Train wrecks

After the delays of the weekend, I am posting early tonight, as I can go to bed early.  I note that I am feeling mostly fine -- not the hit by a train of last week -- but I think I can feel much better if I get some rest and live better.  I skipped the gym to finish up some work projects (and my blood sugar was low) -- bad for me -- but I did have a nice healthy dinner of salmon.  All of the Polish Festival food is gone so the diet is much more regular...I weighed in at 185 pounds -- exactly -- yesterday, and that was good enough, honestly, the way things are going.

I did watch the Harris-Baier interview on Fox.  Honestly, the Donald should be booking one on there tomorrow -- and do it for the full hour.  I get what she is trying to do, but it is bit...cloying how she goes on and on and doesn't answer the question.  Not that Trump is much better -- he does ramble -- but he could go on there and present a coherent alternative.  At the very least, he could give direct, 30-second answers -- while pointing out that she doesn't exactly answer anything.  Just saying, the Donald could make some points here, and if we really believe the election is that close (and I am skeptical), it could help.  Hell, just the sound bytes would be impressive!  Another good set of clips would be of her saying that Joe Biden never exhibited any mental decline...with clips of him showing mental decline.  These things do write themselves sometimes!

The Science of Why Your Body Takes Longer to Bounce Back After 40 - WSJ
Well, this is timely... but sadly real.  Yes the alternative is worse, but on the other hand...well, one would think medical science would figure out a way to arrest this or offset this somehow.  Not that we have solved the common cold...

City on Fire - The Atavist Magazine
Interesting -- I almost forgot about this!  They really should have hung more of these conspirators; I can see why they didn't, given the whole spirit of reconciliation, but, as I so often believe, we would have had fewer problems if we had simply lined more of them up against a wall...

Is Emhoff Disrupting the Democrat’s ‘Year of the Woman’? (substack.com)
This reminds of the Sherrod Brown wife-beating story; it was very damaging to the Dems and of course there was the full-court press to save him by burying the story.  Here, of course, we have the Second Gentleman accused -- and not denying -- hitting a woman, and...crickets.  Bret Baier should have asker her about that.

The return

 Five days without a post...ok, I was busy this weekend -- two weddings and a family party Saturday, which was... good.  Actually, I was "off" Saturday morning, so I did some errands -- bought shoes (new steel toes, tennis shoes, and work shoes), did some banking, did some grocery shopping, that sort of thing.  It was really quite nice.  So too was the wedding Sunday -- it was good to see long-term friends get hitched, but... it was an outdoor wedding at a site in Chesterland.  It rained during the ceremony, and I think my health was affected.  Namely, the cold/symptoms from the PF -- which disappeared Friday -- seemed to come back.  Anyways, last night I just crashed (or tried to), but I did have some sleeplessness.  And, dare I say -- it's cold out!  The house is cold, and the rain...well, it didn't seem to help with the general feeling of doom and gloom, either.  

Today I had a busy day of work (but a good performance review) and then I had a meeting on the East Side to possibly form another SVDP Conference... this would be good if it goes through.  They seem to have the drive and spirit, and are not exactly newbies at helping people, so... more seriously, it would be ideal if we (especially me) could get a few more parishes around them to get a good nexus of groups.  I have been neglecting my duties while crashing every night, and it is high time I get back in the game.  Sort of like my blogging...

Cocaine: a cultural history, from medical wonder to illicit drug | Aeon Essays
Interesting; I have always been amused that people turn to worse drugs (though not seem at the time) to solve such things as lack of energy, pain, etc... I guess in this way we are better; we test drugs for forever and drag up costs, but we try not to cause worse problems along the way...

Age of Invention: The Coal Conquest
Also interesting -- I love this sort of thing, that trees were less useful when crops were more valuable, and that was what caused people to look for alternatives, like coal...or, as Mom would say, this is why I am single...

