The year in review

2020 was a pretty crappy year for most of us. I'm sure that if we had the chance to live the year over again, we would probably decline the offer. Who the hell wants to go through that shit again. It would be like reliving a dentist appointment to have two cavities filled.

Since we don't want to relive it, let's just look back on it and pray to whatever gods you pray to that they've had enough entertainment and it's time to let us get back to being human again:

January

• Alex Cora got fired as manager of the Red Sox because it turns out he was the mastermind behind the Astro's "Trash Can Bangers" cheating scandal.


• The Democrats decided that since they couldn't beat Trump in a fair fight, they would impeach him and have him thrown out of office.


• Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs beat Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers in the Superb Owl. Tom Brady had no comment.

🖕

February

• Turns out the democrats can't even beat Trump in an unfair fight and he was acquitted of all impeachment charges against him.


• In an effort to have their worst season ever, the Red Sox traded Mookie Betts to the Dodgers. They also announced that Ron Roenicke would be the manager. This led to a collective, "Who?" from the fan-base.


• Not to be outdone by the sudden announcement of a pandemic, the stock market crashed and my retirement account lost almost 9% of its value.

🖕

March

• Despite her deep-seated belief that she is popular all over the country, Lizzy Warren discovered that she isn't even all that popular in her own state when she lost the Massachusetts Primary, coming in a distant third to Biden and Sanders. She did, however, beat late-arriver Mike Bloomberg and all of the "Withdrawn" candidates


• The entire world pretty much closed up shop and sent everyone home because of the 'rona. For the record, it was necessary but it still sucked.


• We learned very quickly that there are a lot of scumbags in our world when people bought all of the toilet paper they could get their hands on and started selling it on ebay for 5 times what they paid for it. "Toilet Paper Hoarder" became a new insult.


• Tom Brady decided he'd had enough of the cold New England winters and he left Foxborough, MA for the much warmer climate of Tampa Bay, FL. This caused a lot of "TB12" fanboys to have a breakdown, crawl into a corner and start rocking back & forth while sucking their thumbs.


• In an effort to really make the first quarter of 2020 as miserable as possible, my retirement account continued to decline rapidly, ending the month down almost 40%

🖕

April

• Because the year wasn't bad enough, we found that we could no longer watch our faithful companion suffer any longer and we made the decision to ease his pain. Kirby was a great dog and I still miss him.


• Researchers discovered the first written use of the "F" word. It was a school paper written by a Scottish student who was in lockdown during the plague. I think we can all agree that using the "F" word during a pandemic is appropriate.


• The word "covidiot" entered our lexicon.


• We all started working from home. At first, I thought it would be terrible but turns out I was wrong. It's actually a good thing when your morning commute is 15 steps from the kitchen to a spare bedroom turned office.


• The Great Horned Owl population in my backyard increased by 4 when we discovered first a single and then three more hatchlings hanging out in the trees behind our house.


• Trump, trying to show us he was a real scientific genius, suggested that we could beat the 'rona by injecting a disinfectant into our veins. This caused the company Reckitt Benckiser, the manufacturer of Lysol, to issue the following statement:
  We must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route).

🖕

May

• My daughter completed her education and was awarded the degree "Doctor of Veterinary Medicine". This was cause for celebration but thanks to the 'rona, we weren't allowed to celebrate. Hell, we weren't even allowed to attend a graduation ceremony and instead, we clustered around our respective laptops and watched a video of the university president reading all the graduate names. But that didn't matter. What mattered is that my little girl achieved a childhood dream and I am, as always, the proud dad.


• Due to the decrease in demand, most colleges and universities began to see a decline in incoming students. This caused a lot of them to layoff faculty and staff. The college I work for was not immune to this and I was informed that I could take a layoff or remain on the payroll in a part-time status. After several minutes of deep thought, I said, "Sure, I'll go part time. That sounds like a good thing to me"


• Some states began to lift some 'rona restrictions and for the first time in a long time, I was able to get my hair cut.


• Jolee Rieffel released this year's mega-hit song I Wonder What's Inside Your Butthole. We anxiously await her next album

🖕

June

• We began dealing with a drought. It wasn't fun for my lawn or my new freshly-planted young trees.


