Fogda’s Theme Music

Mood: brandnufogncoffee

We’ve slipped into foggy bottom or foggy bottom slipped over us. Fogda, Jan. 6, 2025. 40 degrees F, sunshine has taken some time away, apparently, giving us over to clouds and rain. 56 F is the projected high. An air stagnation advisory has been slapped on us.

Yesterday turned into fine, sunshiny day. Of course, we were slightly out of town for most of the afternoon, and in a slighter higher elevation, visiting our friends for a party. Good cast of characters, and the house is beautiful. The owner joked that it was a two-bedroom five two hundred square foot home with five fireplaces. Main house had a beautiful small living room and a large living room which used to be the original owner’s home movie theater. That was a natural for that original owner as he owned a chain of movie theaters. Finances crashed and he quit using the house during COVID. The owner related that everything had quit working and they needed to repair and replace multiple things when they bought the home. But they did the job and it showed. There’s also a .5 acre fishing pond, heated pool, a separate artist studio, two-bedroom guest house with a two-car garage, and an RV parking garage with space for three RVs, which cracks up the current owner. “Definitely something we don’t need,” he said. It’s about eight minutes out of Ashlandia. A hallway off the foyer has his and hers coat closets, along with a guest closet.

Papi continues losing fur at a startling rate. He’s not going bald or anything; fur keeps growing in to replace it. We don’t know what’s going on. His appetite is good, he’s as perky and conversant as ever, and he looks good. We keep thinking, must be the weather, but he’s never done this before. We eye him for signs of things going amiss. If it’s there, we’re missing it.

Today’s song was born out of texts swapped between Mom, me, and a sis in the Pittsburgh, PA, region. They had snow coming down, impeding traffic, limiting outdoor options. The Neurons took the opportunity to start “Snow (Hey Oh)” by Red Hot Chili Peppers in the morning mental music stream (Trademark blizzard). The 2005 song is about getting a fresh start. Hey, it’s kinda still a new year, new month, new day, and a new government administration in the U.S. Okay, I kind of choked on that last one. I’ve always enjoyed this hard rocker. Easy to follow and sing along. And hey, it’s also about surviving, so there we go.

Be chill and don’t thrill. Coffee and I ran into each in the kitchen and swapped some spit. Hey ho, listen to what I say yo, it’s a fresh new day. Here’s the music. Cheers

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Mood: Smoothsailin

Tuesday, November 26, 2024. Few days until Thanksgiving in America, or as as my wife and I celebrate it, Friendsgiving. We head out to a friend’s farm house a few miles down the road and meet up with others. Everyone brings a dish or two. Good food, good drink, and good times are all enjoyed.

We’re chilling at 39 F under a tumultuous sky. The elements up there are in discord. Looks like it might rain, snow, or get blue sky and sunny on us. Gonna get up to a steamy hot 41 F.

Watched some national weather on TV this morning. I lived in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and South Carolina for a while at different times as an adult. My wife and I typically jumped in the car and drove ‘home’ to our parents’ places for the holidays, if I had the time off. We’re talking the 1970s through the late 1980s. Back then, it was basically pack the car up, tank up, and take off. Sometimes we’d hit blizzards, a few times we encountered torrential rains, and once in a while, we encountered construction. We always enjoyed the trips. In the early years, we had an AM car radio and that was it. Losing stations, we’d just turn it off and talk. We still do the same on our road trips through Oregon. Now, though, we’re rich with music and entertainment options. We still often talk. Old habits.

My wife baked brownies for our dessert last night. Filled the house with a wonderful chocolate smell. We both said several times, “The house smells so good.” LOL. Love the smell of baked goods. Bread, pies, cookies, pizzas…

The records show that we let Papi the ginger blade in and out nine times yesterday. That seems light. We suspect he overheard our plan and cut back on his requests to game the numbers. I’ve started calling him my little In ‘n Out burger.

Did something to my surgerically repaired hoof in my sleep. Awoke to the realization that I was loudly groaning. Foot hurt like hell. Could barely walk on it. No idea what took place but it may have been caused by a swimming dream. The sound I made deeply concerned Tucker (pronounced Tuck-ah), my black and white big cat. (He’s not actually that large but looks big, a deception brought on by a big head, paws, and tail.) I found him intensely studying me with his ears back when I awoke. The pain has mostly abated. All part of the recovery process.

With thoughts about road trips and driving, it’s with little surprise that The Neurons brought travel music into the morning mental music stream (Trademark skipping). Red Hot Chili Peppers released Californication in 2000. The song, “Road Trippin'” was included. RHCP’s album on CD was part of my rotation during part of that period. We lived in California then and were exploring the state. It’s a big state, and we had many excellent road trips, visiting cities and landmarks, taking visitors around, etc.

