Can you believe it? It’s already Monday in America. September 2, 2024. Labor Day.
Windows are parted to invite the outside in. Right now, a distant chain saw whines and screams. A single car motors past as lawn mower mutters and roars. Voices which seem male carry across the air. A gas leaf blower is powered up and voices its song.
It’s cool air these machines violate, just stealing through the fifties as the sun arcs over trees and mountains, surmounting a flawless blue sky. Today’s high will see a descent from yesterday’s highs. We saw 100 at home, a surprise when forecasts called for 94. The net variously reported the high at 96 and 98 F yesterday. Today’s rise will see us through into the bottom 80s. Same is exected for tomorrow but the rest of the week will see high summer heat.
Meanwhile, trees are dancing in new autumn foliage already. Our tree’s dark green leaves already has lemon yellow clumps of leaves dotting the boughs.
Continuing with a night theme, The Neurons reprised Corey Hart’s 1983 song, “Sunglasss At Night”, and have it circulating in the morning mental music stream (Trademark deep sixed). It’s a new wave techno pop hit with 1980s stylization. Blowing out of FM stereo in a car, inspiration for the young, including me, was almost instantaneous. Especially at night. But it’s true pop, nothing deep.
Stay positive, remain strong, vote blue, and let’s move on to a brighter future. Work needs to be done to make that happen. I got my coffee; here’s the music. Cheers
It’s a new month. September has arrived, on a Sunday, and on a holiday weekend. Seems weird that it’s Labor Day weekend. It’s too soon! Nobody around here seems prepared. I’ve barely seen any ads. Okay, turn the page.
It’s 76 F here in Ashlandia, where Labor Day is privately celebrated. The expected high will be 94 F, so it’s cooled off from the last two days. Saw 100 at my house yesterday. Besides being cooler, it’s cloudier. Will it rain? The Weather 8 Ball says ‘All signs point to no.’ Air quality is good but the pollen count is high, and I’m feeling that.
My wife sat up with a burst of outrage this morning. She read a headline aloud, “The one thing Kamala Harris said that shows she’s unfit to be president.” My wife fumed, “The one thing. The one thing! Show me one thing Donald Trump said that shows him fit to be president.” I received the Vote Vets Harris-Walz for President magnetic bumper sticker she ordered me yesterday and slapped it on my rear end. It immediately fell off because I’m flesh and blood and not very magnetic. I then put it on the car. Yes, some pre-coffee humor. Sorry.
My wife has also ordered a dozen bumper stickers to give out to friends, and two other magnetic bumper stickers for our car. She’s donated to the Harris-Walz campaign several times, but is outraged that they keep just asking her for more. I explain, “Honey, that’s the nature of political campaigns.” That just sets her off more.
Ima starting a new theme week this week. Starting today, I’ll provide a song that features night in the title. The Neurons immediately sprang up with “Whatever Gets You Through the Night.” The rocking 1974 John Lennon release is rolling through the morning mental music stream (Trademark dark).
Stay positive, be strong, and have a drink of something to get you through the moment. I’ve chosen coffee. Here’s the music. Don’t forget, Vote Blue. Cheers
The pendulum is swinging. It’s Friday, August 30, 2024, and the hours of daylight have noticeably reduced. It’s an advantage at sun soars through blue cloudless skies, working with the air to lift the temperature next to triple digits during the day, like 97 F today. But then the clear skies and longer night lets the temps skivvy down to the upper fifties, delivering relief. Slips of autumn have climbed back into my life. Some maples have shifted into fall fashions. Starbucks is offering fall drinks. School is back is session at every level locally. And football is again rolling across TV screens, carrying news through feeds.
But first: we must get through Labor Day. In the U.S., we have the bookend holidays of Memorial Day and Labor Day. To many, MD marks summer’s unofficial beginning, and LD is the unofficial end.
I read several news articles in depth this morning. One was about how Republicans have softened their climate change stance. They rarely outright deny it these days. I guess that with so much extreme weather killing and maiming our world, they recognize that they look and sound like fools when they do. Instead, they like to problemtize the solutions which Democrats — and much of the world — recommends. Like moving to more sustainable forms such as wind and solar. No, these caus more problems, they inform their constituents, even as they lie about what’s happening.
Last day of my theme of time in the song’s title. As many of age and are forced to cope with changes, we lament the same thing. The Neurons brought the song that asks the question into the morning mental music stream (Trademark timed): “Where Have All the Good Times Gone?” It originally popped onto the rock music scene in the hands of the Kinks in 1965. It’s since been covered by a chunk of performers, most notably Bowie and Van Halen. But I stayed with the Kinks for this day. Ray Davies of the Kinks wrote it and said in an interview:
“We’d been rehearsing ‘Where Have All the Good Times Gone’ and our tour manager at the time, who was a lot older than us, said, ‘That’s a song a 40-year-old would write. I don’t know where you get that from.’ But I was taking inspiration from older people around me. I’d been watching them in the pubs, talking about taxes and job opportunities.”
