ONE SIP AT A TIME (October 28)

YOU RANG? Though my M.O. is to ignore any phone call that has no identity attached, one spammer or political pusher was truly ingenious the other day by managing to ring both my cell phone and the wireless house phone at the exact same moment.  One has to marvel at the AI involved in that feat to ring two different numbers at the same time. Of course, no message screams "BOGUS" so no harm no foul, just happy music playing in the background depending on which ring tone one chooses. I'm assuming it was my daily  ,la  check-in. Even with her busy schedule she texts and phones every day.

I've seen/heard several comments that  ,la  did nothing as Vice-President. Hello, do we need to drag out the old civics book outlining duties of the VP?  Which A #1 you are not in charge. Your ideas may be listened to, but you are not in charge. You have no power. You are the back-up. You are not in charge. This is the Pres's legacy not yours. You are not in charge. Pence was considered inconsequential collateral damage by the Prez when they stormed the castle on January 6 screaming for Mike's blood. Haven't you ever noticed (probably not) that VPs who get elected as Prez act totally differently than when they were VP? Surprise, not really. How many times have I second-guessed the boss and got my as-- handed to me or they take a different track. Or how many of my ideas became theirs.  I swear we lose all our common sensical genes when politics are involved. Oh yeah, one project (hot potato) she was handed was the border issue. When a bi-lateral partial solution was offered, it proceeded to be shat upon. So, there's that. 

HOUSE CALLS Hearing news reports on first-time home buyers in Lansing having different avenues to pursue in obtaining mortgages and down payment assistance I am reminded of an interesting program created in my time at the City. The Mayor charged the Finance Director and me to come up with a program to assist public safety employees (think fire/police) in purchasing homes in Lansing. The plan provided a $5,000 loan to purchase a house in the City of Lansing. We made it forgivable a thousand each year that they stayed in the home. More fire/police homeowners in Lansing with a stake in the city, empty houses going to folks with a stake in the city- Win Win. The City Attorney signed off and we were in business.  However, as I am not a real estate aficionado, I had to learn about liens the hard way. 

Do you know you have to file a lien against the property filed with the county clerk to assure you get your investment back? No, I didn't either. I was able to catch my mistake early on (don't remember how) and all was good. Except for one enterprising young man who managed to snag two more loans (liens) on the $5,000 property equity before I was able to place ours making the City third. I left for MIOSHA before I had to explain it, so I'm sure it all worked out. LOL. After that possible debacle I had them sign a lien agreement when they got their check which I immediately filed. Frightening, but back in the day you could just walk into the County Clerk's office and ask to see the property paperwork and just attach your lien agreement to it. I literally was given access to the file cabinet to perform the task. Wonder how that works now. Might be worth checking out....

Also, in another eye-opener doing research for a candidate I was supporting; I found out you can go to the County Court and have them pull a criminal file for you to peruse. They will even make copies for you. Isn't that nice? 

WINE DOWN Continuing my wine theme from last week, I am amazed at the number of "supposedly sophisticated" wine drinkers who will unilaterally claim "I don't drink Michigan wines". They try to excuse it with some mish mosh about too dry, too young, too Michigan. Actually, they have not even tried said wines from the 140 or so vineyards in Michigan. Of the three snobs I am thinking of, two are overseas travelers so they may have tasted a variety of different vintages in their home vineyards. Ah, that is the key for me. When I was in France, the local cheap home-brew grape was always delicious. I am of the opinion that personal taste is everything. And since the Traverse City area is on the same geographic parallel as wine country in France, maybe worth a try?

Now beer is different. I became a Miller advocate after tasting their product fresh off the rack so to speak. Never been the same taste away from their home base, however. Same with Guiness that I tasted for the first time in their brewery in Ireland-overlooking downtown Dublin from their sky tower I might add. Ambience and all that but have never had a good Guiness here actually. 

