Checking in

Quite the absence, as always, without blogging.  In the meantime, while I wait for my blood sugar to recover... here we are.  Interesting day today -- last Sunday of normalcy, if you will, and there was church/gym/coffee and Communion with my friend in Edgewater... she asked me if I was being paid to take her Communion.  I was amused by this, because, well, I guess she can ask, but I was like, of course not, and nor would I accept such cash -- this is my "job" as EM, and quite frankly, we are friends now, so... 

Then it was off to the volunteer appreciation picnic for Hunger Network... interesting.  I got some info about food rescue for the Hot Meal -- I am not sure we can use all the stuff they can provide, which may or may not be a concern, and then I had an interesting conversation with one of their managers; basically, he shot down my concerns about the (lack of) accuracy in the reporting of the monthly statistics.  Let's just say I passed those comments along to the Board, and they were... as snarky and cynical as I was about it.  I do not think it is a concern as of now, but as with everything else about the OC, it simply requires...monitoring.  

Then it was home for some work, paperwork, a walk outside (it was quite beautiful), and some reading.  Quite nice.

Saturday was OC duty -- 152 and we had 518 for the month -- a bit high, especially considering it was a three-Saturday month.  It was a bit chaotic up front -- not sure why, though I have my theories -- and the other November co-manager and I agreed that we would have a bit more order up there.  The upsurge in count was interesting; could be the much-rumored increase in site visits, could be an early start to the Turkey Day season, or...

Late lunch -- it was the Grainger Township Volunteer Firefighter chicken dinner, so I met my cousin-in-law and fam for that (quite good this year), and then that night I had a late dinner at St. Mary Magdalene European Festival.  It was after 7 when I arrived, and the menu was...truncated, as I should have expected.   I had the schnitzel (will have chicken paprikash next year), noodles, and cucumber salad.  Quite good, actually, so I will go back (and early).  After dinner I went to the church itself; it was dark out, and I couldn't out the windows from afar, but it was quite nice; sepulchral and adding to the contemplative nature.  Speaking of, I was praying and an older woman tapped me...she was giving a mini-tour, and would she disturb me.  I rushed through my prayers (finished later) and joined her; it was very informative and detailed; I learned quite a bit about the Byzantine Rite in the 15 minutes she was there, and I thanked her profusely.  I have NEVER had that happen to me, and I was...fascinated.

The Six-Year Quest to Find the Mystery Woman in an 18th-Century Painting - WSJ
Interesting -- we all know I love stuff like this.

A World War II-Era Feud Is Threatening a Pivotal Alliance for Ukraine - WSJ
This would be funnier (if you will) if I didn't hear stuff like this in church with regularity, especially from our Polish community.  To be sure, these are recent traumas, with living memories, so I should not be so dismissive of them, but...the whole damn eastern half of the continent is a morass of these things, and I could not even begin to unpack them....

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...