Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
I‘m suffering from usedtoitis today. You may have experienced usedtoitis at some time in your own life. It’s when you start thinking about how it used to be for you and how matters have changed.
Mine is a minor flare up. My wife’s comments to her friend as I was sitting there triggered it. My wife said, “Oh, Michael used to have such pretty curly hair,” and, “Michael used to have such gorgeous sexy legs,” and, “Michael used to be so muscular and skinny.”
Sure, the Positive Neurons chide me, “Hey, at least you were like that once and there was a person who appreciated it.”
The Curmudgeon Neurons reply, “Screw you.”
It ain’t easy going through the aging changes.
Mood: Uptempo
August 29, 2024, crept into our world as clocks finished a round of counting.
It’s Thursday, so named for the day of the week when the poor were served free drinks at ale houses and taverns. Don’t look it up, because I made it up.
We’re expected a high of 97 F plus this afternoon. For now, though, the windows are closed because it’s a chilly 58 F in my environs. Air quality is marginally good. Blue sky reigns o’er most of the valley, but some hazy, formless clouds have popped up on the northern and western horizons.
Reviewing news, I see talk of Trump’s ‘campaign’. That agent of chaos is spreading more disinformation, still lying about the 2020 election results, spinning accusations out of air, and trying hard to disrupt intelligent discourse on anything except maybe the askance wondering, WTF is he doing?
Take the Arlington National Cemetery kerfluffle. This was an event planned for the families of thirteen service members killed earlier this year. They wanted it private. Trump, true to his tone-deaf self-centered character jumped at a chance to show that he really does support and respects the military and its members. That’s despite his claims that he’s smarter than generals. Or that military members, especially injured or dead ones, are losers. Or his sniveling that the Congressional Medal of Honor given to military members is less worthy than the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His audacious reasoning was that soldiers and their medal is ‘worth less’ “either in very bad shape, because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead”.
What brilliant logic.
Meanwhile, there is Trump’s photo op. Grinning like an idiot, giving a thumps up.
Such respect.
What was sadder was how his supporters jumped to protect his actions. One wrote in comments that ‘at least he was there to honor them.’ Yeah, idiot. Number one, that’s not why he was there, and that’s obvious to us all outside of the MAGA circle jerk. Two, the families resquested that this not be politicized. They wanted privacy to grieve. Trump turned it into a circus. The MAGA commenter showed that they’re as tone deaf and out of touch as their master. CORRECTION: Two families had invited the Trump show. But that doesn’t change that it’s against policy and practice to desecrate Arlington with politics and campaigning.
Moving on.
My theme for the week still centers on songs with time in the title. Up to the challenge, The Neurons leaped forward with “Time for Me to Fly” by REO Speedwagon. It’s playing in the morning mental music stream (Trademark timed) like it’s playing on the radio in 1978.
Stay positive and be strong. Lean forward and vote blue in 2024. Coffee is wending through my systems with its magic fingers. Here’s the music. Cheers
Floofmove (floofinition) – 1. A stratagem many animals employ involving stealth, slyness, or quickness to get what they want. Origins: early nineteenth century, Europe and the United States.
In Use: “As Jason turned away from the plate, Hercules snatched his sandwich and darted away, a classic floofmove.”
2. Action used by a human in response to animal activities.
In Use: “Wanting to join George in his nap, the cat tapped George until George made a floofmove so the cat had space to join him.”
Mood: torn
We’ve popped in on Wednesday, August 28, 2024. Although I’m not a fan of the pop-in, Wednesday has responded graciously and courteously. Note: I haven’t looked at the news yet. There’s probably bad news out there, waiting to ambush me. It can wait a little longer today.
It’s 58 F outside right now under a fully blue sky and a slow rising sun. Today’s high will be 88 F +, so not overly hot, although the heat index will make it feel a little warmer.