• In direct violation of constitutional law, Trump threatened to use the US military to quell riots. This caused legal-beagels all over the country to have minor brain aneurysms and they all wrote lengthy documents explaining why this was probably the dumbest idea anyone has ever come up with. Then they were reminded about the whole, "Inject yourself with Lysol" idea and they all calmed down because despite the idiocy displayed by our president, this particular idea was not actually the dumbest one he'd ever had.

🖕

July

• In a display of his incredible genius and his ability to predict the future, Trump announced that the upcoming election would be corrupt.


• Major League Baseball began a shortened 60-game season. As far as this writer was concerned, the Red Sox were woefully unprepared for this season.


• Gary Larson announced that he was once again creating The Far Side cartoons and he would be releasing new ones on whatever schedule he felt like. In a year filled with shitty news, this was a bright, shiny gem.


• The Sisters (Cat1 and Cat2) came to live with us. I immediately found myself mumbling things like, "'Get cats!' they said, 'It'll be fun!' they said." Turns out it is kinda fun and they are entertaining as hell.


• My lawn finally gave up the ghost, turned a nice deep brown and the drought won. Two of the young trees managed to do okay but one of the young trees did not do well at all. It lost all of its leaves and went into a deep hibernation. At least I hope it went into a hibernation...

🖕

August

• I became a grandpa to the happiest little guy on the planet.


• Isaias came rumbling up the coast and knocked out our power for three days. Fortunately, I have a generator and plenty of gasoline.


• The college announced that all faculty and staff were required to have periodic covid tests. I had my first test and it came back negative. Every test I've had since then has come back negative. I am a negative guy.

🖕

September

• The Bruins lost in the weirdest series of round-robin playoffs I've ever seen.


• The airport I fly out of reopened and I was able to go flying with an instructor.


• The 2020 Red Sox looked like the 1983 Red Sox. They sucked.


• The drought began to ease and my lawn began to show signs of life.

🖕

October

• Trump got the 'rona but since he has his own private fleet of helicopters, his own private hospital and a staff of physicians on call in the same building he lives in, he was able to get immediate care.


• Trump proclaims himself cured of the 'rona and spends the next four days strutting around like a peacock showing us how manly is because he survived a virus thanks to the fact that he received medical care not available to all of us little people.


• Cam Newton got the 'rona. He still sucked as the Patriots quarterback but at least now he had an excuse.


• My daughter passed the boards and received her license to practice veterinary medicine. There was much rejoicing.


• The Dodgers won the World Series and Dave Roberts was able to keep his job as their manager.

🖕

November

• Massachusetts re-instituted some of the 'rona restrictions. This resulted in a large increase in the number of television commercials telling us to download an app that would help us get over our 'rona-induced depression.


• Joe Biden wins the 2020 presidential election and is elected the 46th President of the United States. Proving that he is at least a little bit smarter than Trump, Kanye West conceded to Biden.


• In order to make it look like his July prediction has come true, Trump says Biden didn't win the election, it's all a big scam, and he refuses to concede. To the rest of the world our country starts to look like a Monty Python skit. Trump will never admit defeat and I'm really hoping that four guys wearing dark sunglass & black suits unceremoniously toss him out of the White House onto Pennsylvania Ave on January 20th.


• The Red Sox announce that they have rehired Alex Cora as the team manager. There is no word yet if they will be replacing the metal trash cans with plastic trash bags.


• One of the great moments of live television happens when Rudy Giuliani schedules a press conference at what he thinks is The Four Seasons Hotel but is really Four Seasons Landscaping. He holds the press conference in the parking lot, in front of a large green garage door, right next door to Fantasy Island Adult Book Store which, by the way, was holding a sale called "Dildo Madness!"


• Another great moment of live television happens when Rudy holds a press conference at RNC headquarters and starts sweating so heavily that his hair dye (or whatever it is) begins to run down the side of his face on live television. I'm telling you folks, you can't make this shit up. That crazy Rudy, he makes for some pretty entertaining television shows.

🖕

December

• Despite being down almost 40% earlier in the year, my retirement account rebounds nicley and as the year comes to a close, it is up almost 20% for the year. This makes me very happy.


