Tag: weather

Monday’s Theme Music — United

Ashland, southern Oregon. Monday, September 21, 2026.

Sunny but overcast day, giving it a humid, warm feeling. 76 F, we expect a high in the mid 80s today. It may have rained in parts of town but we didn’t see or feel it.

I’m a little late to this post. Got up and went into novel writing mode, emerging a few hours later. Like, oops — what happened to the time?

I’m pleased that the other networks are responding to Trump’s dictatorial behavior by providing a united front. Backing up a little, Trump raged that three news outlets, CNN, MS Now, and Politico, were putting out ‘fake news’ and declared them banned. Today, basically, the other news outlets demonstrating what the absence of news coverage will mean.

Trump loves the camera. He needs the news programs. As much as he rails against them, without them, Trump would fade away.

Jump to Trump’s new helipad opening today. Without the major news network, it was reportedly very unclear about what was going on. Trump will fume about it and his right-wing news allies will attempt to fill the gap. But the problem with the right-wing news outlets is that they’re right-wing. As much as Trump complains about mainstream media being ‘left-wing’, that’s where most people get their news.

Trump being Trump, though, he’ll often cut off his nose to spite his face, as the expression goes. He probably won’t back down soon.

I’m also pleased by the network moves because my wife was roaring, “Why don’t the other news networks stand up for each other? What’s wrong with them?”

So the move will restore a little peace to my house.

Today’s music comes from a group called The Brotherhood of Man. When I read of the networks’ united front against Trump, The Neurons pulled up the 1969 song, “United We Stand”.

Although syrupy, its sentiment serves today well.

Sample Lyrics

For united we stand
Divided we fall
And if our backs should ever be against the wall
We’ll be together, together, you and I

Trump feeds off creating tension and especially thrives on being contentious and divisive. It always gives me a laugh to remember him saying that he wants to be remembered as a unifier.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Now eighteen months into Trump’s second term, we know that history will not describe him as a ‘unifier’. The way he attacks and divides people — including members of his own party — it’s almost like he doesn’t understand the definition of ‘unifier’…

My wish for you today is that life treats you well and rewards you with love, joy, good health, and good food.

Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music — Guns, Guns, Guns

Ashland, southern Oregon. Sunday, September 20, 2026.

We’re sitting on the cusp of autumn at 78 F, anticipating a rise to 90 F, so sunny and blue that you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s the middle of summer.

But the changing leaves on the trees defy that assessment. And the night temperatures have been coming down…cooler…cooler.

Sunset comes more quickly, and sunrise seems to lag.

It’s summer’s end, autumn’s beginning.

Seasons don’t slow Trump down! First, he tells us that he’s built the world’s greatest military, seizing all the credit, as though he conceived and built everything while selecting and training every soldier, marine, sailor, and airman.

Then, while building the White House ballroom on the site of the East Wing that he illegally tore down, he embellished his ballroom dream, declaring it would be ‘drone-proof’ with a drone port, a military installation with snipers.

Now Trump is saying the same thing about the new Arch he wants built.

Trump says new arch will also deploy drones, position snipers and store ammo

Who are all these invaders Trump is fearing that he’s obsessed with adding snipers to everything he builds?

Well, wiser heads suggest that Trump is pitching the security angle because the beautification scam isn’t working any longer.

More cynical people like me like me believe that it’s a three-prong attack on common sense and decency. The reasons include both of the previous reasons, but it’s also another distraction as part of Operation Epic LOOK SQUIRREL!

Trump using the security angle for the arch does make sense; when courts heard about ‘security concerns’ after the Epstein ballroom construction had been halted, they yielded to Trump.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

It’s classic, irritating Trump to me. On the one hand, Trump boasts of building the world’s most powerful military and proposes a huge military budget. On the other hand, he’s reducing the US military power as ‘rifles and pistols’. As if we don’t already have stealth fighters and bombers, ICBMs, space and other space, land, and sea-based weapon systems.