Had an MRI on my right foot and ankle yesterday. Gist of the results, no fractures but the peroneus longus tendon has a high-grade tear. No part of the tendon is normal. Much of the tendon appears to be retracted to the level of the calcaneus. No normal-appearing tendon is visualized in the midfoot. The tendon is either completely torn distally or at the level of the cuboid. The tear occurring near the cuboid is favored as there does appear to be some remnant visible distally on series 8, images 12 through 20. A small plantar calcaneal spur.
The Achilles tendon is moderately thickened with increased T2 signal. There is calcification within the distal tendon. No edema or fatty atrophy. No effusions. The contents of the sinus tarsi and tarsal tunnel are unremarkable. No plantar fasciitis. Subcutaneous edema surrounds the ankle. Edema is in Kager’s fat pad.
The findings are along my lines of expectation. Usual fix for a complete tear of the peroneus longus tendon is surgery. We’ll see what happens next.
In what is expected from fate, my right foot and ankle look much better today and feel pretty good. Now it’s my left bothering me. Haven’t sprained it but it’s screaming with aches and complaining with stiffness and swelling. Peachy.
Speaking of peaches, word at the growers market yesterday is that next week is the last for the peaches for the year. They don’t expect to have any more after that. This year’s crop has all the hallmarks that make me love peaches: sweet and juicy.
I remain on the time concept, the essence being that the theme song must have time in its title. The Neurons were on it early, delivering “Doin Time” to the morning mental music stream (Trademark split). First it was the original version by Sublime, put out in 1997. But then they brought up the cover by the sultry Lana Del Rey. So hey, I give you both today.
Stay pos, be strong, I’m having coffee. Don’t forget, vote blue in 2024. Here’s the music. Cheers
A lot of news is taking place now. Sound like Trump, don’t I? Add in a few huge and great or beautifuls and I could be him. I.e., A lot of beautiful news is taking place now, more huge news than ever, big beautiful news stories, and some which are not so beautiful and can even be ugly for some of us.
One story being discussed in our household and circle of friends is the huge personal data breach. 2.9 billion personal records.
This Yahoo story contains a link for you to check on your info to see if you’re involved in this breach, and actions you can take to help safeguard your information. Easiest and most importantly, it shows how to do credit freezes with the three major credit bureaus.
Just paying it forward, ya know?
I found myself thinking about Chris Woods this morning. He’s a friend who died of cancer a few years ago.
Egregious: that’s why I was thinking of him. I was using the word in my head. That triggered The Neurons to remember a time when I was having a beer with Chris and he used the word. One of many reasons I enjoyed Chris’s company is because he would correctly use words like egregious. As one friend said, “my conversations with Chris were never long enough or ever finished.”
And then, since the door was opened, apparently, I thought of the late, great Quinn, a little sweetheart of a cat who lived with me for over ten years. Like Chris, cancer chased the life out of Quinn. Never more than eight pounds, he packed a huge personality into that little being.
It’s weird and odd and other words about how our mind works on its own. So don’t mind me and my memories of the dead.
I don’t mind.
Quinn, not Chris, watching something.
After returning from the market and eating breafast, I read an article which a friend referred me to.
“How busing, school desegregation shaped Kamala Harris’s views of race” is a WaPo article about Vice President Harris’s childhood and integration through busing informed her mind about the possibilities.
An important lesson is conveyed in it which is lost on the GOP. Inclusion and diversity strengthen us. They are not dirty words or immoral ideas. Inclusion and diversity help us understand one another better and further, fertilizes new ideas and insights that would have been lost.
Broadening horizons, expanding work forces, and forging social bonds through diversity and inclusion are not new ideas. We’ve been using them for some time. And if the GOP can pull its collective head out of their collective ass, they would see that it’s one of the fundamental reasons why we attained and maintained global leadership positions in so many areas of modern life.
The GOP should not be allowed to throw away all that progress just for the sake of narrow Biblical viewpoints, fragile male egos, reactionary ideas about women’s rights and gender roles, nor for the benefit of a super-powerful and wealthy one percent. Vote Blue in 2024.
Michael Seidel, writer 