The Water Bottle Dream
Once again, I found myself younger and off at some gathering. Not huge, about one hundred people, I guess. It was some kind of bonding/teamwork thing. Don’t know who was hosting it.
I was part of management. I knew everyone there, at least casually, and some were direct co-workers or friends. Nobody was part of my real-life world.
We’d just finished eating and socializing. Clean up was underway. The undertaking was moving to a new location. Teams were going to be set up and tasks assigned.
As I was familiar with what was happening, I urge everyone to go on while I cleaned up and supervised that aspect. Finishing up, I found a bottle of plastic water. Drinking from it, I headed down to join the rest.
Everyone was scattered in a sort of ornate, fancy hotel lobby. I wandered through, eyeing the groups, listening to the chatter, drinking water from the bottle.
A woman at a podium accosted me from a podium that was up on a platform. She was young and dressed formally in a skirt but with a buttoned up blouse and jacket. I took her to be a concierge or some sort of hostess. Not knowing what she was saying, I went closer to her.
She said, “Wouldn’t you be better off drinking that water somewhere else?”
I didn’t respond. I realized that she thought that I didn’t belong there.
Feeling feisty and amused, I asked, “What did you say?”
Smirking, she leaned forward and looked down at me. First she repeated what she said before. Then she elaborated, “Maybe you have a home you can go to to drink your water.”
Grinning, I drank water and replied, “I like it here. Why shouldn’t I drink it here.”
Lowering her volume, she explained, “You don’t seem to appear like you belong here.”
“Really? Where do I belong?”
Our conversation had captured my friends and co-workers’ attention. Some came over and asked, “Michael, what’s going on here?”
I smiled, almost laughing, as I saw the concierge realize that I was part of that group.
Dream end.
Monday’s Theme Music – Fears & Monsters
Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, July 20, 2026.
Smoke lingered until about midnight. That kept the area heat sealed in. Overnight slowly dropped into the low seventies after a daytime high of 96 F at our house.
Less smoke here today. Tiny, scattered showers. Now 80, 91 is the expected high.
Our smoke is from several fires. Dominating the skies is the East Evans Creek Fire. From the reports we’re getting, this fire will continue for several more weeks.
My younger sister, Gina, continues preparing Mom’s home for a change of ownership. She began by trying to sell a few things. Then items were given to charity, thrift stores, or the scrap man. One young woman, though, came early and bought several things. Gina kept in touch with her, giving her more items as time went by. Gina reported that she gave the woman a vacuum cleaner yesterday.
The woman said, “You don’t know how it’s helped me with all that you’ve given me.”
Gina replied, “I hope you remember and can help someone in the future.”
“I will,” the woman replied.
More US troops have been killed in Trump’s war with Iran. Trump claimed the US won the war before — 32 times. He also claimed it was over as far back as March of 2026, less than a month after he started it. Here we are, though, 142 days later, still at war with Iran, and it seems to be escalating.
The war is part of Operation Epic BE VERY AFRAID, itself part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! On the one hand, Trump does things and then tries distracting us. Then, as that fails to distract us because we become inured to his lies, he pivots and tries to make us afraid. Then Trump claims only he can fix it.
For example, back when he was running for office in 2024, Trump was all about affordability.
Your Trump Quote(s) of the Day:
Anyone can do the research and see how Trump operates. In this instance — affordability — he blasted Democrats about affordability when running for office in 2024.
About 14, 15 months later, Trump declares affordability will be much better under him and Republicans.
But, as prices don’t go down, and even increase, Trump declares affordability is a hoax. Created by the ‘opposition’, of course.
Yet, he was the one running so hard on it back in 2024.
He’s essentially declaring that he ran on a hoax.
Sure, but his hoax was enough to dupe a sufficient number of people to vote for him.
Now, though — July, 2026 — fewer people are no longer buying Trump’s excuses.
Half of Americans struggle to afford groceries and gas, exclusive poll finds
Republicans Increasingly Say Finances Worse Under Trump
With plunging popularity and approval, Trump has accelerated fear tactics. Communists. Stolen elections. Iran with nukes.
And Trump’s war with Iran takes the biggest stage, the most political oxygen.
Expect more fearful hysteria coming from the White House in the days to come.
Today’s music is by David Bowie. The Neurons caught me shaking my head over Trump’s manipulating language and unfounded declarations. In response, they fired up “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps).
The song came out in 1980. The chorus fits Trump and his ‘be-very-afraid’ style, but I’m more drawn to Robert Fripp’s guitar work on it.
Chorus:
[Chorus]
Scary monsters
Super creeps
Keep me running
Running scared
Scary monsters
Super creeps
Keep me running
Running scared
h/t to Genius.com
I hope the creeps, monsters and fears leave you and your friends and family alone, giving you time for happiness, love, and to gorw.
Cheers
The State of Trumpland
First, a fine summary about the state of things:
States of things.
I read an article in “The Independent” about World Cup fans’ American experience. This, though, contains a critical observation to me. I added some emphasis.
“Many landed expecting the politically fractured country frequently highlighted in global headlines. Instead, they found Uber drivers brimming with recommendations and locals willing to open their homes to strangers. Even as game attendees grappled with the sticker shock of ticket prices, some Americans they met didn’t even know the World Cup was happening, or simply didn’t care.“
Honestly, I knew the World Cup was going on. I see news stories about the games and tournaments. But I am one who doesn’t care about it. Yet, I’m not surprised that some Americans were unaware of the World Cup going on; some of them emerged to vote, unsure about what’s going, back in 2024.
Then there was this from the same article:
“That felt like a proper American experience in Dallas,” Reader said. “He had, I would call it like a proper American setup, like a TV outside, a beer fridge, massive fly zappers, and then massive fans as well.”
Damn, I haven’t been exposed to that proper American setup yet.
Meanwhile, on Fox News, they’re puzzled: how can Iran be fighting back against the United States?
“I don’t understand how it’s possible that Iran has the capabilities to fight this way and continue to try to lash out at Gulf countries and U.S. military bases because the U.S. has obliterated Iran’s military, and the president continues to reiterate that,” Bartiromo said Sunday on Fox News.
Gosh, yes, it IS a mystery. How, how, how? Can it be that Trump, the person who told us prices would go down 100s to 1000s percent, Trump who claimed Mexico would pay for the wall, Trump, who was documented lying and is widely perceived as dishonest, is LYING?
The inanity of this Blue Sky post rocked me:
WTF? DEI Bike Lanes? SMFH.
Seriously, these are the idiots Trump selected to run his administration.
Enough said department:
Michael Seidel, writer 