August 29, 2024, crept into our world as clocks finished a round of counting.
It’s Thursday, so named for the day of the week when the poor were served free drinks at ale houses and taverns. Don’t look it up, because I made it up.
We’re expected a high of 97 F plus this afternoon. For now, though, the windows are closed because it’s a chilly 58 F in my environs. Air quality is marginally good. Blue sky reigns o’er most of the valley, but some hazy, formless clouds have popped up on the northern and western horizons.
Reviewing news, I see talk of Trump’s ‘campaign’. That agent of chaos is spreading more disinformation, still lying about the 2020 election results, spinning accusations out of air, and trying hard to disrupt intelligent discourse on anything except maybe the askance wondering, WTF is he doing?
Take the Arlington National Cemetery kerfluffle. This was an event planned for the families of thirteen service members killed earlier this year. They wanted it private. Trump, true to his tone-deaf self-centered character jumped at a chance to show that he really does support and respects the military and its members. That’s despite his claims that he’s smarter than generals. Or that military members, especially injured or dead ones, are losers. Or his sniveling that the Congressional Medal of Honor given to military members is less worthy than the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His audacious reasoning was that soldiers and their medal is ‘worth less’ “either in very bad shape, because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead”.
What brilliant logic.
Meanwhile, there is Trump’s photo op. Grinning like an idiot, giving a thumps up.
Such respect.
What was sadder was how his supporters jumped to protect his actions. One wrote in comments that ‘at least he was there to honor them.’ Yeah, idiot. Number one, that’s not why he was there, and that’s obvious to us all outside of the MAGA circle jerk. Two, the families resquested that this not be politicized. They wanted privacy to grieve. Trump turned it into a circus. The MAGA commenter showed that they’re as tone deaf and out of touch as their master. CORRECTION: Two families had invited the Trump show. But that doesn’t change that it’s against policy and practice to desecrate Arlington with politics and campaigning.
Moving on.
My theme for the week still centers on songs with time in the title. Up to the challenge, The Neurons leaped forward with “Time for Me to Fly” by REO Speedwagon. It’s playing in the morning mental music stream (Trademark timed) like it’s playing on the radio in 1978.
Stay positive and be strong. Lean forward and vote blue in 2024. Coffee is wending through my systems with its magic fingers. Here’s the music. Cheers
We’ve popped in on Wednesday, August 28, 2024. Although I’m not a fan of the pop-in, Wednesday has responded graciously and courteously. Note: I haven’t looked at the news yet. There’s probably bad news out there, waiting to ambush me. It can wait a little longer today.
It’s 58 F outside right now under a fully blue sky and a slow rising sun. Today’s high will be 88 F +, so not overly hot, although the heat index will make it feel a little warmer.
Had an MRI on my right foot and ankle yesterday. Gist of the results, no fractures but the peroneus longus tendon has a high-grade tear. No part of the tendon is normal. Much of the tendon appears to be retracted to the level of the calcaneus. No normal-appearing tendon is visualized in the midfoot. The tendon is either completely torn distally or at the level of the cuboid. The tear occurring near the cuboid is favored as there does appear to be some remnant visible distally on series 8, images 12 through 20. A small plantar calcaneal spur.
The Achilles tendon is moderately thickened with increased T2 signal. There is calcification within the distal tendon. No edema or fatty atrophy. No effusions. The contents of the sinus tarsi and tarsal tunnel are unremarkable. No plantar fasciitis. Subcutaneous edema surrounds the ankle. Edema is in Kager’s fat pad.
The findings are along my lines of expectation. Usual fix for a complete tear of the peroneus longus tendon is surgery. We’ll see what happens next.
In what is expected from fate, my right foot and ankle look much better today and feel pretty good. Now it’s my left bothering me. Haven’t sprained it but it’s screaming with aches and complaining with stiffness and swelling. Peachy.
Speaking of peaches, word at the growers market yesterday is that next week is the last for the peaches for the year. They don’t expect to have any more after that. This year’s crop has all the hallmarks that make me love peaches: sweet and juicy.
I remain on the time concept, the essence being that the theme song must have time in its title. The Neurons were on it early, delivering “Doin Time” to the morning mental music stream (Trademark split). First it was the original version by Sublime, put out in 1997. But then they brought up the cover by the sultry Lana Del Rey. So hey, I give you both today.
