And back again

 The top two teams went down last night, and tonight #3 and #5 go down as well... glorious court-stormings abound.  Duke should move up -- maybe even top 5? -- though I am not sure they merit this.  Of course, ALL of this is undercut by the Saban retirement, which, to be sure, was completely out of the blue.   I wonder how many recruits tOSU will get out of this...

So, the polar vortex is finally coming.  Funny, I mentioned to my sister that while the warm winter was a good thing, we do need a good freeze, because -- as I learned in my second career -- it does the most effective job of killing insect pests (no matter the lifecycle) and such nasties as fungi and bacteria.  That, of course, is the only good thing about it; the gas bill came today (for both home and the OC) and I had a mini-coronary after seeing both.  Next week I will probably crank it up a bit and it will run more, and... at least I am doing my share to minimize carbon emissions, as you can bet my thermostat is lower than that of John Kerry.

So, between the new year, my new health plan, and the fact that the local Rite Aid and transferred my prescriptions...well, everything had to be called in again.  This is a First World problem but...so far so good, until today, when I got a message from my two-health-plans-ago mail-order pharmacy; of course, the prescription was denied.  Oi.  I called the MD's office and they supposedly corrected it, but after the four-order fiasco of a few months ago...My Mom used to say that half of all nurses were lazy, half were incompetent (she used a stronger phrase), and half were both... more of this and I will at least concede a quarter.

Trump Says We Should Have Negotiated Around the Civil War. Here’s What Would Have Happened. - POLITICO
I just mentioned this, and now Politico... I am shocked and appalled that they didn't call me for my expert commentary, of course.

Duke fan builds Cameron Indoor Stadium replica in basement - ESPN
I don't want to hear that I am an obsessed Duke fan ever again.  More seriously, this is impressive, and I wish I had half the skills this man does!

I am bemused (sort of) by the latest mini-rebellion in the House against Speaker Awesome.  To be sure, the rebels do have a point -- spending is higher than what McCarthy agreed to a while ago.  On the other hand... do they really want to go through another agonizing search for a new speaker?  Who would they select?  Hell, it is their fault that spending is higher in the first place by scuttling McCarthy.  I am not sure that the rest of the House is going to entertain a motion to vacate, given the joyfulness it caused last time.  I would like to imagine that someone explained to them the best way to win is to win EVERYTHING in November and then they do what they please with that certified conservative Trump.  :)