Unchanged

I am not exactly feeling better, but not exactly feeling worse; I got enough sleep last night, and will be going to bed once I post here.  I had a decent day of work, cleaned out some emails and bookmarks, and -- because I am crazy -- decided to make a jello for a family fest this weekend.  I shouldn't be going, IMHO, but it is family, and well, they like, so... anyways, I decided just to make five layers today; I can apply the last two (the white and the surface purple) tomorrow.  Just have to freshen up the white and thus give them enough time to cool.  We will see how that works. 

Ohio expands SNAP eligibility and payout rules to ease ‘benefits cliff’ - cleveland.com
Dare I say this is a good idea -- certainly something I have heard about from my SVDP stuff, and it does keep people from working -- but it is half gesture until we get more people into the workforce.  Maybe this will help, but until you start taking benefits from people... 

Funny; not only do I have a busy weekend, but I have multiple requests for meetings and such next week, and the week after.  This is not a bad thing, but I have to schedule things as best as I can, and if I am not exactly feeling better... I will be in this state til Doomsday, and that is less than good, to put it mildly.

I have to admit there is some element of sadness and defeatism in that I turned on the furnace tonight -- even made sure I bought a new furnace filter when I got the jello supplies tonight.  On the other hand, a low of 40 is not fun, especially when I am feeling craptastic.  Winter is coming, and like it or now, this is the new reality.  Sigh.

Back in Action

So, no blogging lately...not sure why, but Monday night, I felt...like absolute dogshit.  I guess the Polish Festival really kicked my dupa more than usual, as I have had stabbing pains -- that I normally get when I do not have enough sleep, but MUCH worse -- ever since.  This, in turn, affected my sleep.  So much so that I was really dragging and asked my MD for some advice on what to take.  He suggested melatonin, so I went out and bought some and... well, between that and the pain pills... let's just say I went to bed before 10 and woke up (Sleeping through my alarm) at 8.  Oi.  That said, I guess I needed the sleep, as I have felt better -- maybe not good -- today.  Anyways, I intend -- once I finish this post -- to pop some more melatonin and hit the hay.  Tomorrow I hope I am better as I have much to do, as I have not really caught fully up with the stuff I didn't do this weekend, to say nothing of, say, watching the backlog of J! episodes.  Anyways, it is good to feel human again.

Yesterday I had some handymen over and the fixed the attic steps (I tested them twice) and installed new ones in the garage.  Bit pricey but I think it is worth it -- I can't do the stuff even when healthy, it's done, no mess, no fuss, and I may use them for the next mini-project of fixing the kitchen light... I still need to call the bathroom contractor, though as I joke, falling interest rates and delays are my friends here.

My sister is retiring tomorrow -- I am having trouble wrapping my head around that concept -- and they had a fest for her tonight at the casino in Northfield.  I went -- wasn't sure about it -- but I am glad I did, as it was fun (save for the casino part) and while I didn't feel great, I was able to plow through.  The food was just ok, oddly; the wings were good -- I couldn't recall the last time I had them -- but the nachos and chips were not spicy enough/too spicy.  I did gamble and lose $5, which was quite enough.  They seem to have a lot more of the digital slots... lots of noise, lots of graphics, and they cost more to play.  Not that people cared.  And, I will note, many of them were certainly of the retired set, so I don't ever want to hear about seniors and fixed incomes again!

After 2016, Michigan Democrats worry that Kamala Harris is ill-defined | AP News
Could be me, but not doing interviews and having opinions all over the place might be part of the problem?  I still think MI is hers to lose, but...I do like that the Donald is re-creating his 2016 campaign -- going where no one else has gone before.  It might just get the 5 or 10K extra voters in each spot that will put him over the top, and I think he will need those votes.

Inside Trump’s push to win over the ‘bro’ vote - POLITICO
Ditto!  Or, if you are losing women, you may as well try to run up the score with men, and if you can get men who normally don't vote to the polls...  again, I am not sure it is the best idea, but re-creating 2016 -- when I think he got the uninterested voter to the polls -- isn't the worst concept, especially if you think (and I have my doubts) that this will be close.

