Wednesday’s Theme Music – A Short Reminder
Ashland, southern Oregon — Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
Wet, gray morning. Furnace is running to keep us warm. 49 F. 72 is the day’s potential high. That depends on when the rain moves on.
We’re not getting a lot of rain, mind. Just showers off and on. Still, the cooler temperatures, while not my preference, are better than hot, dry conditions. Saves our water, etc.
Papi isn’t pleased with the weather. He came in wet and released a plaintive, “Meow,” that’s quite unlike him. Dried him with a towel and bribed him with treats. Now he’s vigorously grooming.
Spent an hour on the phone with Mom yesterday. She called to talk to me about my health. She sounded so tired and struggled to put words together and finish thoughts.
My sister got the power of attorney done and signed an agreement with a realtor to sell Mom’s house. Then I spent an hour with my sister, texting back and forth as she addressed her relationship with one of her daughters. It’s a challenging world. Always has been, a shifting spectrum of needs, problems, and expectations. Memories and history and differences add more unique elements to finding understanding and developing relationships.
Heard from Trump that he’s in perfect health. Despite his struggles with speaking, walking, and staying awake he aced everything! Trump is a documented liar, so I don’t believe a word of it.
Same with Trump’s war and ceasefire with Iran. Epstein files. Mexico and the wall. Golfing. Trump chose golfing over his son’s wedding. Just as he chose other women over his wife — sorry, wives. Oh, but then, Trump must have realized how bad the optics were, golfing instead of attending his son’s wedding, and changed his plans.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Trump paid for sex with Stormy Daniels in 2006. Melania is his third wife. In addition to his sex with Stormy Daniels, Trump allegedly had a ten-month affair with another woman, Karen McDougal, starting in 2006. Trump is also in the Epstein files but it’s unknown to what degree; just as he reneged on other promises, he reneged on his promise to release the Epstein files.
Instead of releasing the Epstein files, Trump began Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! Under this program:
- Trump ordered attacks on Iran to destroy their nuclear program
- Trump had the Venezuelan President kidnapped
- Trump tore down the White House East Wing to build a ballroom
- Working with Israel, Trump attacked Iran again, a war that’s now almost three months long
- Trump bulldozed the historic Rose Garden and paved it over
- Trump assigned toadies to various functions and had them rename things after himself
The Epstein ballroom was first supposed to cost $200 million, and would be paid for by private donations. It would then cost 300, no, $400 million. Now the White House asked Congress for one billion dollars for it.
No, I don’t trust a word he says.
Many other Americans also are losing trust in Trump. His disapproval ratings are reaching record levels.
Yet, Republicans just keep walking away from everything Trump does. That thought inspired The Neurons. As I shook my head, dismayed again, The James Gang with Joe Walsh on guitar and vocals, began playing “Walk Away” in the morning mental music stream.
Trump is trashing historic norms and trust in the government. Unlike the GOP, I just can’t walk away.
Hope you have a day memorable with good times, good friends, and good foods.
Cheers
Friday’s Theme Music
Newport, Oregon — Saturday, May 22, 2026.
It’s 54 F with a high of 60 in sight. The waves are calmer, but the wind continues ransacking the beach. Nobody is down there right now. I did see four small figures walking it an hour ago…
We opened our laptops to see if Trump passed away or if the war was over. Big news is that some Republicans said no to Trump’s ballroom drone port military underground bunker funding request of a cool billion. Seems like its elections optics and not principles. Few are bothering to recall that Trump said it would be built with donations and cost just two hundred million and the American taxpayers would pay nothing.
One of those ‘standing up’ is Susan Collins, who exhibits the same moral fortitude as a feather on the wind. Yeah, I’ not impressed.
Trump’s response: attack those who said no, etc. Says, paraphrasing, ‘This is all according to the plan and we’ve been saying it all along.’ Sure; that’s why there’s no evidence online of that. Question: does he think us all that stupid, or is he that stupid?
He’ll probably steal, er, shift the money from somewhere else. That’s his MO. Screw the laws, constitution, all that.
It’s all part of the same game for him: launch a war, say it’s over, promise it will be over shortly, tell us that it’s not long compared to other wars, tell us it’s not a way. Just like his healthcare plan that never arrived. His promises to lower prices day one. Claim that he’ll ‘fix’ the Lincoln Reflecting Pool for 1.8 million which becomes over ten million.
Still waiting on the Epstein files.
My sister, Gina, is busy selling Mom’s household items and pushing to get the house sold. I admire her energy level and remain really thankful that she’s there to do these things.
