THE WEEK THAT WAS (March 22) (Warning: kind of political..)

 MONDAY:  Even Elon Musk's vast fortune (earned btw) has to have its limits when your innovative driverless cars keep crashing and spaceships tip over, blow up or burn. But he did get that sports car loving mannequin up orbiting the earth. Just don't expect to find me in line to buy a ticket for any of it.

Revenge gods at work today. I told the Michael's store I preferred not to give my email/telephone number/first born to their computer system as "I am not a crafter; you just have stuff I like now and then". Then I found out the highly-anticipated proclamation I wrote for the conference, declaring April 13 & 14 Conference "Safety Days", will be passed Wednesday but we are not allowed to attend the formal "shoving through" of the bill by the Legislature in person at the Capitol. Another photo op lost in this virtual/pandemic world.  

TUESDAY:  So infantile that our Repub legislature is holding up school funding, (that will actually get children back to school) unless the Governor gives up her authority. What the F? This gamemanship has real consequences you yo-yos. Money not used lapses back to the Feds. Ever heard the expression "he was right but he was dead right". Also "cutting off her nose to spite her face". What's the big gain here - vote her out election time but otherwise do your job which does not constitute screwing people and institutions that need the money. The way you've rigged the voting districts (gerrymandering) you probably won't lose your majority either. Why are they only listening to minority mouths (that's right, dems are in the majority if you let all of us vote). You know the ones who want to open everything. Open sports causing the virus variants to multiply along their merry way, (our young deacon just got diagnosed). Open restaurants with no rules where the employees suffer the consequences. Open access and no background checks or restrictions for any military weapon, or unlimited magazines (why can't we buy bazookas, flame throwers and tanks). Darwin rules, but instead of thinning the inferior herd, the strong and innocent keep paying the price.  

UPDATE: In case there was any doubt, the head of the GOP in Michigan was recorded calling the three most powerful politicians in Michigan (female) witches who should be softened up to burn at the stake. Now I do despise certain people and their actions but funny how I would never think to call an evil male protagonist a "pencil-dick numbskull who deserved to die" publicly.  Funny how men always attack women in such a way like they are not worthy of (or are afraid of) a real confrontation. Though to be fair I do believe men will insult each other that way, just not formally and on record however. 

On another front, I was being serviced today by an Asian-American clerk at the store and I wanted to just say "I'm sorry for the idiots who think your beautiful brown eyes aimed toward heaven are worthy of derision and censure." Hate for no reason except your own fear is certainly a legacy of the last four years. I know there have aways been bias' that attack anything or anyone different but 45 gave voice to it and declared it ok-what a legacy for a President.

Humorous side note.  Watching a commerical for Poshmark where people sell luxury used goods for 100's of dollars - "from their closet" which totally financed their luxury travel trailer or  three story house.  What am I missing here? Didn't you have to pay 100's or more for these items new? Or maybe the idea is to give you 100's of dollars so you can add to it and buy more luxury goods to sell out of your closet. I did have a couple of terms of economics back in the 70's but I don't think buying and selling has changed all that much.

WEDNESDAY: White wine is usually easy on the palate from the get-go; most red wines take real committment. I needed that little glass of red after engaging in techie warfare with all the neat little gadgets I received for recording the podcasts. Also several more leads were eagerly delivered. Apparently people are fervent about sharing their knowledge or gaining notoriety in the safety world. The role of the host is to stay nimble and ask the right questions, create pithy and helpful summaries and be the gate-keeper against any over-commercialization by the interviewees. I am both excited and terrified I am going to fall flat on my face. At least I have gotten used to listening to my own recorded voice. Gosh do I talk fast. Need to ssssllllloooowwww down.

Our Conference Executive Director sent me the back drop for my recorded Welcome Speech to open the conference. She was all excited as she knew I wanted balloons, lots of balloons at the banquet. It's just not the same....

THURSDAY:  After months of ranting on various platforms and inciting millions to scream election fraud, rigged voting machines and providing justification for an armed insurrection, Sidney Powell (after being sued for 1.3 billion dollars) claimed she was only kidding...right.  She claimed no "reasonable person" would believe the bogus claims she made. Truth is not the truth; don't believe what you see; 1984, you were a little late. Wow if guns are not the problem and people are, she certainly handed a bunch of weapons to all these little "problems" who continue to rant on. Which of course has led to the all-out assault on voting rights with 240+ bills floated by republican legislatures to make the system safe and fraud-free when it was ALREADY safe and fraud-free.

FRIDAY:  Major storms in Georgia affecting and crippling thousands and their legislature spends the day passing draconian laws to suppress voting.  Priorities. If you have to win by cheating....We may have won the White House but focus has to be on these people-bashing State houses. They even made it a crime to give food or drink to someone in line to vote. Yes I know in the "olden days" bad, bad politicians would cart everyone to the local saloon and fill them with booze to vote for them, but come on. Gets mighty toasty and humid in Georgia, especially after you limited:  absentee voting; drop boxes; number of days to vote; and polling places thus forcing people (read certain ethnic groups) to stand in line for hours just to perform their rights as citizens. Our own wonderful State withholding money until the Governor cries Uncle. Impossible situations. 

BONUS THOUGHT: I know how to get that darn container barge out of the Suez. Just put some gamers in there who love the old school Tetris challenge.  They'll get that round peg in a square hole in no time! Not original but have to share. The barge has blocked so much stuff in the Suez Canal they've renamed it the Mitch McConnell...

SATURDAY:  What would life be like if the repubs focused on something other than Dr Seuss, 

Mr. Potato Head and Meghan Markle; maybe grown-up issues like guns, the pandemic, the economy. The R's are all about limited government while they move to regulate our faith choices, bodies, voting practices, mail, schools, etc., etc. I think they don't know what the hell they stand for, except to ban books and higher education, barefoot and pregnant as they used to say. Keep 'em dumb, uninformed, busy and poor sounds about right.What went on in Georgia is downright obscene with six white men crowded around the Governor under a portrait of the slave-owning Callaway Plantation signing away voting rights while a black female State representative is arrested for knocking on his door. The South has never changed and nowadays they "frankly just don't give a damn".

SUNDAY: Taking a break from all the practicing and script re-writing. Though while walking I did realize I was making myself crazy trying to memorize a complicated script. The OH gave me an idea to keep it conversational and "slow down". It hit me. Just little trigger notes, like I used to do for speeches and improvise on the fly. Use my words not someone elses', duh.

Happy Palm Sunday. Our new crop has joined their brother and sister palms on the wall...