Every wine, every season, every vineyard is different. Yes, pinot noir in Oregon and cabernet sauvignon in Washington tasted better in California as it was my first time with either vintage. But to arbitrarily say I will only drink wine from a particular place closes the door to tasting adventures. Plus, every year is different based on weather, etc.  Personally, wine bum that I am, I will drink anybody's sauvignon blanc as long as it's properly chilled  

Apropos of nothing MONKEYS!  I could not resist this picture, but I had to lay a proper foundation and yes, they are actually real flowers.  Also, I always refer to the VP as  ,la as no one seems to know how to pronounce her name properly.

                                                         

    "Wine improves with age. I improve with wine"   Peace out.....💚   💙💛

LIKE A FINE WINE (October 21)

ROCKING WITH THE OLDIES Ok, Ok. We officially drifted into the old people's table at lunch the other day. We were covering family, current events, the cost of bongos in Mongolia when the first tease into doctor/malady world occurred. We strived to stay on point, but another comment trickled out until we were knee deep in how many doctors one has seen in the last month; how are the eyeball treatments going (multiple participants); finally morphing into recovery stories, number of preventative shots and their efficacy; latest weird symptoms.  Yep-it's the old people table. Damn. Resistance is futile. Still beats talking about HIM though...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT If Pres Obama had secret phone calls with one of our greatest enemies he would be tarred, feathered, run out on a rail and prosecuted as a traitor. But that was when we cared about such things.

Speaking of prison. One brother called his twin brother from prison "Hey remember when we were kids and used to finish each other's sentences?" Mic drop. And have you ever noticed people say, and write, two twins. I would call that rather redundant. Maybe if one does not have twins those who do, do not believe we know that. I have never heard anyone say three triplets or 4 quads. Twins must be a bridge too far for an assumption.

ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER DOC OH has been having a miserable time with knee pain leading to leg swelling leading to ankle swelling leading to hip pain leading to back leading to shoulders - well you know the song. Our doctor, throwing phrases out like, it's your life, you must have this test right away. Then we'll worry about the pain issue. Off to the health center for an ultrasound to rule out DVT (deep vein thrombosis). Thank goodness it was the same day as OH was basically at the point of "kill me now".  Oddly a good friend of ours called the same day to ask if we had thought anymore about buying funeral plots together. So our kids could visit us together.  As if. I originally thought she was kidding. As I relayed the conversation, again the OH was of the mindset it was good timing. 

Anyway, another old person reminder. Everyone in the Health Center (well 80%) were of a particular age punctuated by a variety of assistive devices. Watch your toes from the walker crushers and your head from the cane wielders. Not to mention the decibel level as some needed ear assistive devices. For those who could hear, we got blow-by-blow of everyone's malady when they signed in at reception.  I told OH to ask the technician not to tell him the sex of the baby, you know ultrasound and all. He later reported that he was not the first to make what we thought was an inspired remark. Good thing we don't break down physically at the same time. Though I told our Doctor we need to get him well as he's the cook or a I foresee a future of frozen pizza and take-out. 

NEXT COURSE If the insanity plea or, if god forbid, the 25th amendment have to be invoked the T-cell is making a good case for it. When asked how he would address inflation when the numbers have come down so much, he "rambled" about we would make donuts, we have the ovens. If I had not heard that with my own ears....on a Fox town meeting no less. Another gem from that meeting was the claim of being "Father of IVF". I think he believes it stands for Irresistible Voluptuous Flatulence. Due to his claim that he "weaves" his ramblings my take is that he's tying up the donut statement.

Has to be said. Forget about the economy for a hot minute and vote like the lives of the women in your life depend on it. My own experience miscarrying my second child and the requisite, and sad, painful procedure that followed would probably land me in jail if the fanatics get their way. 