He is ridiculous. So are his supporters, especially those zealots, the MAGAzens.

All this Trump thinking about wars, guns, and shooting provoked Les Neurons to bring JoJo Gunne into the morning mental music stream. The band was named after a Chuck Berry song and the song came out in 1972. No much to the lyrics, to be honest, but it’s upbeat and easy to sing along with.

I hope this is a good day for you, using whatever metrics are meaningful to your life.

Cheers



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Saturday’s Theme Music — Talking

Ashland, southern Oregon. Saturday, September 19, 2026.

Summer is serving up a last hurrah, taking us into the high 80s today and low 90s tomorrow. Sunshine crowns the multi-colored trees and serves up against a deep blue sky.

I’m going to pass on writing about Trump and politics today, so it’ll be a short post.

Today’s music is “Talk of the Town”. It’s in the morning mental music stream after friends and I were talking about the plight of the bears here in southern Oregon. “Talk of the Town” is a 1980 song by the Pretenders. If I was writing about the current national situation, it would be a good song for today.

Sample Lyrics

The rules and such never bothered you
You call the shots and they follow

May this day and every day find you safe, free, healthy and happy.

Cheers

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Friday’s Theme Music — Storms

Ashland, southern Oregon. Friday, September 18, 2026.

Another Friday reached, another week trickling toward the end. We drift further into autumn in the northern hemes as they moved toward hot weather south of the equator.

Today has Ashland at 68 F with 83 F on the blue horizons. Leaves are not falling from trees yet, but colors are swarming into the green. Maples are already shimmering with dark reds.

All quiet with Mom and my family. I texted Mom and received one to two words in response. Nothing from any sisters.

Today’s warm sunshine is appreciated. Nicely complements my morning coffee. I usually take it black but my physician suggested that I need more protein in my diet. I now pour some chocolate protein shake into my morning coffee, resulting in a protein mocha, more or less. *smile*

I go through headlines, plucking out information, studying the runes, peering at the tea leaves, hoping for revelations.

Fox News Poll: Squeezed by costs, frustrated voters turn to the Democrats

Iran war has cost $45.1 billion, Pentagon tells Congress

Karoline Leavitt’s new Trump line becomes accidental rallying cry for Dems

Trump bans CNN, MS Now, and Politico from White House

Another Great Lake is renamed to mock Trump’s Lake Ontario decision

‘I don’t want you to stand with me and the MAGA movement today’: Trump sends urgent fundraising appeal

The omens show a divided nation and a desperate, flailing Trump. Even as I wonder about that, I remember that Trump has always enjoyed being confrontational and combative. He likes to appear defiant and is often bullying, no matter what the circumstances are. He’s rarely conciliatory.

Basically, though, most Republicans still seem to support Trump, according to polls. For a significant part of the GOP coalition, the economy is not the central objective, and his lies and broken promises are not a problem. These are prices they seem willing to pay for cultural dominance, institutional transformation, or the defeat of their perceived enemies.

My overall sense is that we’re in the lull in a storm. More stormy weather is coming.

Der Donald is doing his best to keep us distracted and angry. This week, Trump floated conjecture about demolishing the Kennedy Center because he can’t have his name on it. How very Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! of him. Of course, with any Trump declaration, he can swing swiftly from rhetoric to destruction. Court orders were quickly sought. Whether they’ll slow Trump is debatable. He always claims he’s for law and order but has shown that he doesn’t think it applies to him.

Today’s song is about storms but it came about yesterday. As my wife and I chatted about the novel “John of John” in our home office, we heard thunder. Or it could have been thunder. Maybe it was a passing truck.

Going to the window, we looked out on a confused collage — stormy clouds, bright sunshine, blue sky, distant rain veils. We stayed a bit, continuing to chat but heard no more thunder and saw no lightning.