• William Barr, in his bid to become the next Trump ex-employee, announced that the Justice Department found no evidence of election fraud.


• After several lengthy meetings with his boss, William Barr suddenly announced that he was resigning as attorney general at the end of December, thus becoming the latest trump ex-employee.


• Twitter announced that it was probably going to ban Donald Trump after he leaves office. This move will force the late night talk show comedians to look elsewhere for their comedic fodder.

This completes my year in review offering. I'm sure I've missed some things and I'm sure I screwed something up but that's okay. None of what I write is important or ground-shaking. As a matter of fact, most of what I write is drivel.

⧫
Well, it's New Years Eve and every one is anxiously awaiting the end of this shithole of a year.

We plan on remaining in our happy little bubble, eating too much food, maybe drinking a bit and watching whatever virtual ball-drops are on television. I hope you all have a good night.

If you need something to do, start by clicking on these links:

• Only in Florida.



• Trust me, you do not want to do this. Chicken coops stink like nothing you've ever experienced.



• Key phrase in this story: "...residents were delighted by the unexpected visitor."



• Turns out the bomb maker in Nashville might have been a bit more sophisticated than originally thought.



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "6:10 p.m. A Hungry Horse woman whose TV was not working thought it could be unplugged. Dispatch asked her to call back tomorrow with an update.."



• I can't imagine what it must be like to stumble across some human heads just laying around in the desert.

No post today

I started working on a "Year in Review" and lost track of time.

Well, that, and the fact I ended up meeting up with some folks for adult beverages.

I'll post some things tomorrow.

Cam Newton is highly overrated

In July, when the Patriots announced that Newton would be their new quarterback, I was kind of on-board with that decision. I thought he would work out okay despite having not played for a year. After winning 2 of their first 3 games, I figured they would at least finish above .500 and maybe get into the playoffs.

Man, was I wrong.

They have one more game left to play and since they are playing the Jets, there is a very good chance they will end the season with a 7-9 record. But I'm thinking it's even money that the Jets might just win and the patriots will end up with a 6-10 record. That's a .375 record which is a pretty crappy record unless you're a baseball player and that's your batting average.

I think Belichick should give Stidham the ball next week and see what he can do with it. He can't possibly be worse than Newton.

I also think Belichick should not bring Newton back next season.

It was an interesting experiment but enough is enough.

⧫
Time for another speed test:

Yep, still getting what I'm paying for.

⧫
Here are some links that you may, or may not, find interesting:

• I predict that if the Senate passes it, Trump will veto it because he's freakin' crazy as a loon and he'll tweet something about never saying anything about $2,000 payments.



• During a normal year, this wouldn't even be news. In 2020, it's a catastrophe.



• Key phrase in this story: "I pulled it out and it was a pretty good size jar of weed."



• Key phrase in this story: "...stop her crime of driving reckless..."



• Fashion: I will never understand it.



• Maybe someone in the Soprano organization whacked a whale.

I'm building stuff

I spent a few hours today in full geek mode, building various gadgets and thing-a-ma-bobs using the Elegoo/Arduino Uno kit my daughter got me for Christmas.

Basically, I spent hours doing stuff like this:

This is very cool. The code is based on C++ but the board itself is really minimal. It has a tiny processor that communicates with various digital and analog contact points. I write code to tell the digital contacts to either be on (high) or off (low) which powers whatever I happen to have connected to them. Those things includes motors, LEDs, buzzers and sensors. In the case of the sensors, I write code to read the on/off value the sensor is returning.

I believe the analog contacts can be told to send varying amounts of power so they are not just on or off but have value. I'll play with them in the future. Right now, I'm just trying to get an understanding of what this little board can do.

Yes, I know I'm a nerd but that's okay. I've been a nerd my entire life. I'm also a pilot, a carpenter, a mechanic, a shootist, a skier, a baseball player and a beer drinker.

I am a jack of all trades and that includes spending 35+ years working with computers.

Being a nerd is just one of many things that I enjoy doing.

⧫
The Vet was supposed to have today off but at 1:00, she got a call saying one of her patients managed to destroy its stitches and open up the incision she had spent a lot of time stitching closed after some much-needed surgery.

