Wednesday’s Theme Music – Rock & Hard Place
Ashland, southern Oregon — Wednesday, June 3, 2026.
Pleasant valley Wednesday. 66 F, sunshine percolates through some clouds. Rain and a high of 76 F are expected.
Mom and my sister went through a rough day yesterday, spending over eight hours at ER. Classic ER scene as the staff attempts to help everyone but there are so many who need help. They got home early in the AM this morning.
We’re not sure what’s going on with Mom. She had a CT scan but no results have been shared with us. At one point, they asked her if she wanted or needed anything, then added, but nothing to drink or eat. We all knew that usually means surgery. But surgery was never mentioned. She went home tired, thirsty, hungry, and sleepy.
Home: her shared room at the assisted living facility.
The US — or Trump, specifically — is between a rock and hard place. After Trump claimed he would end the Russia – Ukraine War, it continues with fresh strikes by Ukraine on Russia today.
Over in Iran, where Trump decided to start a war and declared it over, Iran launched an attack on a Kuwaiti airport.
Speaker Mike Johnson, who said this was a small operation back in March, was not available for comment. Trump’s Iran War was supposed to be over in weeks if not sooner, according to Republicans back in March. Now the war has been going 95 days.
Without too much surprise for me, I read that the Trump administration is dragging its feet on refunding Trump tariffs as ordered by the courts. Meanwhile, Trump dropped more tariffs on 60 nations, claiming it’s because they use forced labor.
Over in World Cup news, a Swiss player is waiting to see if he’ll be taking part in the games because the US has not said he’s allowed in yet, and the Iranians are worried about their team’s ability to come and go to the US.
The US mint announced FIFA World Cup coins. McDonalds announced a World Cup meal so the poor can get in on the excitement. Papi announced he’s taking a World Cup nap. It’s World Cup mania! Except ticket sales are flat and FIFA is being accused of using unofficial resale sites to cut prices.
The Epstein files aren’t completely released, and the Epstein ballroom is still short of funds but under construction. Under Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!, Trump is now not worried about it as a ballroom, but as a drone port. It’s all about the nation’s defense!
Of course, as I understand it, arming the White House to the teeth basically raises its value as a military target. After all, that’s what the US did in Iran: we went after the drone and missile launch sites.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
What hyperbole. Trump blasts a judge and rants, “we can no longer defend Washington, D.C., with rifles and pistols, alone.”
No kidding, Trump. You just proposed a 1.5 trillion-dollar defense budget, the largest in history, and you think D.C, us being defended by ‘rifles and pistols’?
Let’s face it, too; if the US has reached a point in a conflict that we’re depending on drones on top of the White House to defend us, we’re pretty screwed.
Today’s music comes out of the thought stew bubbling my brain this morning. Spying on me, The Neurons brought the Rolling Stones and “Rock and A Hard Place” to the morning mental music stream.
Sample Lyrics:
We’re stuck between a rock
And a hard place
Between a rock (yeah) and a hard place
This talk of freedom
And human rights
Means bullying and private wars and
Chucking all the dust into our eyes
And peasant people
Poorer than dirt
Who are caught in the crossfire ain’t nothin’
To lose but their shirts, yeah
May your day be carried forward with peace and grace.
Cheers
Tuesday’s Theme Music – One More Time
Ashland, southern Oregon — Tuesday, June 2, 2026.
It’s clear skies and sunshine for us today. 66 degrees now, the high will be found in the 80s F. Some say 81, another contingent claims 88. We’ll see.
Oh, the Mom front. She ran out of her pain patches. They’re by prescription so she must see her doc for them. She didn’t have an appointment, and they don’t have an opening until early August. It’s concerning that with all the doctors she’d recently seen, no one ever thought to say, how are your pain patches?
Then she fell over backward in her wheelchair the other day. Hit her head. She’s been complaining of headaches since. Yet, that morning when it happened, she refused to get taken to the hospital. Today, it became a must. Now sis is at the ER with her and we’re in wait and see mode.
Poor sister, too. She’s already busy, working, meeting with the realtor to sell Mom’s house, selling and giving away Mom’s furnishings and possessions, taking care of her grandchildren, and here she is, summoned back to pick up Mom, take her to the hospital, wait with her, await next steps…
Locally, I’m perplexed and pleased with a credit union project. Bring a bag of papers to be shredded and three cans of food, and they’ll shred it for you. Sounds great! I went through our papers, filled a bag, and bought three cans of food to donate.
I’m irritated because the credit union has two locations in our town. One is a half mile away; the other is almost two. Yet, to participate in this offer, I need to drive almost twenty miles to Medford to participate.
Makes little sense. Why not do it in an Ashland location as well as a Medford location? Why make so many people waste energy and pollute the air to drive that distance?
Then there’s the Trump front. Paul Krugman had commentary about Trump’s apparent mental and physical decline, and the enablers in DC and in business who support, cover, and front for him. For all, it seems to be, “What’s in it for me?” I don’t know if that’s true or reductivism. I think the truth is on a spectrum somewhere in between. Whatever their reasoning, I remain disappointed that so many seem eager to limit voting and embrace norms that seem to favor creating a Christian white nation.
Trump’s Iran war remains on, although a ‘ceasefire’ is in effect. I watched Jordan Klepper conduct interviews with MAGAs who smugly tried to tell us that Iran is a conflict, not a war.