All that culminated in The Neurons recalling a 1974 Deep Purple song, “Stormbringer”. The song stayed in the morning mental music stream as I read the news and drank my coffee. Part of that is because whenever it’s sunny but rainy, my wife and I look for rainbows. “Stormbringer” references riding a rainbow.

Hope you find a day of rainbows, peace, and good health. Here we go, into another one.

Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music – Seeing Through It

Ashland, southern Oregon. Thursday, September 17, 2026.

Sunny today, but cloudy. 66 F for the moment. 100% chance of thunderstorms, the weather seers tell me, with a high of 78 F.

Mom is back home in the assisted living facility. Suffering laryngitis and diarrhea. Resting in bed, she said, because she feels very tired. Mom has three appointments coming up. She has three medical appointments coming up in September.

I have a new appointment next week. Changing PCPs because my current PCP is leaving to go into private practice, focusing on peptide therapy. I meet my new PCP next week. Hope she turns out to be as good as my last one. Will lightning strike twice?

As expected, Trump launched some more Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! this week.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

I’m not a lawyer but I’ve watched some TV. You’d think that if evidence came out about this plot that any law-abiding, intelligent individual would ensure the authorities had it so that due process could take place and law and order maintained.

No. Not Trump. Instead of doing that, Trump went on social media to bray about it. Which tells us that it’s more fact news. Just another distraction. More Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!

No surprise that Trump launched a fresh distraction. War in Iran is going into seven months. That’s completely contrary to how long Trump said it would take, all after promising, “No new wars.” Stories are emerging that the United States suffered more damage than previously revealed.

Prices are creeping up. The Fed increased interest rates, contrary to what Trump wanted.

Trumpapalooza was affected by low attendance and low energy. Trump is at odds with recent CEOs that AI growth needs to slow down and perhaps be regulated.

As icing on Trump’s very bad month, part of Trump’s very bad year, his administration displayed Space Force uniforms which are being heavily mocked for their fascist look.

Finally, Trump claimed Ukraine and Russia said they wouldn’t attack diesel facilities any longer. Both nations denied any deal such as Trump suggested and continued their attacks.

That leads us to ask — again — why did Trump make that public claim? Did US intel get it wrong or did Trump hear someone wrong? Perhaps Russia and Ukraine lied to Trump and said they would, to make him appear weak and out of touch.

Or perhaps, truthfully, Trump just pretended this is what happened in order to make it seem like he’s relevant.

These positions and calamities have led to declining support for Trump and his policies. Of course, something from Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! was needed.

We’ve seen enough of Trump to see through his deceptions.

I ended up with Bob Dylan singing “Masters of War” in my morning mental music stream. I think the 1963 release accurately reflects how Trump behaves, hiding, making claims, while destroying our world.

Sample Lyrics

You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin’
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy

You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive

A world war can be won
You want me to believe

But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

May your spirit carry you through these times to happier places and a more comfortable and secure life.

Cheers

1

Wednesday’s Theme Music – Moron

Ashland, southern Oregon. Wednesday, September 16, 2026.

Summer’s pullback continues. Thunderstorms are forecast for the area. With a temperature now of 64 and a high of 78 F, we’re leaning toward the cool side.

Sour mood again. Sorry. Apologies.

Mom is being discharged from the hospital. She’s to return to Heritage Grove assisted living. My sister, Gina, is taking her. Gina reports Mom is loopy and confused. They have her on O2. It feels like it’s a setup for another mess, which leaves me and my sisters down. With all of Mom’s issues, we know that only one thing can resolve her problems. The weariness just drags on.

Likewise, Trump news is a drag on the soul. His EPA is repealing pollution limits on fossil fuel power plants. Speaking with Trumplike stupidity, an EPA administrator said, “”The days of Biden and Obama working to destroy natural gas and coal are over.”

Yeah. That’s what Presidents Obama and Biden were doing. Sure. Had nothing to do with climate change. BTW, 2026 is set to go down as the hottest on record. But please, let’s put more pollutants in the air and water so that what we breathe and drink harms our health. People are already struggling with healthcare costs. Let’s load more problems. That’s Trump’s backwards thinking.

