Friday’s Wandering Thoughts
I stood in the bathroom, using my electric toothbrush to brush my teeth. Looking over at the toothbrush holder, I wondered, “Hey, where’s my toothbrush?”
Then, “Oh.”
In my defense, I hadn’t had coffee yet.
Friday’s Theme Music
Ashland, southern Oregon — Friday, June 5, 2026.
Blue sky, cool air, and sunshine marks the valley. We’re at 59 F and expect a high of the upper seventies.
In Mom’s world, it’s been quiet on her health. No feedback from her visit to the hospital ER and the tests they ran. On the housing side of it, there’s a good offer on Mom’s house. I voted to take it, but they have opted to wait and see if more come in. The offer expires tomorrow night.
Read some good news for Australia. Their Cockroach King has been arrested. The US Cockroach King remains in the White House.
In depressing US news, the Roberts Court ruled Alabama can use its new Congressional map. A lower court found it racial. But the Roberts Court, hiding behind the shadow docket, said, “It’s good,” without bothering to sign their opinion. This is the John Roberts’ legacy.
Trump’s legacy is war, lies, and fake news. News reports are bubbling over the job reports. Based on economic factors and indicators, economists were expected another bad one. Gosh, somehow the Trump appointee managed to find ‘good’ numbers.
No, the numbers aren’t sterling. I expect them to be revised downward in a few months or exposed as fake. That’s in keeping with Trump’s preaching. He’s always shouting fake news, fake news while lying about what’s happening or planned.
He lied and promised no new wars, claimed the war was over, and we won, and yet, the war goes on. So, no, I don’t believe anything come out of the Trump administration.
I don’t have a Trump Quote of the Day available. Instead, I offer this image of Trump celebrating Pride Month.
The Epstein ballroom remains under construction. Trump’s war on Iran is closing on 100 days. The national debt is still growing, as is the national deficit.
I got a song stuck in my morning mental music stream: “Nothing Gonna Stop Us Now”. The song, from 1987, was performed by Starship. It’s the theme song to the move, “Mannequin”. I have never seen it.
I don’t know why The Neurons planted it in my morning stream. I was doing my dream recall routine and the song started. It doesn’t seem to be specifically related to any part of any dream, though. Hope you enjoy it.
Enjoy your first June Friday! Hope peace, happiness, and joy fill it.
Cheers
The Big Spider
I was at the front door, staring at the corner to my right. My wife joined me.
We stared together. “The big spider is gone,” I said.
She and I looked around to see if the big spider was just outside of its usual location. “I don’t see her,” I announced. “You?”
“Maybe he went somewhere else,” my wife replied.
The big spider is a ‘daddy longlegs’. I always thought it was a female because it was large spider. Spiders need to carry eggs so the larger ones tend to be female.
My wife disagreed. “I read that some large daddy longlegs are males.”
Windows flank our front door. The big spider had been in the right window for months, a sentry against insect invaders. I’d watch her web become larger and larger. Some days, I came in and she was actively adding threads. I couldn’t figure out the design, though. Made no sense to me at all.
We didn’t mind the spider’s presence or its web. Never bothered us, so we didn’t bother her. Papi never gave her a glance. Although he’s gone to chase down the laser’s red dot, he’s rarely interested in bugs, insects, or spiders.
This is a huge contrast to Quinn. Quinn used to go after anything that moved on the floor or wall, swatting and swatting with his little black paw. The thing is, Quinn was a coward. If the critter turned and headed his way, Quinn freaked out, backpedaling and scrambling to get away, trying to bat the thing as he did. I never saw Quinn ever ‘get’ anything, but any blueberries that found the floor were whacked across the room repeatedly until it disappeared under some appliance.
We checked the web for a few more days but the web remained empty. I asked our other resident spiders if they knew what had happened to her. None ever spoke up.
I guess it was just meant to end.
And we never named her. She was always just the big spider.
Thursday’s Theme Music — Illusions
Ashland, southern Oregon — Thursday, June 4, 2026.
Out one window, it’s a gorgeous day: sunny, clear blue sky. Out toward the west, dark clouds are moving in. They look like they have different intentions. It’s 55 now but we expect 80.
