Wordlessness

 I wasn't exactly having a good day today -- work stuff, food pantry stuff, personnel stuff -- and then a friend texted me to say that her husband (also a friend).... his son committed suicide last night.  He is a history buff, like myself, and immediately Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Boxby flooded into my mind.  More seriously, my craptastic day...well, it wasn't that bad.  (OK, it was, but you get the drift.)  But, it is true that there are no words one can say....they talk in bereavement ministry circles (I have kept my certification, amazingly enough) that there is a "ministry of presence," of just being there, but...I don't think this cuts it.

In other news, I am only behind one J! episode, and I though the Monday and Tuesday finals were sort of easy.  I made 40 on the show (the watching late does play with my mental acuity) which is fine, I guess; sometimes my mind works more quickly than others.  I washed in baking soda the shower curtain but delayed dishes (again); I will do it tonight before bed.  I went through some emails and links the past couple of days, which helps in some things, especially with the mental peace...

My one friend asked me if I thought Ohio could go blue this year, and I said it was quite a distinct possibility, and it would be entirely our fault; even in a blue year, the candidates are uninspiring, not exactly present, and the campaigns are moribund.  Vivek should be having "debates" with an empty chair every week; ditto for Husted.  Max Miller should be kicked to the curb, but was not.  I realize we have plenty of cash, and a voter registration lean, but...meh.

Weekending

The Browns won!  Deshaun Watson played very well!  Funny; I watched the game because I wanted to see how Baker Mayfield did (he did fine, though not well enough; did seem to miss open receivers) and instead I got a compelling -- albeit delayed -- game.  I guess most people will want Watson to stick around.  For a week.  I watched some of Monken's presser and post-game locker room speech, and I was...well, not impressed, but, as I like to say, the city is a happier place when the Browns win, mainly because it happens so rarely.

Mostly good weekend.  Friday night I went to the art museum for the Cleveland Silent Film Festival, where I saw the 1926 disaster film "The Johnstown Flood."  It was quite good -- I mean, like all films, it was a bit moralistic, but the special effects were quite cool for the era, and I was fascinated as to how they managed to put it together.  I also got a mention in the program for joining the Society, continuing my year of being semi-famous.   Humorously, I got home about 9:30, watched J!, and then crashed on the floor, where I woke up at 2:20 with the lights and TV on.  Sigh.

Saturday was a family poker fest (I had to make jello Thursday as I was filming Friday), but in the AM I did some errands, a vigorous gym session, and a trip to the PACC for lunch at their Harvest Festival.  It was fine -- the food is good, though they do have those silly ticket things.  I mean, as we say in my family, it IS a fundraiser.  Saw some people I know, too, which was nice -- good to hear what is going on, sort of.

I have a backlog of emails and stuff, and I did some of them, but not nearly enough this weekend.  Sigh.  Adulting is sort of hard sometimes, though I do my share of making it difficult.

Back to Back

Crazy talk here, Mattie posting two days in a row.  I have a jello to make for a family fest, so tonight I am doing it -- 4 layers in, the fifth is cooling, and in the meantime I have time to go through emails and such.  OI.  Ok, it is fine, actually, but when I think of the pile of emails to go through... I should do this more often, or not let stuff pile up, but there we are.

Hasn't been that hot yesterday, but it has been humid.  Borderline uncomfortable, but every time I thought about turning it on, I was like... no.  Phew!  I have a plumber coming tomorrow to replace the faucet (yes), the garbage disposal (sure), and a rework of the pipe system, which I have heard before, and finally decided to fix -- let's hope the drainage issue disappears.  Is it pricey?  Yes, but.... it is time.  Not too much, actually, and then I can move on to the next interior project.  I have to admit, should have done it sooner, but having zero debt on the HELOC for a while...well, it felt good.  Debt reduction can continue in the meantime.  With interest rates being even higher...  I mean, much of what is happening is POTUS's responsibility, and forcing them to raise rates -- with the housing market soft, interest rates high, people on the fringe will feel it.  On the other hand, as we often say at the food bank... where are the people?  TO be sure, last week was busy, but we were closed the week before, so..that was expected.

Mullin seeks to win over immigration hardliners with messaging blitz - POLITICO
This is another thing about POTUS I don't get; let people do their jobs.  I guess I am a slow-play guy, and the best workers are the ones you never hear about, but... I cannot help but think that the rotating wheel of personnel is unwise, and Mullin is a fairly solid conservative...