They’re taking clues from right-wing media, the GOP, and Trump himself. Trump reminded the nation we’re at war but also said that we’re not at war and that saying we are would get him in trouble. He’s winking at the system of checks and balances, but we as a nation have been doing this for a long time as well.
At the bottom of my disgust at this mess remains the huge challenge: how do we fix our flaws? Can we fix them? Can we at least mitigate them enough to feel comfortable with calling ourselves a land of freedom and equality and a democratic republic. Because right now, those claims are very, very thin to me.
It didn’t begin when the Roberts Court decided that Trump as POTUS could be above the law. It began long before that, with small drips. We let the drips go. Now the foundation is showing rot and we’re wringing our hands about what to do.
To make myself feel a little better without drugs and alcohol, I turned to Nate Silver’s latest findings on Trump’s popularity.
“Today, Donald Trump’s net approval rating is sitting at -19.1 in the Silver Bulletin average. That’s less popular than Joe Biden was at this point in his term (-13.6) and less popular than Trump himself was during his first term (-10.6).
“About 48 percent of Americans strongly disapprove of Trump’s job performance. Just 21.7 percent strongly approve of the job he’s doing, while another 17.2 percent only somewhat approve.
As we wrote about over the weekend, Trump’s approval rating is even underwater in Texas.”
“Trump is less popular than President Biden.”
Just wanted to highlight that for Trump.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
It’s worth posting this quote again because it completely captures Trump’s attitude AND his base. He called it right, and we see it playing out over and over.
I have “One More Time” by Daft Punk in the morning mental music stream. A dance song, it’s actually a celebration of things, but it hit my stream because I muttered ‘one more time’ to myself as I checked texts from home and read the news.
I hope your mood is up and your day goes well. I hope the best for us all. I guess the challenge for that is agreeing what that is.
Cheers
DIY: La Pink Stuff
My wife has been on a continuous improvement kick. The main event is death cleaning. She’s going drawer by drawer, room by room, closet by closet, a household version of the Terminator, focused on a mission.
Part of this mission is finding new things for the house. It started with the lights. We’ve put in new light fixtures in five areas. The old ones went to Habitat for Humanity. All were in good condition.
The pillows were changed next; smaller pillows were purchased. Pillow cases were changed. The old stuff found their way to local Hospice Boutique for resale to support hospice patients.
Last week, a package arrived. Inside were two slender pieces of metal. Each had an edge about an inch wide and look like stainless steel.
“Those are for the stove gap,” she said.
Yes, I got that immediately. The ‘stove gap’ is the space between the range and the counters. Why, it’s almost 3/16″ on either side. Things get spilled in there. Unacceptable! These were the solution for them.
After installing them, I admit, they looked good and closed that gap. Exactly matched the stainless-steel range. They use metal cutouts that are springy which create tension when they’re spread and put into the gap. Yep, I’m impressed.
Next was La Pink Stuff.
This arrived Sunday. Its real name is “The Pink Stuff“.
“It’s supposed to fix the cracks in the glaze in our ceramic dishware,” my wife explained.
The stuff is a pink paste. Comes in a jar, less than 18 ounces. You’re supposed to use it undiluted on a soft cloth or sponge, but don’t let it dry, they warned. After gently rubbing it in, rinse with hot water, then dry.
I tried it on a plate.
Didn’t work.
“Oh well,” my wife said. “It’s only six bucks. Worth a shot.”
I agreed.
“It’s supposed to work on stainless steel,” she added.
I checked online. “Consumer Reports advises against that,” I reported.
CR called it ‘liquid sandpaper’. Reading about it, I decided to try it on the stainless-steel sink.
“But that’s stainless steel,” my wife said.
I shrugged. “It is, but it’s different. The sink’s bottom is scratched. So using this stuff will be okay.”
The results blew me away. It took only fifteen minutes on each sink. I did the disposal side first and showed my wife.
“Wow,” she said. “It looks brand new.”
“Yes, it looks great,” I agreed.
I had another target already in mind and was going off-piste.
Our water supply is hard water.
We have a walk-in shower with tiles and glass doors. The hard water clings to both. The hard water buildup is so ugly.
I’ve tried a dozen different cleaners and methods to get them clean. Most have marginal and temporary results.
I took to the glass door with The Pink Stuff to do a small test area. I’d noticed a difference when working with it with water in the stainless-steel sink. Leaning on that observation, I wet a small toothbrush, dipped it into the pink stuff, and scrubbed a small section of the glass door.
Holy cow.
Encouraged, I expanded the test area.
It looked fantastic. And there was no mess, no nasty smell, all that.
I abandoned the toothbrush for a wet cloth. While that worked great, some of the harder water buildup areas were still visible. A dry cloth with the pink stuff was used.
Rinsing it off and drying it, I stepped back and gawked in amazement.
The Pink Stuff really worked.
I did an entire panel and then brought my wife in so she could verify that I wasn’t imagining the improvement.
Her eyes went big. “Wow. That looks great. At last, something that cleans that hard water off that glass.”
Beaming, I was nodding along, saying, “I know, right?”
“Well, that’s certainly worth the six dollars,” she said, leaving.
By day’s end, I’d completed the glass portions and tried it on the hard water on the tiles.
Worked there, too.
I wholeheartedly recommend The Pink Stuff. Just test small areas first.
I still have 3/4 of the jar left. Next up for it: the grill on the patio.
Michael Seidel, writer 