Stay pos, be strong, I’m having coffee. Don’t forget, vote blue in 2024. Here’s the music. Cheers
Tuesday is singing through the open windows. A train’s whistle, the bottle recycle truck with its growl and crashes as bottles are thrown into a pile, cars hustling the asplalt. School has begun; the vibe is different. It’s August 27th. Summer’s talking about finishing for 2024.
We drink coffee and surf the net, summoning the energy to launch ourselves to the Growers Market for fresh produce. I have vowed to find a turnover or scone to eat in a late breakfast. I’m ready to go, for I’ve downed some coffee. My wife is moving more slowly.
Purpleair says our air quality is declining and has crossed the line from good to whatever is a littl worse than good. It’s 62 F now but indications are that it’ll chug up to the mid 80s F today.
I continue with time as the theme, as in time must be in the song’s title. A great quantity of rock and pop songs met the standards. Everyone sings about time but nobody does anything about it.
The Neurons have found an oldie. It thrashes the morning mental music stream (Trademark stalled) as I sit here. “Let the Good Times Roll” came out in 1946, ten years before my birth. Louis Jordan was the performer. But in my lifetime, it felt like it B.B. King owned it. I turn to B.B. for today’s primary version, as that’s what I’m hearing in my head.
Stay positive, be strong. Black coffee helps me with those things. Here’s the music. We’re off to the market. Cheers
We’re bounding into the last week of August, 2024. Today is Monday, the 26th. Looks like 71 days until the 2024 elections.
It’s 57 F degrees in Ashlandia today. We’re seeing mostly blue sky and sunshine. Pouting clouds lurk around the distant horizons. They act like they’re planning something. We hit 80 degrees yesterday. Today’s high will be a more normal 88 F.
I drifted through the news stories this morning. Feeling a little battered by the disasters, campaigns, rulings, deaths, and general information. The never-ending cycle starts feeling a little heavy.
I was able to help out friends yesterday. We’d stayed together on vacation last week. They then drove home to Ashlandia on Friday, as we did. They insisted that they’d lost their key fob. Must’ve left it back at the vacation place.
Well, wait; how did they drive and charge their EV if they lacked a key fob? They insisted they had. They looked everywhere for it. Didn’t find it, so they must have driven home without it.
I researched that, and like, no way did they drive and recharge their Hyundai Kona EV SUV without the key fob or any key. I went over and found it in about a minute, under their passenger seat against the transmission tunnel. They were absolutely flabbergasted but grateful.
After I was looking for it, they mentioned they’d lost a cell phone. I’d notice one in their car, in the center console compartment. Yes, that was their missing phone. We suggested they might need to rest.
We’re dealing with home insurance issues. After being with Connect, which is Costco’s insurance program with American Family Insurance, for over fifteen years while living here, they’re dropping us. They’re worried about what the cost of insuring us for fires might do to their profits. Homeowners see this sort of things from insurance companies all the time. They’re there and willing to take your money until your place is too large of a risk for their profit margins. It’s not just us but all over town, and not just Connect. I’m hearing the same thing from friends and relatives in other parts of the state.
We’ve seen this before. Earthquakes insurance premiums skyrocket, and then the company announces they won’t insure you any more because you’re in an earthquake zone. Our flood insurance one year went from $300 a year to over $3000, because the city said we’re in a 100-year-flood zone. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, insurance companies bailed on paying for acts of terrorism. Of course, places that see regular tornado, hurricane, or flood damages already have felt the impact of insurance companies running away from them. That includes insurers leaving California and other states in droves after catastrophic wildfires. Capitalism at its finest. Yes, that is snark.
For us, our home insurance will go from $360 to $1140 a year. It will no longer be through Costco Connect, but to one of American Family Insurance’s feeder companies. Yes, we are looking for a new insurance company for home and auto. We don’t appreciate being passed around like a cheap bottle of wine.
And with extreme weather events happening more frequently as predicted by climate change models, expect more withdrawals by insurance companies. Soon, they’ll only be insuring the wealthy and powerful.
This week’s theme music concept remains time in the song title. There’s an abundance of such songs out there. Today, though, The Neurons pulled out one that they said is dedicated to Don Old Trump and his merry band of MAGAts. Yes, today The Neurons have the Guest Who song from 1969, “No Time”, thumping in the morning mental music stream (Trademark paused). The Canadian group’s opening line in this song is, “No time left for you.” Right on, Neurons. No time left for Trump. I like it.
Good morning and welcome to a chilly Ashlandia day. It’s Sunday, August 25, 2024. Right now it’s 54 F outside at my house. The computer is showing Bing’s Accuweather info, and that shows that it’s 58 F outside in Ashlandia. Alexa — source unknown — informs me that it’s 66 F outside. She also says that it’ll be 80 F today. Bing says the day’s high will climax at 77 F. Whichever it is, we’re under clear skies, with good air quality, and plenty o’ sunshine.