Today’s music is by Damn Yankees. I don’t know why “High Enough” is in the morning mental music stream today. It could have to do with a dream, I suppose. The Neurons aren’t connecting the dots for me.
I hope your day goes well, and you go to bed satisfied with what’s transpired for you.
Time for Operation Epic Find Food.
Cheers
Thursday’s Theme Music
Newport, Oregon — Thursday, May 21, 2026.
Fog struck. The wind’s been strong the entire visit. Today, it felt like it shifted into a higher gear, cutting through our clothing with an icy edge. 52 F in the morning, the day’s high would be 58 F, but the wind would make it feel much colder.
We checked out early, heading north just a few miles, to Newport. Here we’ll stay two more nights. A new hotel, a new view, but it’s the same ocean and Oregon coast.
Meanwhile, we stopped at our favorite coastal eatery, The Green Salmon. It’s all vegan there. After a satisfying breakfast — “Only Murders in the Building” omelet for me — we fought the wind walking on the 804 trail for ten minutes. Retreating from nature, we went north to Depoe Bay to see if any whales were hanging around. Short answer: no.
Retracing our steps, we went back down Highway 101 to Nye Beach. A bookstore popular with us, Nye Beach Book House, was no longer a business. We stopped at a bakery and shared a large frosted cinnamon roll, hot out of the oven. Then, on to our Newport hotel, Hallmark and checked in. Once we were settled in, my wife napped. I went for a walk on the beach, one mile in each direction, battered by the wind in both directions. As long as I didn’t look at the buildings overlooking the beach, I could pretend that I was an exploring, the first to walk on this stretch of land. As it was entirely empty, it was entirely believable.
Is it any wonder that The Neurons are playing “Against the Wind” in the morning mental music stream? Well, it started in the morning but it played all day. The 1980 song was a hit for Bob Seger, who wrote and performed it. It’s about looking back and thinking about the choices made. Besides the wind, being alone on that beach made this song a good companion piece because of that connection about reflecting on life.
As far as the news goes, we went without knowing anything until about an hour ago. We’re just starting to reconnect with the world again. I see that Trump’s war has now been going 82 days — longer than the four to five weeks that he once claimed.
I see that the Epstein files still aren’t released and the price of gas here is still high, as it does across the nation.
It seems like Trump is counting on his ballroom to distract us as part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! Trump is now babbling about the ballroom’s roof as a drone base and snipers’ nests. Not sure why he thinks either are needed as part of Washington D.C. Maybe he’s planning to stay there, hunker down after he’s removed from the Oval Office.
I hope your day was as satisfying for you as my day was for me.
Cheers
Sunday’s Theme Music — Sunday blues
Ashland, southern Oregon — Sunday, May 17, 2026.
Wet, chilly 44 degrees F. Clouds are throttling the sunshine. Rain fell overnight, a good short-term addition to keep the land wet, the plants green, and the reservoirs and cisterns full. Today’s high will be 64 F.
My news feed includes stories on an airline passenger biting a crew member, Trump threatening Boebert, and a car crashing into a crowd in California, killing people. The sad thing about these news pieces are how frequently things like this now fill my feed.
The Trump Iran War has been going 78 days.
The Ukraine-Russia War continues, despite Trump’s promise to end it day one. He later said he was being sarcastic. He also said it was harder than he thought.
The Epstein ballroom is still under construction.
The complete Epstein files have not been released, despite Trump’s promise.
Trump’s disapproval ratings continue to climb. The NYTimes compiled a list of 826 poll results. I reviewed the first pages. Only one poll of 120 showed Trump to have a positive approval rating — +2, by a Republican pollster. All the preceding polls showed polling about Trump red with disapproval.
Project Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! remains in a quiet phase. Get ready for a breakout.
Crooks & Liars shared coverage about Trump and Vance and their financial paperwork. Setting the tone for Americans of all ages and backgrounds, Trump and Vance always diligently fill their paperwork accurately and on time.
No; that’s how it’s supposed to be. But in Trump’s Golden Age of Corruption, Trump and Vance keep failing to fill paperwork on time. Other presidents haven’t had this issue, but then, other presidents weren’t buying and selling stock as Trump does. The Trump White House countered, blind trust, but a rep said, “No, we have the paperwork with Trump’s signature.”
Lies, grift, and chaos are the hallmarks of a Trump operation.
Conover Kennard wrote the C&L post, “Rules Are for Little People”. I love her final paragraph because it summarizes the law-and-order hypocrisy of the Trump operations.