Never mind the history books full of stories about smoke from burning coal darkening the skies. Forget rivers on fire and cancer rising as industries dumped their pollutants into water systems.

And please, do ignore all the studies which show that improving the air and water quality led to increases in productivity.

No, Trump and the GOP are just going back in time, dragging us with them.

And what’s hilarious is that Trump wants more AI because he thinks the Chinese are pulling ahead. Without knowing how AI can generate profits and without regard to what all those AI centers can do to our health and environment, Trump wants to bull on.

It’s sadly funny but he’s amazing stupid, greedy, and short-sighted. But as said by many, because the truth is clear, Trump only cares about Trump.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Gosh, yes, Donald Trump, once you say, beautiful, it changes everything! Why, that’s amazing! You ARE such a genius, you idiot.

Here’s a photo of an American city back before the EPA was created, along with the regulations to protect the air, land, and water. You’re a fool if you can stand in that, look around, breathe in, and call it beautiful. As a 70-year-old, I lived through that air in my childhood and survived, and don’t want to see us go back to those days.

But when it comes to facts, truths, and history, Trump is an utter moron.

Which brings me around to my morning mental music stream. I don’t listen to a lot of Primus but I always liked the premise of “Moron TV”. Released in 2011, it’s a diatribe against how TV is used to shape children’s opinion. While that’s the focus, I think politics share this methodology, especially the Trump and MAGA crowd.

Sample Lyrics

Just when I thought I’d seen it all
They pull a cretin from the shelves
And flash that filth under their nails
To make us feel better about ourselves

Well that one’s fit for a sex tape
Well that one’s fit for a dad
Well that one had more babies
Than anyone’s ever had
That one married a rock star
That made all little girls squeal
And that one want to be president
Cause she’s got more eye appeal

May your day come dressed in peace and grace and you finish with joy and happiness.

Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music – Wrong

Ashland, southern Oregon. Tuesday, September 15, 2026.

Going to warm up to 80 here, giving us a warm late summer day. 57 F under blue skies.

I spent time on the phone with Mom the last several days. Or tried. I would call her and she wouldn’t answer. She would call me but I would be out doing things.

Per a text agreement, I called her at 9 AM yesterday. Didn’t get her. She called me hours later. They took her to Forbes Hospital in an ambulance. Another UTI infection. Severe pain. She was given an antibiotic by IV.

She asked me to ask some favors of Gina, my sister who is Mom’s primary helper among the family in the area. Gina agreed but warned that if Mom said anything nasty, Gina would cut her off.

But Gina is helping Mom, visiting her in the hospital, helping her sit up to eat lunch (chef’s salad), sending us a photo of Mom in bed. Mom is getting an IV of Ertapenem now. Gina stayed longer with Mom, telling Mom stories and making her laugh. Peace is at hand for a few hours.

As for Trump and the United States…

Satisfying that the Roberts Court ruled against Trump and the mail-in ballot scam he’d concocted with the USPS. I laughed and shook my head when I read comments on the ruling that ‘the liberal judges had done it again’. Yes, such a VERY liberal Roberts Court, isn’t it?

Naturally, Trump attacked the justices he appointed for this decision.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Clearly, the deep state got to those justices…right? That’s how the Trump and MAGA mind work.

Donald Trump Jr had his wedding paid in part by a Russian oligarch. Many are making a big thing about it. But c’mon, man, you know how expensive weddings are. And Donald Trump Jr barely has a crypto to his name. Sad face. So happy that a Russian oligarch was there to bail those young lovers out. I’m sure there’s no sweet deal going on there, no reciprocity expected, no politics, scheming, and conning involved. No, this was just an oligarch being magnanimous to the billionaire president’s poor son.

Besides, it’s not like the wedding was a lavish affair. Like most Americans, it was a small thing, involving only friends and family, lasting only three days, held on two private islands, with a fireworks show.