Nothing Blows Up a Parent Group Like a Fight Over School Snacks - WSJ
Good Lord.  I guess it is good I do not have kids, because it someone pulled that to me, my kids would be getting Oreos, sugar, and such simply out of spite.

Democrats Have Midterm Momentum. Here’s What Risks Tripping Them Up. - WSJ
I am not sure the money will help, with all else going on in what would be a blue environment anyways.  The fact that we have to defend in TX, OH, KS, and elsewhere is a problem, and that we have this money to use in those places... oi.

The W

I should probably be posting more, and I should probably be posting at a regular hour -- my blood sugar was going low, so I just had a late snack and am monitoring it.  I should be monitoring gas prices better; I will eventually need a refill, and they are high (not that I drive much, but still).  I have to admit, not that I think the Donald is missing a beat, but he has certainly made a bollocks of this.  I would argue the issue is that he doesn't want to do the obvious solution, which is to bomb the shit out of them.  Now, that would cause all sorts of issues, but I think he missed the point that force is the only argument they get, and they certainly deserve it, so... like what LBJ said, the bitch of a war is destroying his presidency.  Oi.

So, tonight I met Ted from church and we dined at Habesha -- the Ethiopian restaurant in Kamm's Corners.  I had been there once, but he had not.. it was quite good, and we discussed much, also good.  The whole cuisine seems to encourage communal eating, and two is better than one...after I went to Common Grounds to get coffee -- I had not been in there in a while.  It seemed a lot cleaner now than in the high school days, but there were still the same mix of interesting people there (I was one myself!).  Yet another joyous jaunt down memory lane.

Tuesday was Pub Quiz, and Team XI pulled out the win at Saucy (we should go there more; the pizza is fairly good, we like the format and the quizmaster; just the parking and the whole schedule/adulting bit).  Odd -- some of the other, tougher teams were not there, and we pulled out to a big lead.  But, another team bet everything on both Daily Doubles and passed us, so we trailed narrowly going into final -- which was a triple stumper. But, we used Shore's Conjecture (for once) and thus won.  I feel a bit dirty but the W is the W.

 More than 247,000 Florida kids have lost food stamps
This could be me -- and this is NOT a blanket statement, obviously, but I would think that in a lot of cases, if you are on food stamps for a decade, the fault is on you.

Blasts From the Past

 A new season of J! today -- I made sure to stop work at 7:28 to watch -- and mixed results.  I answered 45 correctly (categories favorable) but missed the Final; I knew it wasn't the Beetle (obviously) but never thought of the Vespa.  Of course, getting 45 after Masters... well, I cannot complain.  Of course, other J!-related things happened today, and we will see what happens with that.

Anyways, in other news, did some house cleaning today, and will do some more -- a plumber is coming tomorrow, so we have to clean to prove we are not bad people, or housekeepers, or something.  Or, that you are not a slob?  Men don't see dust, true.  I should have ran for five miles, given my fatness, but I had some salmon and veggies for dinner... also snax, since the blood sugar was low all day.  Ugh.  More seriously, hopefully we have a new faucet and a sink that drains.  More hopefully, I will not need new pipes, as I would prefer NOT to spend that money now on that -- there are other things to fix.  Not really my call, of course.

'Idiocracy' turns 20: How a failed comedy became an American metaphor
I saw this in the theater, and I thought it was funny as hell.  I guess I was one of the few.  To be sure, I think I realized then that it was clearly Matt humor, and the fact that it holds up... well, I am not sure what that means, though I am a student of history, and everyone views the next generation as a lost cause, to put it charitably.  Of course, I always use the Dax Shepherd quote "Because I like money," but I would say that less than half of my friends know the provenance of my love for that quote....

Queries

 Well, that was... uninspiring?  I mean, I was sort of paying attention to OSU - they were up, then coughed it up -- and I was like, uh-oh.  I would not say that this is an Urban Meyer disaster, but it doesn't look good.  Not that this will keep them out of the playoffs, but when Michigan has the best day in the conference... 