FINAL RANDOM THOUGHTA lot of 4-way stops out by the lake. There is an "understanding" that whoever gets there first goes first-easy peasy. But one must take into account the aggressor factor these days and the size of the vehicle being challenged. And the excessive need to be in a hurry all the time. Though I sincerely believe "he who hesitates is last" I normally choose the better of part of survival. Making eye contact is essential as well. Being older and wiser has its advantages. Peace out 💚 💙💛

                                                    

22 DAYS (October 14)

Maybe it's too soon but...

The start of the NHL season for the Lightnings (Tampa Bay) and Hurricanes (Raleigh North Carolina) postponed by lightning and hurricanes. 

AD-LIBS Anybody in the room sick of the constant barrage of political cartoons, er er, ads?  Just raise your hands. Oh, that's pretty much everyone in the room. Considering many are taken out of context and selected sound bites, it results in some interesting accusations. Based on information presented, I am locking my cookie jar, and I wouldn't trust any of them to clean out the kitty litter box. Like a debate. If you spend all your time fact checking and defending against your opponent, you don't get to state your own ideas. Sigh. I actually won my one and only debate in high school as my opponent forgot what side she was defending and stated my arguments for the proposal. During my turn, I just agreed. Slam dunk for the A!

Does anyone actually do a little research after hearing the latest shocker? Oh, by the way, EV mandates will not eliminate gas-powered cars so folks can always buy them. Me, I'm investing in hydrogen which produces water vapor rather than environment choking exhaust or flammable lithium batteries. And, yes, this type of engine has been around for a while but for some reason there is a powerful lobby that keeps it under wraps. Hmm. 

NEWBIE ATTACKS I know hazing has got a bad reputation. From innocently performing valet duties for upper classmen, egging the chancellor's house or forcing serenades of nubile co-eds it has morphed into truly dangerous territory involving alcohol. Pledges have been injured and died due to such "antics" and fraternities are rightfully, losing their operational status on campus and being charged. However, no one can hold a torch to military rites of passage. In a fatigued state and at dusk I observed our local National Guard helicopters hovering with lines attached to log-shaped objects. For one wild instant I thought they were "baptizing" the new recruits and testing their bravery by suspending them from the helicopters. Now that's rough. It's the landing that is a problem. You've got to place that landing gear just right...My managerial hazing routine was scaring the hell out of new emps with a lot of direct eye contact and never smiling.

RECYCLE Driving by the extensive renovations occurring to the local wastewater plant reminded me of my days as the safety skate for the city. I had to LITERALLY train workers of what to do if one of the 500-pound sanitizing chlorine tanks sprung a leak! To any sane person the lethal cloud that would ensue only requires one to run like hell. Apparently, that was not an option. We had to go through how to plug the leak, I kid you not. Actually, as I recall the whole trick is turning the tank over and then plugging it as the gas is heavier than air. Why do I know these things? 

No one was more relieved than I when we were able to switch to ultraviolet light and get rid of the tanks. We won't talk about how much danger the north side was in with those tanks nearby. Actually, little happy bugs do most of the sanitizing of, shall we say, fecal material and the plant actually puts treated water into the river that is cleaner than the river. Talk about high-tech recycling before it was cool. 

FLOORED As of last Friday, we have re-floored every floor in the house. The only one not touched is the nice green carpet in K's old room. We dedicated that entire room in homage to MSU in hopes the daughter would take the hint. Took her a year or two in "other" institutions until she bit the bullet and graduated in that handsome green cap and gown. The last hold-out room was a spare that sported, wait for it, bright, crispy, orange shag carpet!  LOL. The installers word was "crispy", and they weren't kidding. I think there were puffs of orange shag all the way to their truck. Good luck getting those stubborn remnants out of the nooks and crannies. 