Mom’s house is up for sale and it’s had a lot of early interest. I’m not surprised, once it went live. Comparing it to other homes in the $150k range in that area reveals that most are as old or older, and the same size. Mom’s house was built in 1940; others in that range/area were built anywhere from 1930 to 1960. But they’re usually two bedrooms, one bath whereas Mom’s place offers four bedrooms and three baths. I easily visualize it as ideal for a small multigenerational setup. I hope this early interest isn’t an illusion.
While I’ve been focused mostly on Trump’s war on Iran (96 days and counting), he’s been busy with other wars. He’s been actively warring against cultural and political norms. All presidents have done so but none on the scale that Trump has done. We have the visual evidence of the Epstein ballroom and the war for funding for it (after Trump claimed it would cost taxpayers nothing); the atrocious rose garden; and the horrible disfiguration of the Lincoln Memorial.
Trump is turning the White House lawn into a stadium for fights and appending his name on famous places like the Kennedy Center. He’s doing all these things outside of the law but the law is fighting back via judges and courts and their rulings.
Under Trump, his advocates are trying to break the law and have currency with his likeness on it.
Through MAHA and Kennedy, Trump has been warring against good health. Through the EPA, Trump has warred against clean air and water. Through Hegseth, he’s warred against having a good defense and diversity. Through the Departments of Education and Justice, Trump has warred against good education, research, and law and order.
Through his pardons, he’s warred against justice.
Through ICE and his immigration policies, Trump has warred against our very nature as a melting pot, a place that welcome the poor and tired.
Through cuts in the social safety net and programs such as SNAP and Headstart, Trump has warred against people in poverty.
Via cuts to NASA, NOAA, and NIHM, Trump has warred against research, science, and technology.
Through it all, Trump has warred against intelligence, decency, unity, and compassion via his texts.
MAGA stays loyal to him. He buys their loyalty because he’s cultured a distrust of the media, calling it ‘the enemy’. Then he screams:
- Look at how they treat me!
- They stole the 2020 election!
- Look how great I am and what wonderful things I’ve done!
- I’m doing it all for you and our great nation!
Yet, the evidence shows otherwise.
- Prices are up
- Personal bankruptcies are soaring
- Small business bankruptcies are increasing
- Farm bankruptcies are up
- Measles cases are up
- We’re at war
- Healthcare costs and insurance premiums are increasing and hospitals are closing
- Confidence in the nation is down
- And different indexes and studies show the United States is falling behind in multiple areas
Trump is selling a grand illusion. But the details reveal the truth.
Not surprisingly, Les Neurons are playing “The Grand Illusion” in my morning mental music stream.
Lyrics:
So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because you never win the game
Just remember that it’s a Grand illusion
‘Cause deep inside we’re all the same
We’re all the same…
So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because your neighbors got it made
Just remember that it’s a Grand illusion
And deep inside we’re all the same
The Styx song came out in 1977. Dennis DeYoung wrote the song and said it’s all about how ‘they’ set you up to think and see one thing to hide the truth:
“It’s that feeling that success is set up in such a way that if you succeed you’re a failure, and if you don’t succeed you’re a failure.”
That’s the Trump methodology all the way.
I hope your day is not a grand illusion, but has real progress toward happiness and satisfaction.
Cheers
Mom’s House
Mom’s house is up for sale in Penn Hills, PA, a suburb of Pittsburgh. 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 1238 square feet, .4 acres, $159k, if you’re interested.
Mom bought her house in 1990 and made many changes. I was five years away from retirement from the Air Force by then, so I was an adult. The rooms are small, but a lot of good memories were made in them. The kitchen was especially popular. We spent a lot of time in the kitchen, not just cooking and eating, but laughing, talking, and playing games.
I checked it out on Zillow, where I got the photos. The realtor’s virtual staging does a great job of showing the place’s potential. Here’s the staging of the downstairs where I nested when I visited. I always jokingly called it ‘the dungeon’, which made Mom laugh.
There’s been 610 views and 86 saves in the four hours it’s been up. The realtor reports that five showings have been requested, four for tomorrow.
We’re pretty chuffed by that initial response and hopeful for a quick sale somewhere near asking price – or better.
Michael Seidel, writer 