Had a good bitter laugh over Trump’s tariff plans. China, Mexico, Canada. That’ll hit home construction, food prices (and restaurants!), automobile manufacturing, and computers, phones, and electronics. Talk about inflation. But Trump and his cronies and supporters believe that the other countries and the manufacturing/production sources will bear the burden. Trump et al say they’re doing this to stop drug trafficking. Yeah.

Here’s the music. Excuse me while I dash off for a brownie. A few remain. They pair well with coffee. And away we go.

Cheers

Monday’s Theme Music

Mood: Pennsylvanication

Welcome to post Cinco de Mayo. Mild, light cloud cover delivers mixes of grays to the area atmosphere. Sunlight delivers mediocre light and warmth with promises of more. It’s Monday, May 6, 2024. While it’s a humid 65 F now, it feels like 69 F and they warn us that we’ll reach 72 F today.

Complemented with a baguette, little sister’s vegetable soup yesterday worked perfectly for lunch and dinner yesterday. Then came a thunderstorm which held me in appreciation for an hour. It’s been a time since I’ve experienced a solid thunderstorm experience. I made the most of it for myself. Mom worried about lightning striking me. Such a worrier. Then she told about how they used to race to trees for protection when she was a child and there was a thunderstorm. That brought good laugh.

Penn Hills/Monroeville are lousy with scurrying traffic, people seeking to reach work, school, appointments — who knows? Each car’s occupants have their own agenda and story. It’s a monumental shift from Ashlandia’s low key vibe. Sort of entertaining to be back in such an environment. The area seems to thrive with a sense of purpose.

Another change from there (Ashlandia) to here are the political ads. See them for both sides. Democratic ads feature Trump talking about ending abortion followed by a woman telling her story about almost dying and being saved by an abortion. Though losing the fetus, she recovered. She worries about the future and how these abortion laws will affect women and their health and safety.

Republican ads engage the ‘open border’ issue and the terror of people crossing the border. They tell the debunked story of one immigrant murdering a woman.

There’s little color in either ad. Both are addressing fears. However, the GOP ad doesn’t address how Congress with Republican leadership has worked against President Biden and the Democratic Party from addressing the border. If you’re casually involved in politics — not paying attention, in other words — could be swayed by either ad.

Have little fear about Mom not being informed. This is a political household I’m staying in. Mom and her beau are strong Democrats, leaning moderate to progressive on the scale on most issues. They have MSNBC and CNN on throughout the day covering the issues for them. CNBC is jumped to for a couple shows. Sometimes Fox is put on but it’s not long before they’re saying that they “can’t stand those people on Fox” and change the channel.

The Neurons have “Dani California” in the morning mental music stream (Trademark stonewalled). I blame Suzanne Craig-Whytock. “Californication” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers was the theme music the other day. Suzanne commented that she liked the day’s song but preferred “Dani California”. Thus encouraged, The Neurons started up.

I like the 2006 song, though, so it’s all good. Came off the same Californication album and shares the same stylistic flavors.

BTW, Suzanne is one of eleven authors long listed for the 2024 Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour for her book What Any Normal Person Would Do. So congratulations to her. I fully expect her to win. If a break from the nastiness of politics and depressing world events is needed, click to her blog and buy her book. Her subjects are real-life, anxiety-driven, and funny.

Okay, coffee is being downed. Be strong, stay fresh, remain positive, and Vote Blue in 2024. Ima gonna go off to write now. Here’s the video. It’s a lot of fun as they parody leading rock/pop acts from several eras.

Cheers

Thursday’s Theme Music

Summer is rolling into the valley. Today’s high will take us to 86 F, probably more around our house. Sunrise cruised in at 5:34 AM this morning and the valley sun tour will end with sunset at 8:46 PM. It’s presently 62 F on this Thursday, Jun 9, 2022.

I was having beers with friends, a weekly meeting outside. A local brewery, Caldera, was our host and provided us with the various ales and IPAs consumed. Eight of us, all vaccinated and boosted, fingers crossed, gathered. A ninth person joined us to tell us what’s happening with the local high school robotics club. It competes and we sponsor it, providing five hundred dollars each year through donations made when we have beers together. As the group broke up, my neurons started serenading me with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their song “My Friends”, from 1995. Even a night of dreams didn’t shake it from its lodging in the mental music stream, where it remained this morning. It’s a reflective, introspective song, and I don’t mind it being there. I’m just singing along with the neurons. Maybe you will too.

Stay pos, test neg, and be real. Here’s the music for your morning listening pleasure while I boldly seek out new coffee. Cheers

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