Sometimes I feel sorry for MATGR (Maggie Green) who must have a 24/7 QANON hootenanny going on up there in unreality world. Peace out....💚  💙💛

                                                         

FALL FOIBLES (October 7)

"What do you call a fish with no eyes?  FSH"

FISH STORY Posting from the lake as Grandpa (Big Joe) and Joe (JP) crammed in one last long fishing weekend. Catching two legal walleye and a bass was swoon-worthy by the younger Joe. He helped (watched) Grandpa clean and cut up his walleye fillets and was determined to have them for dinner. We're sending them home with him. JP was extremely impressed with the razor-sharp knife used in the process which is why he mostly watched. JP is still at the age where he is interested in everything and willing to help and learn. Knot tying needs some work, but he'll get there. I can monitor progress and successes as JP actually uses his phone, unlike Grandpa who never turns his on, to call me when they are coming in so I can get the pizza ordered.                                                                                                          

REALLY POINDEXTER? Though sounding sane and reasonable, JD Vance still could not tell the truth. He's just smoother at it. The biggest lie of course is January 6 was a "peaceful demonstration". But the most troubling was his inability to admit Rumpie lost, and he would do what Pence would not-throw out legally obtained and certified votes by "we the people".  Vote blue-don't care what you do down the ballot but the ex-prez has to be in our rearview mirror.

Worse still, though it seems hard to imagine it can get worse, is the horrible lie that the Biden administration is not helping the hurricane victims and the maga groupies are spreading it. FEMA is a dedicated/restricted fund. It cannot be used for other purposes, although Rumple did divert some of its sister funding for immigration suppression. Back in the day when he had the power, he refused to help those States he considered "blue" and not sufficiently loyal to his royal arse. This is more than an us vs. them issue. These are people's lives they are screwing with. Just ask the Governors and Congress people from the hurricane-devastated states. Even they say the Maggot leader is lying, probably because they are concerned we might snub them for being red states because isn't what they would do?? Sad. We are all Americans in need of help.  

RESEARCH As ex-pres Carter celebrates his 100th birthday one realizes he has been in hospice for almost two years. I find this interesting as it strikes close to home for me. In July 2015 after a serious bout with melanoma and the cancer spreading to his liver, small spots were found in Carter's brain. Fortunately, cancer research had progressed to where immune therapy was a viable option. In simple terms, it activates a person's immune system by harvesting T-cells, infusing them with specific antigens and infusing them back in the patient. Creating your own personal super-cells to fight your specific form of cancer. 

What a marvelous breakthrough considering all the time and money put into cancer research rather than supporting grants to determine whether clouds are male or female or why toads prefer a full moon to procreate (obviously being sarcastic). However, if you listen to Margorie Taylor Green (MATGR) apparently, the dems could control the weather if they wanted to and hurricanes would not be so destructive. I can only picture the blues, riding a donkey of course, lassoing errant storm clouds and sending them into space where they can meet up with those laser throwing Jewish meteorologists to neutralize the forest fires they cause. Whew. No doubt MATGR has personal intelligence as she Hoovers her way into the sky on her million-dollar broom limo. Which totally explains why the speaker of the house will not bring a FEMA funding request to Congress (who are adjourned to campaign) meant to help our citizens out of their current tragic circumstances, which they obviously caused themselves. Huh? Like one wag said "even cows know better than to elect the dumbest cow as the leader". 

Why President Carter's case is personal is because my father who died in February 2014 had melanoma and later developed small spots in his brain.  When he passed, we were literally told he died of old age. At almost 90, he was an active vital person who "died of old age". They never used the C word, but it makes you wonder. Was the therapy too new? Or didn't he have the right insurance or name? But perhaps we had another option. 

TRAVELING There has been much back and forthing due to laying up Madam Pontoon and taking Joe fishing, so lots of road time. Must be the season, but there are a lot of dead animals scattered across the highways and byways. Squirrels of course-little squish; right up to monster racoon and groundhog types. Always alone. I ponder the spouse, children, friends left behind. At what point do they notice the food gathering has taken a multiple percentage drop? The giant deer smears I attribute to the semis hauling food and supplies then inadvertently nailing those out for a dinner, ironically, or a little hanky panky.  

"I'm at the age where I appreciate a good handrail"...Peace out  💚  💙💛