Mattie Survives

 It was Polish Festival weekend, and I was in the kitchen all three days.  It was not as exhausting as usual -- our Parish caterer and crew were there and things do move smoothly with them.  I was at the pierogi and potato pancake section -- as always -- and I can say that it was a very good Festival.  Busy all three days, ran out of nearly all of the big items -- some ham hocks (golonka) were left, as well as some pierogi and potato pancakes (which we can sell subsequently).  This is good.  As for me, I am tired but not terribly so, have plenty of leftovers, and am slowly going through all the stuff I missed this weekend -- the mail pile, the email pile, the link and bookmark pile, etc.  I also have several J! episodes to watch, which I will start tonight, hopefully.  The laundry is done and while I should wash the brownie pans...tomorrow is another day.

Bad Climate Socialism - by Hamilton Nolan - How Things Work
Interesting and I largely agree, but I also think that politically, it will never fly.  If you think about it, we usually do something like this -- think of the ACA -- where everyone subsidizes everyone else, like it or not.  But we should not be footing the bill for a million dollar second home...

Exclusive | Americans Are More Reliant Than Ever on Government Aid - WSJ
As a Republican, this is...appalling.  Even accounting for the fact that a lot of these former Dems who are now GOPers are swelling the ranks... this is still completely unsustainable, to say nothing of being embarrassing.  I do not think the Trump administration will attend to this, nor would the Harris one, so... buckle your seatbelts.

Interesting weekend of CFB; Bama, UT, UMich, and, sadly, Duke went down.  Crazy -- and awesome -- scene in Nashville, which was pretty cool, and the playing of the Saban clip about how there is no crowd noise at Vandy...well, the troll game was high, and awesome.

Labors

 Short post Tuesday, none yesterday... mainly because I was tired and busy, sort of like today.  Yesterday I helped make czarnina -- duck's blood soup -- for the Festival.  Mainly I helped move the heavier pots for the Polish ladies and kept everything washed, but I did learn some of the basics -- broth, pureeing the blood, adding the breast meat and the raisins and plums.  Not that I would attempt it on my own.  I would say that it is an acquired taste, and as the women told me, it is a southern Polish dish, not a northern one.  I just nodded.  Actually, most of the time it was all I could do, as most of the ladies did not speak English, so there was a lot of pointing, but...  

Today was brownie making day -- five pans today, five tomorrow.  I make the brownies first, then the topping while they were drying; not sure if it is the best way, but I was able to start the coating and topping when the first pan was completely ready, so that did save time.  I have to admit, I didn't make dinner after I was done...it was 8:30 or so, so I went to Marc's to buy pop (I deserve it after this weekend) and picked up Chinese takeout (not that I deserve it, but I thought of my father, and didn't want to cook again).  Actually, it was good -- saved some for lunch -- and it was nice to just rest a bit.

State law says you can’t drink at bars and carry a gun. An Ohio Supreme Court case could strike it down - cleveland.com
They were all over this on the Today in Ohio podcast, and my thought was...shouldn't this be the choice of the bar owner?  I mean, I think most would not want this, but some might.  Given that you could, or should, lose your liquor license over this... it will be an easy decision for most.  But, people should have the right to protect themselves, right?  Also, considering how they trumpeted Issue 1... killing babies is perfectly fine, but letting people bring a gun to a bar?  Heavens to Betsy!

Debate

Is it me, or was that an awesome debate?  Maybe the best I have ever watched?  Reasoned, no yelling, not much rancor, just two politicians making points (or trying to).  We rarely see this often -- for reasons -- but it was a change and a joy to behold.  Dare I say I think the pundits were right?  Vance won the first half -- stressing the economy, hitting Harris -- but Walz (aided by more favorable questions) won the second.  He didn't look as crisp or as focused as JD, so a narrow win for Vance?  I would think the GOP would be more pleased -- stopping the bleeding, if you will -- and it certainly showed why Trump picked him.  But I also do not think it moved that many voters at the end of the day.

What Democrats Don’t Understand About J. D. Vance (msn.com)
Dare I say this is also largely correct?  

Got my haircut today -- not quire ready for it but I do wanted a clean look for the upcoming fests.  My stylist not only swept up the hairs, but blew them off with a hair dryer.  I don't recall her doing that before, but as I was wearing sandals, I could not help but think this was probably a wise idea...