I’m pleased to report my floofs did well in my absence. Tucker (pronounced Tuck-ah) seems to have gained weight. He’s not obese by any means but has a big frame and needs to carry some weight IMO. And Papi the ginger blade stayed his young, fit self. Fur on both is gleaming and soft.
Ah, the news. Harris surges. Trump attacks. States sue Biden. Astronauts stuck in space. Israel launches missiles at Lebanon. Sigh. Maryland’s Supreme Court upheld their handgun permit law.
Fire updates show that the Park Fire in California, which started July 27 of this year when an idiot pushed a burning car into a ravine, is now 429,000 plus acres and 57% contained. The Durkee Fire in eastern Oregon has swallowed 295,000 plus acres and is 95% contained. The wet weather is helping but experts remind us that fire season is not over and to remain vigilant.
Time in the song title remain’s this week’s theme. In response to the idea, The Neurons loaded “Tulsa Time” from 1978 into the morning mental music stream (Trademark split). Although Don Williams had a hit with it and I’m familiar with it, I went with the Eric Clapton live version.
Stay positive, remain firm, lean forward, and vote blue in 2024. Coffee is percolating through my body so here’s the music video.
We left our vacation house on the coast this morning at 10:30. It was 58 F. When the sky saw we were leaving, it started crying.
We headed north from Waldport to Lincoln City because we wanted to do something stuff up there. And while we were there, the sky’s crying launched into heavy bawling. And that wet stuff kept coming down. We head east to Oregon’s capitol, Salem. The rain came down. We headed south. The rain went with us.
Well, we told each other, this cool air and heavy rain will help with the fires. Let’s hope California is getting some of this precipitation.
We slammed to a halt just south of Coburg, then inched forward for thirty-five minutes. Finally, we arrived at an accident site. Clean up was in progress. We didn’t know anything about injuries but three cars and a truck were involved. I tried learning more via a search of the net. Ridiculous results ensured. One AI reported a recent accident on I5 southbound by Coburg happened, but that was three years ago. Google’s reporting showed me accidents for up to one day ago, along with accidents from Feb. and April Not fucking useful.
Any way, we the route, weather and traffic delays, we were on the road nine hours and I’m a little road weary. Funny, though: when we arrived here at home, it hadn’t rain. Light spit was falling. We asked Alexa about this, but she can’t answer questions like that. She’s too limited.
Going right into the music, I’m staying with the theme of songs with colors in the title. The Neurons pulled out “Raspberry Beret”, a 1985 song by Prince, and popped that into the morning mental music stream (Trademark wet).
As always, it’s good to be home. My cats greeted us with purrs and rubs before demanding makeup food. It was lovely being in cool coastal weather with a restless Pacific at hand. That reminded us of our Half Moon Bay life. I still miss that. We made the right decision to move away from there.
In fine symmetry, it was 58 F here in Ashlandia at our 7:30 PM arrival. Rain is expected tonight. It’ll be 69 F as tomorrow’s high, a weirdly low temperature for an Ashlandia August.
Well, coffee was consumed, and here I sit. Stay positive. Ride the wave of positive and joyous Harris – Walz energy. Vote blue. Here’s the music. Cheers
We’re passing through another day. Today is Thursday, August 22, 2024.
I’m still on the Oregon Coast on vacation. The weather continues favoring us with sunshine, chill temperatures, and clear air. Some friendly clouds pass by with a wave. Right now it’s 60 F, just two degrees from an anticipated high of 62 F. The tide is coming in, so I’ll be going out for a walk along the water.
Rain fell last night. Hearing it, I headed out onto the uncovered patio at a few minutes after midnight, letting it fall over me, breathing in the fresh air, solitude, and sound.
The Internet was mostly down yesterday. While others napped, I wrote or walked along the shore, breathing in the air, enjoying freedom, and thinking, sometimes writing in my head. It was about two miles in each direction. I rarely encountered another. When we did, simple nods and smiles were exchanged, acknowledging the other’s presence. The net returned in time for us to catch the DNC, watching and listening to it as we worked on a jigsaw puzzle.
I continue with the theme of a color in the song’s title today. The Neurons wavered between “Tequila Sunrise” and “Orange Crush” this morning. The 1988 R.E.M. song won my morning mental music stream (Trademark woke). Its energy today just felt right.
Be strong, remain positive, and Vote Blue. Not because I say so but because it’s better for more of us than the alterntive offered by the other party.
Coffee is playing with my body in a welcome way. Here’s the music. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 