I’m sure that Americans struggling with food and gas security, worrying about paying off credit card bills, coping with the rising cost of healthcare, gas, water, and utilities totally understand.

A Federal judge also ruled that Trump’s name can’t be added to the Kennedy Center. Judge Christopher Cooper was pretty clear about it:

“Simply put,” the board “cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing.”

Thank you, Judge Cooper.

Too bad someone couldn’t tell Trump that Congress needs to approve what he does with the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and the White House east wing.

For the record, Trump’s Iran War continues, driving up inflation, causing death, and costing our nation and world.

With things going so poorly for Donald Trump on multiple fronts, I expect some fresh AI-generated posting featuring Trump as someone else who is more respected and admired than him. Either that, or he’ll launch more military attacks, screw up another monument or Federal building, or complain about how much he’s not appreciated. Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! never rests.

Busy day ahead for me. Don’t get me wrong — I have a cushy life. ‘Busy’ means medical, dental, and haircut appointments, and I’m always staying busy with writing. Reading, too, as I’m trying to finish reading “John of John” before the library summons me to return the book. And house and yard work.

Thinking about being wrong, as in, “Trump is always so wrong”, as in war, tariffs, economy, manufacturing, grass, AI, history, intelligence…I have Dr John’s 1973 song in mind. “Right Place, Wrong Time” is a fun blend of rock, pop, R&B and funk. He has a lot of fun with the lyrics.

Love the trombone player in this video. She’s enjoying herself.

Sample Lyrics

I been the right place
But it must have been the wrong time
My head was in a place
But I’m having such a good time
I been running trying to get hung up in my mind
Got to give myself a little talking to this time

Just need a little brain salad surgery
Got to cure this insecurity
I been in the wrong place
But it must have been the right time
I been in the right place
But it must have been the wrong song

I been in the right vein
But it seems like the wrong arm
I been in the right world
But it seems wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong

Slipping, dodging, sneaking
Creeping hiding out down the street
See me life shaking with every who I meet
Refried confusion is making itself clear
Wonder which way do I go to get on out of here

Time to go out and see the world and let the world view me again.

May this day pass for you in comfort and security, perhaps with a little booze.

Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music — Passing On

Ashland, southern Oregon. Monday, September 14, 2026.

Autumn continues showing in the valley here, with leaves putting on their fall foliage of reds, golds, yellows, and orange. Leaves haven’t begun aggressively falling.

It’s 57 F right now. Today’s high will be 79 F. We’re going into summer’s last fling. It feels and smells more like autumn today.

Another rock guitarist passed away. Cheetah Chrome, lead guitarist for the Dead Boys, passed away at 71. I had their debut album, “Young, Loud, and Snotty”. Picked it up when it came out in 1977. My wife, mother, sisters, and cousins all professed to hate it.

I got great joy out of their response. Punk wasn’t about being ‘liked’. I admired how it reshaped what music could, should, and would be. People often prefer things be put into neat boxes, especially pop music, art, and literature.

It also pleased me to surprise others that I, a young Air Force NCO with, trim hair, tidy dress, enjoyed the raucousness that punk often delivered.

In these times of Trump, I think punk, rock, and rap all need to make a resurgence, establish a new identity. Don’t know if that’s in the young musicians of these times. Of course, I’m not tuned in to it. Older now, to label what I am. *smile*

Here’s to the punkers, and to Chrome. Here is “Sonic Reducer.”

May the punker in you never waste away.

Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music — Goner

Ashland, southern Oregon. Sunday, September 13, 2026.

Autumn is moving in like it owns the place. Summer looks like a goner. It’s 60 F right now, and feels chillier than that. Rain fell this morning. Sunshine has arrived but today’s high is projected to be an anemic 70 F.

Mom’s story goes on. She and I spoke briefly Friday and Saturday. I called again today but she didn’t answer. She seems like she’s in a good mood. Her voice is soft and weak. Long periods of silence dominate as she catches her breath or pauses to remember what she was saying. She often becomes bitter and angry, complaining about her daughters, her room, and problems that she has.

