She was pointing at the kitchen counter between the toaster and coffee maker. Yes, there was an ant. I widened my field of vision. “There’s another. And another.” I pointed them out.
We have ants. My wife and I, I mean. Not as pets; ants are invading.
We noticed them yesterday evening. Black, they’re about a quarter inch long. We don’t kill ants. Our philosophy about insects, spiders, and other critters is live and let live, but it must be our rules.
Ants in the house at this time of year is a surprise. In the past, they’ve invaded during the hot summers, when the ground was parched, and the ants sought water and relief from the blazing heat. Having them as guests in March is a real surprise. That makes us wonder, why now? What are they escaping outside? What do the ants know is happening that we don’t know.
Our process for dealing with things like this is to find their path and cut it off by cleaning without killing. That generally works. But having the visiting ants changes our behavior. I walk around, staring at surfaces, looking for more ants. So far, they seem to be limited to the southern wall, mostly around the fireplace and the dining room bay window. Not many; the most I’ve counted at one time is thirteen.
No trail is visible yet. We can’t figure out how they’re getting in, or where. But we’re on the case. Cuz, you know, we have ants.
And their presence causes a disturbance in the house.
Munda, Munda. March 3, 2025, brings Ashlandia clouds, cloudy skies, rain, and sunshine. Temperatures have sunk from the warming late February interlude. We’re now 41 F and expect to see 51 F between bouts of showers.
Here’s a trick for you. If you write the date as 03/03/25, it can be reduced to a magic number. Like, subtract two from five and drop the leading zeroes. Now we have 3/3/3. If you divide 3 by three you have one. Divide 1 by 3 and 1/3 is the result. Or, multiply: 3*3 = 9. 9*3 = 27. 2 + 7 = 9. Oh, the things that occupy me while I’m doing the mornin’ kitchen shuffle. Kaprekar’s constant, it’s not.
PINO Trusk is set to address Congress. Now, the overall arc of the Trusk Regime’s early days is lawlessness. The U.S. Constitution’s systems of checks and balances have been ignored. Trusk has trampled the law and traditions and is subverting the free press’s abilities to report on what’s going on. Claiming to save money and reduce fraud, waste, and abuse, the regime has destabilized the Federal government and disrupted the soft power of foreign aid, forcing the U.S. into isolation.
The question from that setup: should elected Democratic officials even attend that speech? Doing so legitimizes the Trusk Regime. Theyare holding to traditions even as PINO Trusk mocks and destroys them.
The Democrats planning a rebuttal speech. Given the parameters of the nation’s polarization, which PINO Trusk has abetted by using it as a wedge issue, we can project how the coverage will go. Even if it’s a great speech, chances are three fold: one, the holy MAGAts won’t care. May not even see it. Two, words in the Democrat’s rebuttal speech will be twisted out of context. Three, the great uninformed will not pay it much attention. That would interfere with other things in their lives.
I believe the time for observing and honoring traditions and being respectful is gone. PINO Trusk should not be applauded. I believe that as soon as PINO Trusk tells a lie — and you know he will — Democrats should stand in unison and shout, “You lie.” Do this every time he tells a lie. Break that fucking speech. Don’t give PINO Trusk a stage. Do just as the GOTP has been doing since they stood up and interrupted Democratic Presidents’ speeches by false accusations of lying.
Yes, this will further the gap between the ‘two parties’. But one party, the GOTP, has already abrogated almost all of its power in support of the Trusk Regime. The other party must stand strong against it.
Today, The Neurons have filled the morning mental music stream with Shaboozey. This isn’t an accident. The Nigerian-American performer’s song, “A Bar Song: Tipsy” Is Now the Longest Hot Country Songs No. 1 by a Single Artist. Congrats to Shaboozey; it’s an impressive achievement.
And why not? The song is about the weariness which work sows, the grind of going to a place where tedium is often the rule, making up the numbers to earn enough money to stay alive while enriching others. Part of the American dream has always been work hard, get educated, and with a little luck, you can move up. That dream seems to have gone past its ‘Best By’ date. So people turn to games…partying…or things like getting tipsy at a bar with other people in the same boat. The water isn’t rising for many in that boat; instead, the boat is slowly going under. Yet, it’s a happy song that encourages many to sing along and dance.
Coffee and I have signed on to work together today to get my ass into gear and out into the world. Hope your day delivers for you in good ways. Let’s rock it.
I’ve been undergoing treatment for lymphedema. It’s been going well. As part of that process, after the swelling in my lower legs, ankles, and feet were reduced, tailored-made compression socks to help me maintain my lymph fluid flow were ordered. Because the left side was ordered first, it was received first. I’ve been wearing it, and I’ve been happy with it.
My right side has taken longer. Part of that is because I was recovering from surgery on that side for a ruptured tendon. The surgery area ballooned up and fought against going down. Hence the therapy prescried for me to deal with the lymphedemia.
The right side has responded to it all and is much better after a month of special bandages, strict dieting, and a bevy of special exercises. The surgery is healed. I’m awaiting my special compression sock for it. It was supposed to arrived last week. We thought it’d be here by last Friday at the latest. It still hasn’t arrived.
It occured to me last night that my sock might be trapped somwhere as part of the Great Undoing. See, Medicare A&B cover me, backed up by the insurance from my twenty-year military career, Tricare For Life (TFL). But the socks ordered by my therapist through my hospital go through Medicare and paid for by Medicare and TFL. That’s done through an organization in Portland, Oregon, which outsources the sock production from a Germany company. The German company ships it directly to moi.
It leaves me in limbo at this point. I wonder, why hasn’t the second sock arrived yet?