I hear you asking yourself, "Self, I wonder how something like this happens..."

Well, let me tell you how it happens. The owners decided that since it was Christmas, Spot didn't need to wear the cone The Vet told them to he needed to wear. Spot, being a dog without a degree in medicine or the ability to understand any words other than "treat" immediately decided to scratch and chew at the incision until it started bleeding.

In my opinion, some people should not be allowed to own pets.

⧫
No air frying today. We've got to make a dent in these Christmas leftovers before the New Year's eat-o-rama occurs and we end up with lots more leftovers than we know what to do with.

The Bills are in town to play the Patriots so I'll watch a few minutes of that game this evening.

While I eat leftovers and watch bad football, you can do these:

• I bet they're a big hit with the beavers.



• Oh Canada.



• No one should be shocked by this. No one...



• This is why you should only buy pants with deep pockets.



• This reminds me of that old joke, "What do you call aliens around Uranus?"
  "Klingons!"
  Ha! Get it? "Cling Ons!"
  I crack me up.

Air Fryer Adventures

Last night, I air fried some calamari and it came out pretty damned good. The only problem was our choice of calamari. The breading was loaded with pepper and none of us are big fans of overly-spiced food.

Todays experiment was french fries. I cut up some potatoes, soaked them in salt water for about a half hour to remove as much starch as possible and then dried them off as best I could. I coated them in a little bit of olive oil and put them in the air fryer at 380° for 9 minutes. When the 9 minutes was up, I took the basket out and moved the fries around just to make sure all sides of the fries got exposed.

Then I put them back in for 7 more minutes. That was a total of 16 minutes.

When I took them out, I would say the looked more like baked potato strips then french fries so I put them back in for another 6 minutes.

After 22 minutes, I took them out and some of them looked little like fries and others looked like baked potato sticks.

They weren't bad but after 22 minutes, I was hoping for more a french fry than a baked potato stick.

Next up will be some Ore-Ida Golden Crispers. I'm hoping that what they lack in "home-made taste" they make up for by actually being french fries.

⧫
I'm still trying to build out my server and turn it into a NAS so I can do backups but I'm running into problems with samba.

File Sharing in a windows environment is easy - right click on the drive and select "share". Windows does everything, and more, that you need it to do. It is the "and more" part that I don't like. Microsoft spends way too much time trying to predict what I want and installing things I don't need. That's why

I'll continue plowing through this until I have a shared drive available for everyone on my network. There are a lot of helpful sites on the internet but they all seem to have their on take on how to do this and each one is a little different than all the others.

⧫
As for my other little electronic device, the Arduino, I've been playing with the code for it. Basically, the Arduino code platform is C++ and I kind of know that. All I really need to figure out is the pins and how the bus communicates with them.

So far, I've managed to make a LED blink at different rates. Next up will be making multiple LEDs blink and maybe change color. Eventually, I want to make a sensor that detects movement, takes a picture and sends it to me. I want to know what The Sisters and The Small Dog do all day when we aren't around.

⧫
The Steelers have just won their division so I've got a team I can watch in the playoffs.

You should visit these informative and entertaining links:

• The implication in this story is that it had meat in it to begin with.



• There are a lot of psychos in our society and some of them know the correct formula for ammonium nitrate and diesel, a.k.a. "AnFo".



• Key entry in our favorite police log: "10:17 a.m. Rabbits were loose at a gas station.."



• My favorite: "Your mom is a nice lady."



• Our government in action.

My server is running but not serving

I managed to get an OS loaded on to my Raspberry Pi machine, get it connected to the network, mount the external hard drive and start a remote connection service on it. Currently, I can connect to the desktop GUI from my laptop so I don't have to sit in the basement. The external drive is connected and I can write data to it.

Next up is getting samba installed and configured so I can share the hard drive on the network. Then it's just a matter of telling the laptops where the drive lives and connecting their time machines to it. Then it will be backups for everyone!

I'm actually having fun doing this. Kinda geeking me up a little bit to be playing with linux again. I'm chmoding, greping and vi'ing all over the place. I'm thinking I should probably create a new user for each person that will be backing up so we can keep our backups separate from each other. That involves a unix/linux skill that I haven't used since the early 90's so I'll probably get pretty frustrated doing it.

