, almost over since final results nationwide still need to be posted). 

I'm breathing a sigh of relief on my Governor's race. I 
like Tim Walz, he's been a good Governor. I didn't like 
the platform of Scott Jensen, and I'm relieved that others 
felt the same. Looking at the state, it's again the urban 
areas that went Democrat, with the rural areas staying 
firmly Republican. No real surprises there. The Presidential 
election in 2024 should be VERY interesting though. Biden 
is going to have a VERY tough time of it. 

I phoned my Orthodontist late last night and left a message. One of the brackets has separated from the tooth it was glued onto, and will need to be re-set into the correct position. I assume they'll phone me back tonight and hopefully they can get me in early on Friday morning to get that taken care of. It's on one of my back teeth, and on the upper jaw, so not as crucial as the brackets on my lower front teeth. Still, it's a bit annoying. It's not scraping my cheek or gums, but I hear that slight metal "twang" when it slides or rotates, and that's a bit grating. Not the end of the world, but yeah - annoying. 

One of the brackets on my upper back molars detached from 
the tooth yesterday afternoon. I suspect it was a glue issue, 
and that it will be an easy fix, but since my next scheduled 
appointment isn't until January, I thought I'd better phone 
the office and see if they can slot me in for a quick 
repair. Hopefully they can do that on Friday morning. 

So, I'm out of here. I'm hoping to hit the pool between rain showers. The radar seems to indicate my 5:00 am open time as free from rain, and I should hit another pocket of no rain when I usually leave the YMCA, but the in-between time, while I'm swimming, will have a downpour or two. We desperately need the moisture, and it's warm enough that it's not snow or ice (I'm VERY grateful), so I'll deal with getting wet, if necessary. After all, I'm going to the Y to get wet anyway, although my intention is to get wet in a chlorinated swimming pool, not in a rainstorm. Have an excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Election Day in the USA - VOTE!

If you're in the USA and you haven't already voted in the national election, then PLEASE go out and vote today. I'm not going to ask what candidate you'll be voting for, or what platform you prefer, I only care that you exercise your hard-fought right to vote. That goes double for all of you who are women. We fought damned hard for the right to vote. Don't ignore the sacrifices of your ancestors by minimizing their risk and strength and turning your back on the opportunities that they gave to you. 

This photo is from a Nazi rally from 1935! Long before the 
actual war began. Don't kid yourself. It's really easy to 
get pulled into rhetoric and chants, to feel united with the 
person standing next to you, and to paint those who are 
not in the stadium with colors of treason. It's always easy 
to blame the other guy for your own troubles. 

I'm not fond of a lot of what's been going around in this country for the past six-eight years. I don't believe in the conspiracy theories. I don't believe in the rhetoric or the dogma. I believe in an individual's right to act according to their conscience so long as that will bring no harm to others. I'm not dogmatic, nor do I support those who are. But when I look at the nation today, and look at Germany in 1936, I see horrific similarities, and it frightens me. 

Lest you think Nazi rallies drew people only in Germany, 
here's a photo of a Nazi rally in Madison Square Gardens 
from the 1930's. Hitler had plenty of support from the 
USA for quite a while there, and really didn't get the 
justified paintbrush of hatred until after the death camps 
were completely disclosed. There are those who still 
believe that the Camps were a falsehood, a "big lie". Tell that to my 
grandparents who lost their lives in Auschwitz. 

How can I compare 2022 America with 1936 Germany? Unfortunately it's relatively easy to see the similarities when viewed with the eyes of clarity. I may not care about your individual vote because you have the hard-won right to choose whomever you prefer in the ballot box. But it's not much of a stretch to envision storm troopers of our current day marching down the streets of Washington DC, New York and Los Angeles. It's times like this when I'm grateful that I'm in my latter years. It I was 30 again, I'd be frightened - very frightened. 

I voted early this year, for the primary and again 
in the general election. I don't have to worry about 
getting in and out of the polling place and still 
getting to work on time. DH is off today, so he'll 
go around mid-day instead. Less of a crowd to 
deal with. 

The only way to speak for the future you envision is to vote. I voted several weeks ago, and DH will be traveling to vote in person either at 11:00 am or 1:00 pm (he's uncertain which time will be better for him, but he'll be there voting - we never miss an election). So please, vote. I may not agree with your choices, but it's not for me to decide your platform; we all have to live with our personal decisions. Have an excellent Tuesday, I'm off to the pool. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Thoughts About TV and A Tiny Bit of Politics (Very Tiny)

Yesterday was Chickie's 50th birthday so we celebrated. By the end of the day she had amassed some cash, a balloon, and several assorted baked goods - cakes, streusel, more cake, a filled horn pastry, and more cake. She had so much (and a duplicate of one), so asked me to please take one home for DH and I to share, which I happily did. We enjoyed our piece of cake while watching the finals of this year's "American Ninja Warrior" which we had missed earlier in the week because of a scheduling conflict. 

I think this was Season 12 of American Ninja 
Warrior and they did a great job working around 
the pandemic by using a single location, restricting 
in-person to competitors only, and using video 
to allow remote viewing by friends and family 
for each athlete. It was a tough course, but 
not quite the same intensity. Instead of a 
million dollar payout, it was only $100,000, 
but that, plus the trophy, were still very 
welcome by the eventual winner. 

Now DH and I can sink into our Fall viewing season - Holiday Baking Championship for me, and The Curse of Oak Island and Forged in Fire for both of us, along with other baking and fun shows. We're pretty low-key, and even though we can stream, we usually don't bother. The bedroom TV is where all the bells and whistles are and that's DH's territory. I might keep him company, but the various remote controls are his responsibility. 

I think this is Season 8 for "The Curse of Oak Island", and 
from what I've been seeing in interviews and previews, it 
will prove to be very exciting, and possibly historical. I'm 
really looking forward to diving back into it once again. 

I'm excited that Oak Island will soon be starting up again. It's been a long quest, and they're getting closer and closer to finding something monumental - something that will change history, and we'll be there watching (along with a LOT of other people). There's something special about buried treasure that captures the imagination, and the Louganis brothers have been willing to spend the money and time to satisfy that itch, and have done it in style. 

For fans of "Forged in Fire", that show is also scheduled 
to resume in November, a bit later in the month on the 18th. 
We'll have the same judges, but according to the talk I've 
been hearing, we'll have a new host! No more Wil Willis! 
I'll be disappointed, but with a new baby in the house, 
maybe he decided doing the show during a pandemic 
with a new kid wasn't a wise idea. I guess we'll 
find out in less than two weeks. 

It's also the last really nice weekend we'll have, so we have steaks defrosting in the refrigerator and we'll fire up the grill one last time before putting it away for the winter. Next week we'll return to normal fall and early winter weather - back to cold, grey skies, and sleet/snow falling from the skies. This week has been a wonderful break from the upcoming winter season, and we've taken full advantage by raking up the leaves and winterizing the house. Now, I guess it's going to be time to deal with ice and snow once again and I'm not really looking forward to it, although I deal with it every year. 

Right now, with Nevada, Georgia and
Pennsylvania still tabulating, Biden has 
264 of the total 270 he needs to win this 
election. I'm darned proud that every state 
I've lived in voted Blue. That's enough 
politics for today - LOL. 

So, maybe by Monday we'll have a decision in states that are still counting their ballots. Of course, some states won't have their cut-off until next week (including my own, which will process ballots until November 10th, as long as they were postmarked on or before Election Day). I'm SO ready for this to be over with, and I just want it ended. So, have a great weekend, be kind, stay safe, and please wear your mask. I'll return on Monday.