I slept in a bit, and this discombobulated me the entire day -- ran slow and a bit late, and while I had very little to do, I still prefer to be Jhonny on the spot.  But it was a good day -- bit of rest, some emails, then off to the gym, to my sister (she fixed my gift basket for church), home to shower, and then off to Country Maid for ice cream (white house cherry, quite good) and apples.  They had plenty -- I bought a bag of honeycrisp, a bag of Zestar, and a bag of some tart ones -- all very good.  Bit pricey, but it is worth it, and I don't go all the time.  Not that far, either.  I am overdue for a new restaurant visit, but trips like this have to count, too.  I guess I should hit one this month (at least).  Of course, I should also dust and vacuum more, too.  At least I spent some extra time on the exercise bike, and should do so again tomorrow, too.  I have indeed gained the weight lost during cyclospora.  Sigh.

Opinion | Why dead malls still litter American suburbia - The Washington Post
Exactly correct!

Behind Closed Doors, John Fetterman Shows Little Interest in the Work of a Senator - WSJ
I have read this twice, and two things come out at me... first, why do we want him on our side?  Second, all of the Democrats who endorsed him first -- even with all the queries about his fit ness for the job -- why are we (or someone) asking them why they did so?  I would argue he is the same person now as he was then, and they had no issue with it, so...

Festage Review

With my plans to retire early quashed by an attack of low blood sugar... I guess it is time to blog!  Anyways, tonight I had a quite wonderful evening.  I joined the Cleveland Civil War Round Table, which meets every month in Independence for dinner and a lecture.  While I ordered my space too late for dinner, I snarfed salad and dessert, and sat with a bunch of fellow Civil War buffs (I am on the younger side of this group, which is not a bad thing at my age).  The speech was a bit -- not the battles analysis or high politics I prefer, but not uninteresting.  And, one of my Conference Presidents is a member -- he was surprised as I was -- and we talked shop.  Bit late but I will indeed return!

Anyways, I hit three ethnic fests this weekend, so I owe you reviews.  Saturday I lunched at the St. Sava Serbian fest in Broadview Heights; as it was a mile from my house, I walked -- the temperature was fine, and with the grub I would be putting away, steps are not unwelcome (I have regained my cyclospora-related losses, sigh).  They use those silly tickets -- sigh! -- so I bought $25 of tickets, and got myself some chicken paprikash and a sausage platter.  The chicken was perfect; the dumplings less so -- they were homemade, but the large ones were... not quite cooked through.  There was ample gravy, so I plowed through, but it was the difference between B+ and A.  The church is interesting -- LOTS of icons and artwork, and while I recognized some, some I did not.  The docents spoke Serbian first so my queries were a bit limited.  I have to admit, we have a guide to all the art -- the statues, the windows, the frescoes -- at the Shrine, and it is genius.

Saturday nite dinner was at St. Rocco.  They have those Catholic greeters who ask if you are Catholic, light candles, etc. (the boys were better looking than the girls, not that I noticed).  It is a pretty church, not St. Stan's pretty, but you get the drift.  I made sure to look at the ceiling art -- as I told one of them, someone went to the trouble of putting it there, and we should honor that at least.  Then it was off to dinner...funny, I always say I will eat inside, but then I bump into I know, the line is long, and I end up with a sausage sandwich and a bowl of pasta.  The sandwich is solid; the meatballs quite good, and the pasta is...fine?  I suspect it is better at Our Lady of Mount Carmel.  Next year I will actually eat inside and make a full compare.  Yeah, surre.

Sunday I went to the Hungarian Fest at German Central.  It was... an experience.  First, the parking lot is... tight, and there is one narrow road in and out (more on that later).  You also have to pay $12 admission.  I mean, if I liked the music and the accoutrements, it would be ok, but as I have the tin ear... anyways, you do have a wide range of interesting food options, though I went with chicken pap again.  It was quite good -- I think the noodles were store-bought, but they were small and cooked through.  The sauce was the orange/yellow one expects, and the torte I ordered was quite good.  But...you have to use tickets there (grrr) so I decided not to try something else.  I bumped into a former coworker there, so it was nice to catch up. But, as I told him, dinner and dessert was not $26, but $38 with admission -- and that is steep, no matter the economy.  Getting out was an adventure, as you had to go down the narrow road (cars were coming in, looking for parking, and there were pedestrians).  It worked, but barely.  I noted that people were going in, not finding parking, and then street-parking in the developments off York (lucky homeowners on those streets).  The grub was good but I do not think I would go back...

There are a few more fests -- St. John Cantius, St. Barbara's pasta dinner -- and I will try to hit those, but we are running low on fests and summer.  You will note I skipped St. Andrew (and a Max Miller sighting) due to tickets and a sense that they were a bit over their heads... I just hope we don't have that this year.