All-in-all, I'm just happy that I got it running and connected.

⧫
I managed to eat way more food than I needed yesterday and then made the mistake of weighing myself this morning.

I should not weigh myself after days like yesterday. My metabolism doesn't burn off shrimp and cheese and pepperoni and prime rib and cookies and cake and whatever other edibles were in my general vicinity like it used to.

I suspect I have one or two more weeks where I'm eating way too much food so once the whole New Years thing is over with, I'll start thinking about not stuffing everything in my mouth.

Please note that I am in no way making any promisies or resolutions. As you long time readers of this bullshit know, every year my only resolution is to not make any resolutions and I intend on keeping that streak alive.

⧫
I'm going to enjoy some bad television, some air fried calamari and maybe a little leftover lasagna.

While I do that, you can do these

• Only in Florida.



• Sorry folks, Japan's closed. The moose out front shoulda told ya.



• My daughter, the vet only takes care of animals that weigh less than her.



• Add this to the list of things I didn't need to know.



• Cha-cha-cha Chia!

Merry Christmas

I hope all of you have a good day and in order to start it off right for you, I got you this:

If you don't find that funny, you lack a sense of humor.

I'll be back later with some aditional crap.

Or maybe not. We'll see how things go.

⧫

I'm back.

It has been an excellent Christmas.

Right now I'm playing with my new Arduino Uno microprocessor. I have no idea what I'm going to make it do yet but once I have the compiler installed on my laptop and I've connected to the board, I'll try some simple commands to maybe flash some lights or something.

I also have a new Raspberry Pi that will be turned into a file server / Apple Time Machine. All of us have Macs and Time Machine is the backup software that Apple supplies. We have been doing backups to external hard drives but once I get the Pi up and running, along with a terabyte hard drive I have, our laptops will do periodic backups automatically, without us having to mess with a hard drive.

Finally, I got the coolest thing of all: A shiny new air fryer/oven/dehydrator. Since today was already planned to be a major food consumption day, I haven't actually used it yet. I did manage to set it up and do the recommended "first use test burn" to burn off any packaging residue.

Tomorrow we will hopefully enjoy some fried calamari and maybe some tater tots or hand-cut french fries. Who knows, maybe we'll even get around to dehydrating some blueberries or something.

I'll let you know how everything turns out.

⧫
I hope you all had an excellent day. Aside from the high winds, power outages and heavy rain, it was a good day to have a good day.

Here are a couple of links I managed to find:

• Be careful. There are some very bad people living in our world.



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "9:27 p.m. The neighbors are hiding in the bushes when cars drive by."

Looks like I'm Extra right.

Remember yesterday when I was bitching about Trump being an asshole?

Turns out pretty much everything I said was accurate.

He surrounds himself with "YES" men, of whom who he demands complete loyalty and allegiance. He also demands they stroke his ego. He likes them to stroke it constantly and with vigor.

If I recall, government officials swear allegiance to the constitution, not to the president. They are sworn to uphold the values outlined in the document that this nation is built upon, not the ego and the demands of a spoiled, needy, brat. His desire to be thought of as the best president ever would be laughable if it weren't for the fact that he seems to enjoy hurting and insulting people.

He doesn't care who he hurts in his quest for greatness.

That single mom working three part-time jobs because she lost her full-time job back in March? Hey, if it weren't for Trump's job recovery, she wouldn't have any jobs at all!

All those bodies stacked in refrigerator trucks in New York City back in April? What bodies? There are no bodies! This is no big deal. You don't need to wear a mask! You don't need a respirator! Everything's great! You people should ignore those scientists and doctors who are using big words like viral and infectious and deadly.

I know that several months ago I said I would avoid politics but this isn't politics. I am genuinely concerned that this man is attempting to take absolute control over us and he's being helped by a cabal of senators/congressmen who are blindly following his lead without so much as a thought about what is happening to us, the citizens.

I'm done now, I promise. I won't bring it up again. At least not until he pisses me off.

⧫
It's Christmas Eve and that means I've already eaten more food than I should have with more to come.