“I’m going to go out on a limb here to suggest that Trump isn’t being forthcoming. Shocking, I know. Last year, Trump publicly attacked Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri for collaborating with Democrats on legislation that would have prohibited the president and vice president from trading stocks. Imagine that.“
Yeah. Imagine that.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
I’d be impressed if Trump began by making the White House crime free.
That’s not going to happen. Bolstered by the Roberts Court ruling that things Trump does as president is above the law, Trump has a different set of rules for himself. He has another set for wealthy friends and powerful people, a third set for his supporters, another set for everyone else except immigrants. Trump has a special set of rules for them, and it doesn’t include law or order, due process, or any of that other fancy US Constitution stuff.
I’m frankly disgusted with Trump’s plan to pay J6 rioters and insurrectionists. Sure, this is law and order in the MAGA mind:
- Try to overturn the peaceful, fair, and legal elections
- Threaten elected officials
- Threaten and beat up law enforcement and destroy government property
- Reward them for those crimes and behavior
That’s how upside-down Trump, the GOP, and the Roberts Court has turned the world.
Today feels like a bluesy Sunday. Sensing that, The Neurons hooked Gary Moore’s song, “Still Got the Blues (for You)” from the memory bank and began playing it in the morning mental music stream.
My hope for you is that the day works out for you with some semblance of peace, grace, and happiness. Stay strong.
Time for Operation Epic Drink Coffee.
Cheers
Saturday’s Theme Music — Back in time
Ashland, southern Oregon — Saturday, May 16, 2026.
Clouds block the sunshine and dirty the blue sky. Our weather temperatures continue their slow backward slide. Today’s high will be 58 F. Fed by wind gusts, it’s currently a chilly 46 F.
Papi the ginger wonder isn’t happy. He’d like to be outside but, wind. Wind is his enemy. He sat for a bit, feet all together, tail wrapped around him, motionless except for ear flicks. That lasted three or four minutes before he was back inside, washing himself and recovering.
Our weather is better than other places in the US, where a May spring snowstorm is complicating plans.
What did Trump’s visit to China do for the nation. We won’t know for a while. Trump has made some claims about what China agreed to do. We’ll see how much of them are true, and which are just hot air. Remember, Trump has made vows and claims before that carried nothing but his air:
- Mexico will pay for Trump’s southern border wall
- His new healthcare plan was coming out in two weeks
- No new wars
- He’s the peace president and unifier
- The Ukraine-Russia War will be over before he takes the oath of office
- Trump said he would release the Epstein files on day one
- We’ll have lower prices on day one
- The US taxpayer will pay nothing for the Epstein ballroom
Trump also likes claiming he got 80,000,000 votes. He didn’t. Officially, Trump took about 77.3 million votes in 2024, beating Vice President Harris by about 2.3 million votes. Trump is confusing himself with President Joe Biden, who took over 80,000,000 votes, soundly beating Trump.
Make no mistake, Trump and his MAGA base are trying to take the United States backwards. In the latest move during the Trump Golden Age of Ignorance, Knox County, Kentucky, schools are removing the historic novel “Roots” by Alex Haley. It’s truly a WTF period for many of us.
Your Trump Quote for the Day:
With Trump’s reactionary thinking dragging us backwards and the weather losing its summer luster, The Neurons plugged “Back In Time” into the morning mental music stream. The 1985 song was performed by Huey Lewis and the News and featured in the movie, “Back to the Future”. Seems right for the day, except the time I want to go back to is before Trump ever ran for office in 2015.
I hope your weekend is progressing well and you keep moving forward in good ways.
I’m moving forward with my coffee.
Cheers
Friday’s Theme Music — Trump speaks!
Ashland, southern Oregon — Friday, May 15, 2026.
It was cloudy but the clouds have fade, retreated, moved on. Sunshine is winning the morning, carrying us through the mid 50s now. Today high will be around 70 F.
Trump is returning from China. They apparently didn’t want him, either. We should have sweetened the offer, let them keep Air Force 1 if they kept Trump. Throw in Melania and Colossus Don, Dozy Donnie’s golden Floridistan statue.
Note: “Colossus Don” sure sounds like a mob name, doesn’t it? I can imagine a scene of dialogue about him. “What’s Colossus Don doing?”
“Feeding his fat face, of course. That fat fuck doesn’t give a fuck about nobody but himself.”
Trump is pleased because China agreed to buy more US oil. Krugman pointed out that it doesn’t really help us much as consumers. It raised oil prices in the US. Oil and energy companies are making more money and profits. They’re corporations, so we see the fallout from that in the stock market and the stockholders. Krugman points out that the stock market is owned by a small percentage of people in the US and that foreigners own a chunk of it. Yet we’ll keep hearing about how great the stock market is!
Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! is contemplating a new Iran military operation. Just don’t call it war. Sure, we’re using military equipment and weapons to shoot at others and destroy things while they shoot at our military and destroy things, but that’s not war in Trumpyworld.
In the next move of the non-war, Trump will launch Operation Sledgehammer to see if they can open the Strait of Hormuz, as they were in February, before Trump ordered the attacks.
Trump’s administration also announced they were increasing global humanitarian aid to $1.8 billion after slashing it before. This seems like another Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! move to me. The announcement is one thing; will other nations see the funds? Not under the standard OE — LS! processes. Just grab headlines, distract from bad news, poor economy, Epstein files, etc.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
“According to a CNN/SSRS poll, 77% of people surveyed said Trump’s policies increased their cost of living. Roughlt two-thirds of Americans said Trump’s policies made the country’s economic conditions worse, according to the poll conducted between April 30 and May 4.” USA Today, May 15, 2026.
My music today is from Led Zeppelin. I watched the Netflix documentary, “Becoming Led Zeppelin” this week. I’ve been a Zeppelin fan for most of my life so it was entertaining to learn more details about them as individuals and how they came together. Jimmy Page was really the force, but all four were intense, talented musicians.
The making and playing of “Whole Lotta Love” consumed the documentary’s final minutes. As a youth, the song fascinated me. I remember listening to that middle ‘avant garde’ section, identifying sounds as it moved around the room, thinking that’s really cool. LOL. The Neurons enjoyed remembering the song, so it’s hanging around the morning mental music stream, so here you are.
I remember listening to it, too, and having Mom and my sisters look at me strangely when I talked about the song. Mom didn’t get it at all. My sisters seemed really jaundiced about what they were hearing as well.
I hope your Operation Epic Friday begins well and improves as the hours progress.
My coffee is here. Time for Operation Epic Drink Coffee.
Cheers
Thursday’s Theme Music — State of things
Ashland, southern Oregon — Thursday, May 14, 2026.
It’s blue out there, full of sunshine. Clouds are absent. 50 F with a high in the mid 70s today.
Thunderstorms looked possible yesterday but it didn’t happen. Just as in the previous days of forecasted activity. After the winter snow drought, May is at 3% of its average rainfall.
Our snowpack is at about 7%. While the reservoirs are above 80%, without snowmelt to replenish them, it’ll be a hot, dry summer. Stack the El Nino predictions, many of us are bracing ourselves for a rough year ahead.
Mom’s state is not good. She wasn’t responding to my sister’s texts. Sis called the assisted living facility, Heritage Grove, to ask about Mom. They said Mom went to bed before dinner and had not felt well all day.
On the optimistic side of the board, two neighbors are reportedly interested in buying Mom’s house.
My wife and I had new tires installed. For the record, we replaced a set that we’d bought in 2019. Got 35,000 miles out of them. Not great, not bad.
We bought them at Costco and had them installed there, shopping while we waited. As we were in the Medford area, we decided to eat out and chose the Texas Roadhouse Restaurant. My wife likes the salmon they serve there.
We couldn’t eat there. The way was blocked by ambulances and firetrucks. Wondering what’s going on, we took to our phones to learn. Nothing at the fire department, alert system, social media, or local television stations could give us that info.
This duplicated a Tuesday incident, in my mind. Driving home from writing at the coffee shop, one lane of traffic was blocked off in front of an SOU building on Siskiyou Avenue. What happened? I searched for information after I got home and couldn’t find anything. 24 hours later, the answer came: a woman had driven across the median strip, up a walkway, and into a building, breaking a gas meter along the way.
Miserable headlines fill my feed. When will there be good news? I’m not sure what I mean by good news at this point. An end to wars would be nice, along with a return to normalcy. Normalcy to me is let’s take action against polluting our air and water. Action against climate change. But the cynic in me says that PINO Trump would take credit for whatever and enough brain-dead people would slurp that down and bray about how great Dozy Donnie is that I’d regurgitate everything taken in during the last three days.
But here’s the state of things in the United States nation in one sharp observation someone else made:
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Paraphrasing, Trump lies, says this isn’t so bad, Biden! Because that worked well previously under Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!
Enough people with brains are responding, screw you.
You started a war, Donald J “No new wars” Trump.
The economy is a mess, gas prices are rising, all the prices are rising, Donald J “We’ll cut prices on day 1” Trump, and the country is going in the wrong direction.
And you, DONALD J TRUMP, YOU ARE THE REASON WE’RE IN SIX MILLION MESSES WITH NO WAY OUT EXCEPT TO FIRST GET RID OF YOU AND YOUR CRONIES.