I’ve been a little harsh and angry with my sisters. Ali commented on a previous post saying that she thought my sisters were being strict.

Ali is right. This is exactly what I told my sisters to act months ago. They are acting in everyone’s best interest, limiting contact with Mom, using just one of us as a front.

I have the best relationship with Mom, so it falls to me to the messenger. I’m a little emotionally fatigued by the role. It’s stacking on top of other things happening in life.

That’s how it goes. Life doesn’t take time outs.

Reading the digital news today, it’s easy at this point to write Trump off as a goner. His popularity is falling but most prices and the overall cost of living is not. Some prescription drug prices fell but not nearly as many as he claims.

Oil prices are not falling as Trump’s Iran War continues.

Some records are falling, such as the Atlantic hurricanes record. This is the longest period on record, 103 days since the season began, without a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean. El Nino is being blamed.

I’ve always liked the word goner. I heard it mournfully declared of people in many western movies when I was a child. Things like, “Looks like Clem is a goner,” was part of the dialogue.

So I’m practicing saying it about Trump. “Looks like Trump is a goner.” I could be speaking of him politically, metaphorically, or about his popularity. “Looks like Trump is a goner” works in all three areas.

Thinking about Trump being a goner brought the song into my morning mental music stream. “Goner” is a melancholy twenty one pilots song which was released in 2015. The song has simple lyrics and a straightforward structure.

Sample Lyrics

I’m a goner, somebody catch my breath
I’m a goner, somebody catch my breath
I wanna be known by you
I wanna be known by you
I’m a goner, somebody catch my breath
I’m a goner, somebody catch my breath
I wanna be known by you
I wanna be known by you

h/t to Genius.com

May good times and good health fill your hours today and tonight, and on in an unbroken string of days, weeks, and months.

Cheers

2

Saturday’s Theme Music — Traitors

Ashland, southern Oregon. Saturday, September 12, 2026.

Sunny today, but also cloudy. Today’s high is expected to strike the low seventies. It’s 66 F now.

Rain is expected after five PM. That has me on a schedule. I cleaned half our gutters on Tuesday, then went for beers with friends Wednesday, blew off finishing the gutters on Thursday, and went shopping with my wife on Friday. So, I must finish dragging the ladder around today. Not difficult or challenging. I just prefer reading and writing.

I’m preparing for the next spinoff of “The Walking Dead” franchise: Mitch Returns. I’m certain there will be little action, lot of pathetic platitudes about greatness, and applause. They’ll continue to ignore the double standard that Mitch, working for We the People, took several months off work, something working Americans can rarely do.

Many believe that we saw a lot of evidence that Trump is falling apart. Trump has been a slow train wreck for the last twenty years, but those MAGAzens are wrecks themselves, falling apart. They happily follow a leader falling apart.

JD Vance has been stepping up, making more speeches, trying to stir confidence in him, positioning himself to be Trump’s successor. JD Vance might as well be a zombie, given his uninspiring demeanor and lackluster speaking skills. He’s not a thinker or orator, but he’s a damn good liar, willing to make things up as needed to gain power.

Today’s morning mental music stream inhabitant is “traitor”. Olivia Rodrigo wrote and sings the song, which came out in 2021. Her song is about dating a guy who insists he wasn’t cheating on her but after they broke up, he was dating the ‘other woman’ within two weeks.

Sample Lyrics

And ain’t it funny? All the twisted games
All the questions you used to avoid

And that’s what we have with Trump, the GOP, and MAGAzens, for me: “All the questions you avoid.”

They’re traitors to principles, truth, and facts. Ain’t it funny how they ignore the money that Trump is making, and how he ‘jokes’ about cheating, just like he joked about other things, which he then turned around and did.

May your day be one that finds you refreshed and satisfied when you look back.

Cheers

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