Has it been affected by the Great Undoing and the PINO Trusk cuts, chaos, freezes, and tariffs?
Is it just standard logistical issues caused by weather and life?
The numbers for Ashlandia on this Sunda morning of March 2, 2025, are 43 F and 50 F, and the word is showers. Were this a jigsaw puzzle, there Twouldn’t be any blue sky pieces. Everything shimmers with a sheen planted by showers that began yesterday just before midights and stayed constant until an hour ago.
Today’s music, brought to me by The Neurons, is “The Long Run” by the Eagles. This easy-going rocker was let loose on the public in 1979 and quickly ascended to a rock classic staple. First, it was by a very successful country-rock-pop group. Second, the era was heavy with disco and punk influence, making rock of this nature more infrequent. Third, it has mellow hooks. Its straightforward lyrics makes it easy to sing along with. Then, its lyrics about relationships reflect what a lot of us wonder: who’s going to make it? What’s going to happen? We’ll find out in the long run.
Which brings us to the Great Undoing of 2025. What’s going to happen? Will the U.S. survive as a democratic republic? Will the ship be righted? We’ll find out in the long run.
“Saturday Night Live” captured the essence of the PINO Trusk White House, especially in regards to Elon Reeve Musk’s behavior, the meeting with President Zelensky, and the announcement about a new PINO Trusk program, DOUCHE. It’s funny but also stirs anger because SNL captures and conveys the vast impression left by this set of idiots.
Butter Butt, aka Papi the ginger blade, is here for a visit and my coffee is chillin’, so movin’ on. Hope your day works out to your advantage. Time to rock. Cheers
I stand with President Zelensky and Ukraine. When Russia attacked Ukraine, the United States gave support and encouragement. Agreements were signed. Friendships and alliances were established.
You just don’t turn your back on these things. Not if you have honor and integrity.
PINO Trusk demonstrated again that he has neither.
Republicans in Congress see a way around the $880 billion budget shortfall they need to fill to extend President Donald Trump’s tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year.
States aren’t going to like it.
To qualify for federal Medicaid dollars, states must also kick in their own matching funds. GOP lawmakers want to stop states from taxing insurers and health care providers to raise that money, a maneuver that would leave states with a $612 billion hole in their budgets over the next decade.
This is fucking hilarious. The GOTP are amazingly ignorant. Which states depend most on Federal Medicaid? Why, the poorer states. We know this from studies, statistics, and history. For example, West Virginia, one of the nation’s poorest states, are solid Medicaid recipients. Guess what? They won’t have this money.
Guess what else? They solidly voted PINO Trusk into office.
Can you guess what other states fit a similar profile to West Virginia? If you guessed red states, reward yourself.
So here goes the GOTP, chasing some illusion of cleverness and logic in a move that will spite their supporters. It looks like if anyone is pulling a fast one, it’s the GOTP. Wasn’t PINO Trusk just bloviating a few days ago that they wouldn’t touch Medicaid? Oh, but that’s right, what am I thinking? He can’t be trusted. Everyone except his supporters know that.
Brace yourself for the reciprocal wave if they pull this one off.
Spring continues its bold approach in Ashlandia. Winter will probably bound back in a few days but for now, it’s a beautiful day. 43 F with blue sky and sunshine. At one point in this aging morning, I walked into the kitchen and was met by a fierce shineslam of bright light. Haven’t had that kinda experience in months. The weather ‘they’ tell us we’ll crack 71 F today. But we saw 73 F at my abode’s weather thingy yesterday, so I cautiously hopeful that more the 70s will make it to the show.
This is Friday, February 28, 2025. Yes, the end of the year’s second month has arrived. The third month begins tomorrow. That’s how it used to work. But with PINO Trusk’s shitstorm and the Great Undoing, who knows what it’ll be? Maybe he’ll declare it February 29. Perhaps he’ll get it in his head that if the calendar doesn’t advance, then he’ll never leave office. He’ll just label every day as Trump and then append them with numbers.
No, that’s actually too reasonable and logical for him and his band of broken people.
Today’s song shouldn’t surprise. “Beautiful Day” by U2 came into this world at the turn of the century. Just decades ago, that seems like a far away time. It’s in the morning mental music stream because The Neurons heard me look out the window and say, “Wow, look at that, Papi, it’s a beautiful day.” For the record, Papi the ginger blade, aka Meep and Butter Butt, agreed. Or seemed to. He went out into the sunshine, stretched, and then eyed everything for threats and intrusions.
Hope it’s a beauty where you are, too. No matter what, try to make it a strong day for yourself.
Coffee has now crept into my system, somehow getting in there when I put it in a mug and raised the mug to my lips and tilted the mug back. So here we go, one more time. Cheers
I’m pivoting to pop culture and movies today. Cuz Gene Hackman. The death of Mr. Hackman and his wife, Ms Arakawa, makes me long for the details and explanations of what happened to them. The open door, the space heater, the pills, etc. Makes me want to write a novel to explain it but my explanation would go off the rails and Gene Hackman would probably end up as a retired secret agent who used acting as a cover.
I enjoyed his work, though. He made his characters seem real and nuanced. As I read different tributes about Gene Hackman, I encountered a decent story in The Hollywood Reporter that listed Gene Hackman’s ‘ten best scenes’. I don’t disagree with their list. I’m not an expert on films (though I sometimes pretend to be to impress others) but I did enjoy all these movies.
Here’s their list. You can check out their whole story. For me, Gene Hackman’s top three films were Unforgiven, The Conversation, and The French Connection, with The Royal Tennenbaums lucking just outside those three.
Michael Seidel, writer 