Now stop building the damn ballroom and release the damn Epstein files so we can feast on your political corpse.
The Neurons inserted “Mind Games” by John Lennon into my morning mental music stream. This actually came about from Papi’s state of mind this morning. I played with him and his favorite nemesis, the red dot. The play began abruptly. As soon as he engaged, I stopped for about a minute. He kept peeking left and right, waiting for it to reappear. Just as he started walking off, I blinked it back on. Off Papi went, chasing it across the room, then stalking it.
I hope your Thursday brings you some good news and fair winds, assuming you need winds to get somewhere. Like you drive a sail car and need to have wind to blow you along the Interstate.
Have my coffee now. Cheers
Dominoes
Trump’s broken promises have consequences.
The dominoes are falling over…
With Trump in the Oval Office and his policies in place:
- Food insecurity is a rising problem under Trump’s leadership.
- Food banks across the nation are seeing rising demand and costs. New data and analyses confirm grocery prices for American households have begun rising due to the ongoing war with Iran.
- Further increases are projected throughout 2026, thanks to higher fuel, fertilizer, and shipping costs. Food banks and food pantries are seeing 20% to 30% increases in traffic in the Phoenix (AZ), Midwest, North Carolina, and Southwest.
- The Oregon Food Bank reports a 51% increase in the past two years.
- Measles are a rising threat. The states most affected by measles outbreaks in 2026 are all led by Republicans: South Carolina, Utah, Texas, Florida. The United States has seen 1,842 cases and 25 new outbreaks since the start of 2026.
- Gas prices continue to create new records. My friends paid $6.79 per gallon for gas in California this last weekend.
- Donnie “No new wars” Trump’s war with Iran has been going for two months and eleven days. Some estimates put the war’s financial cost for the US at $50,000,000,000 to date.
- If you’re waiting on your Trump phone, there’s an update from Android Authority: ‘The update states that a preorder deposit “provides only a conditional opportunity if Trump Mobile later elects, in its sole discretion, to offer the Device for sale.” It also adds that a preorder deposit is “not a purchase.”’ The Trump phone was originally offered in June, 2025. It was supposed to be made in the USA.
- The Epstein files still aren’t released.
We also have these gems:
- The ballroom, which wasn’t going to cost US citizens anything, will cost $1,000,000,000 or more.
- The $1.8 million dollars to ‘paint’ the Lincoln Memory Reflecting Pool cost $11,300,000.
- More of Trump’s tariffs have been declared illegal. The problem with the tariffs and rulings is that companies pay the tariffs by passing them on to the consumer. Yet, there’s little sign that as tariffs are refunded to tariffs that consumers will receive refunds.
Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! is falling short of its goals of distracting voters from Trump’s failures and our losses.
Trump’s pattern is clear now.
Unfortunately, not all voters have caught on to Trump and his scams.
The midterms are coming soon.
Trump is panicking. Disapproval is rising. Failures are stacking up.
Get ready for some audacious Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!
Monday’s Theme Music
Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, May 11, 2026.
59 F at this moment, the cloudless blue sky and sunshine is promising temperature in the mid 80s.
Happy birthday to my one and only ‘big’ sister. She’s two years older, living in Georgia, mother of three, grandmother of a bunch more.
Had a wild night of dreams. I awoke and went out with Papi. We breathed in the air and enjoyed the sunshine. And Bill Withers’ song, “Lovely Day” entered the morning mental music stream.
I’m staying with that. Despite that the non-war still continues, and an energy crisis looms. Trump says that the ceasefire with Iran is ‘on life support‘, but little of what he says means much, except when he denies things and accuses others of crimes. Then he’s often projecting.
Trump’s gas prices continue toward record highs and Trump’s ballroom remains a mess. Trump himself is heading for China. Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! saw the release of UFO/UAP files.
Most of us shrugged; we’re more concerned with life on Earth and the here and now of war and climate change, along with Trump’s corruption and grift, and the crimes which might involve him in the Epstein files.
It did affect Trump’s net approval rating as Nate Silver reports Trump hit a new second term low of -18.9.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Just a reminder. Trump didn’t understand the problem COVID-19, or he was lying. They’re not mutually exclusive, and he may have been doing both.
Trump’s tone has changed between his first and second terms. He at least tried sometimes to be diplomatic and presidential, it seemed like. Now he’s just angry, bellicose, belligerent, sneering, smirking. Aging, sickness, indifference, or true colors?
I hope this Monday finds you and your community well.
Cheers
