The End

 For those that have been reading and following Ric's posts, I have some bad news for you.

Ric passed away September 21, 2023.  

 

I may post something once in awhile; but do not hold your breath.

Sleepless in Zephyrhills

I was up until 2:30 AM, not able to sleep. I tried to go lay down but just stared at the clock for a couple hours. Screw that. So if this is even more incoherent than usual, now you know why.

The situation in Maui is going from bad to worse. It's been, what? Over 10 days since the fire burned down Lahaina? Where is FEMA? People are sleeping on sidewalks. No one seems to be looking for the dead anymore. Now the Mayor's office is issuing eviction notices to people whose houses didn't burn down. What in the ever-loving fuck? Meanwhile, Biden can't be bothered. He's on vacation ya see. Holy shit, man! Grow up! You're the fucking President! Lose the board shorts and wife beater, put on a suit and tie, get your ass into the Oval Office and address the nation! God damn, dude!

Trump continues to kill it out on the campaign trail. Everywhere he goes, crowds of thousands come from hundreds of miles to cheer and support him, even when he's heading into court for more bullshit lawfare. Talk about election interference. I love that Trump is skipping the debates to do an interview with Tucker Carlson. Wanna bet which one has more viewers? Understand that I'm saying this as someone who is... well... less than impressed with Trump. But you look at him at an event, or just walking down the street shaking hands and talking to people. Then look at Biden. No wonder the DNC is doing everything it can to keep Trump off the ballot.

Of course that assumes Biden is going to be on the ballot. It looks like CNN got ahead of the story the other day, referring to Biden as Former President Joe Biden. I'm sure they corrected it immediately, but not before a bunch of people did screen grabs and plastered them all over Twitter. My question is, what do they know that we don't? Is Kamela Harris our president? (God help us all!)

Speaking of Tucker, the guy is on fire! Hour-plus interviews with Bobby Kennedy, Vivek Ramaswamy, and (soon) Donald Trump. All he needs to fill out his dance card is to get Cornel West to come on his show. Not sure that will happen what with Tucker being "far-right" and all, but I think it would be one damn interesting conversation if he did!

On the home front, I had to stop taking my RA meds because I was put on antibiotics for my screwed up ear. Of course withing a few days I started having joint pain (mostly my jaw), swelling of one side of my face, pain in my temple, etc. At first, I was blaming it on whatever infection had attacked my ear, but then I did some thinkin'. I started taking the steroids I use as a back-up to my normal RA, and within 48 hours, everything is fine. Even the pain in my ear stopped. I still can't hear much with that ear, but even that seems to be very gradually getting better. Not sure what all that means, but I guess I'll just dump it all on my doc and see what he says.

Now if the steroids would just stop kicking my ass and let me get some sleep, I'll be doing fine.

So Much to Bitch About

Where do we even start? The Biden Crime Family looks to just get away with all the grifting because the House GOP is worth less than tits on a boar hog. More charges against Donald Trump with each indictment more ridiculous than the last. Lahaina, Maui is burned to ashes with scores dead (unofficial estimates I've seen from EMS on the ground say it will eventually be between 500 and 1,000 dead), and our "president" laughs is off with a "No comment". East Palestine is still a toxic nightmare six months after the train derailment.

First, I think it is time and past time for saner heads to tell Ol' Joe to just stay on the beach and invoke the 25th Amendment. Yes, I'm aware that makes Kamala our president, but what other option do we have? Let an obviously... well... diminished (to say it nicely) president bumble around while God only knows who really runs the show? I know Kamala is an idiot, but I don't think she would be stupid enough to push the button. I'm not so sure about whoever is using Uncle Joe as a sock puppet.

Second, it's obvious that our judicial system is completely broken. Not sure exactly how to fix that other than the states refusing to do the bidding of the federal courts. The counter to that is that the federal courts have their own police force/army in the form of the FBI, but I don't think they would be idiotic enough to take on a state's National Guard.

Or we do what so many others already have done: leave. I hear St. Petersburg is beautiful this time of year....

Radio Silence

Sorry for disappearing for the last twelve days or so. I had a rather bizarre medical issue that pretty much took me out completely. For several days, my left ear was plugged, like I'd just got off a plane, except it wouldn't clear. I already had an appointment with my primary and figured I would bring it up with him when I saw him. Then out of the blue, I had the most intense pain I've ever experienced, like I was being stabbed in my ear hole. That lasted for about 10 hours, then all hell broke loose. Funky, bloody puss shot out of my ear all over my shirt and kept draining out for about a week. The current theory is I had some sort of inner ear infection, so I've been downing antibiotics like crazy. I'm not sure it's really working, but I guess I just have to wait it out. At least I don't have smelly gunk pouring out of my ear hole, so I can at least go out in public.

So now I'm in catch-up mode after basically sleeping for a week straight. And just because I didn't have enough to deal with, I went and got myself elected to the board of our local Moose Lodge. That comes with a bunch of responsibilities that at a minimum will get my lazy ass out of the house at least a couple times a week. We'll just have to see how that goes with all my other medical crap we have to deal with.

I could get into the whole political mess that the race for the presidency has become, but I seriously have a stack of papers I need to get into the computer. Hopefully I'll be back sooner rather than later.

Happy Anniversary!!

I got mixed up on my days and didn't realize today was our anniversary until my phone reminded me. Guess I need to set my phone to remind me the day before so I don't get into trouble.

Anyway. Onward!

You make me feel at home
You, you make me feel at home
This love, it grows
No matter where we go
You make me feel at home

Debbie, I want you to know that it doesn't matter where we end up, as long as you are there, it will always be home.

Love you for all time.

Ron DeSantis

From where I sit, Ron DeSantis has nuked his political career. Debbie and I have lived in Florida for about 13 years. We're not really political people any more. I was heavily into it at one time, but... well... running for office cured me of the delusion that voting and "democracy" is anything other than smoke-and-mirrors. But I still kept my toe in so I knew who DeSantis was when he first became governor. Initially I wasn't really impressed. He just seemed like another empty suit. Then he started to make some bold moves that I liked, as well as the vast majority of other people here in Florida as demonstrated by his overwhelming second term win. 

Then he decided to piss on all the people who voted him in with the understanding that he would complete his second term, then consider a run at the presidency in 2028. I mean, it is a law in Florida that you cannot run for another office while holding office. Heh. We all know that laws are for peons like us, not Really Important People like Ron. So he started in a hole with his home-state voters and proceeded to dig himself in deeper by attacking first Trump, then Trump voters, seeming to completely forget that MAGA put him in office. Twice.

But he wasn't done digging, or at least the brainless morons on his campaign staff weren't done. In the last couple of months, when it was clear to EVERYONE that DeSantis had zero chance against Trump, his staff released a series of the most tone-deaf ads that I have ever seen in the 58+ years I've been on this planet. The last one even included the state flag with a Nazis black sun superimposed over it and lines of soldiers. WTF! Now donors are fleeing, his campaign is shedding staff like a Bouvier sheds hair in spring, and every poll shows him losing voters in droves.

Bottom line: Ron DeSantis is done. At this point, he has pissed off so many Florida voters I doubt he could get elected dog catcher. He needs to end the madness, apologize to Trump and MAGA voters, finish his work here in Florida (he can start by addressing the property insurance disaster), then find a nice quiet beach and disappear from public life.

On that depressing note, it's off to bed.