Christmas will be celebrated virtually by our family. Our youngest and his girlfriend live in Boston and they will celebrate out there. Our eldest, his wife and our grandson live in Framingham and they will celebrate out there. We, my wife, my daughter and me, will celebrate here.

I'm kind of hoping next year is better. I don't like not being able to hang out with my family.

⧫
Here are some links that might entertain you:

• Only in Florida.



• Everyone of us has that one aunt...



• Key phrase in this story: "...ended up having to use a stun gun on him..."



• Thank goodness I stocked up this summer.
  Wait. I didn't say that. I would never have any illegal fireworks...



• Just what everyone needs.

Looks like I was right.

Trump has decided that he doesn't like the stimulus bill that took 4 months to negotiate and says he won't sign it.

His man Mnuchin has been part of these negotiations since they started back in September, passing Trumps demands on to Pelosi and McConnell but that doesn't matter to Trump. What matters to Trump is that we all think he is the big hero, stepping in at the last minute to grant us little people some baubles and alms.

Where was this idiot and his demand for $2,000 four months ago? Psycho Nancy would have signed off on that in a second and we wouldn't have waited all this time for relief. And now that the relief is on the horizon, he needs to be the hero and change the whole thing? I got news for him; if he vetoes the bill, his veto will be overridden. If his veto is not overridden, they go back to renegotiating. The only thing that comes out of his demand is to delay the stimulus checks.

Imagine those people that thought they might see some relief before Christmas and spent a few extra dollars on their kids. Wait till they find out they aren't going to see that money until January or February...

The man is an ass. He did it because he knows that on January 21st of 2021, a new bill will be introduced that will make him look like the arrogant jerk he is. He doesn't give a shit about us, he gives a shit about his legacy and he thinks this move will make him look like the good guy.

He's not a good guy. He's a heartless, arrogant, self-centered little prick who is trying his best to make himself look good. I really hope history remembers him poorly. I hope my grandchildren are taught that he was an asshole. And I mean that literally. I hope that in the future, US History textbooks have his picture captioned with the word "Asshole" underneath it.

⧫
There are some links directly below this sentence:

• I think it looks more like Curly from the Three Stooges.



• Today is Festivus. It turns out Seinfeld didn't invent Festivus.



• As with every other picture taken of that thing since the camera was invented, I don't see it.



• Turns out The Standells knew what they were singing about.



• Yes, alcohol was involved.



• 2020 is going to end with a bang.

The Eastfield Mall is a shell

I have been getting my haircut by the folks at the Mall Barbershop in the Eastfield Mall for more than 40 years. I could get it cut anywhere but they are who I go to and I don't feel like changing now. We have a system: I walk in and say, "Hey". They say "Hey" back and then I say, "Put your number 1 on and cut it off." When they are done, they say, "That'll be $15.00" and we conclude our transaction.

I got to chatting with the owner today and she said that the mall is just about empty and she doesn't expect her shop will be there very much longer.

When I was done with my haircut, I took a quick walk in the mall and, man, that place is a ghost town.

If you want to buy a desk calendar, a glitter-coated cover for your cell phone, some cheap crap for a dollar or if you want your nails done by a very excited, very skinny asian woman, they got you covered but pretty much everything else is boarded up.

It won't be a sad day when they knock that place down but a piece of my history will be gone.

You see, back in the 1960s when I was 9 or 10 years old, they were building the mall. It was a long corridor connecting the Forbes & Wallace store to the Sears & Roebuck Store. My buddy John and I went there on our bikes, found a way in and discovered, much to our joy, they had recently poured cement.

So somewhere in the area of what used to be the small fountain, across from what used to be Steigers and then Macys, where the entrance to The Flaming Pit used to be, John and I put our initials in the cement. To my knowledge, those initials are still there.

And for the record, we also put our initials in the cement of the floor at the Wilbraham Junior High when it was built in in the late 60s. So even after they tear the mall down, we still got the middle school going for us. Of course, it's only a matter of time before they tear that moldy, leaky pile of crap down as well.

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My hair is cut, dinner is done and the animals are sprawled on their respective couches/rugs/beds resting from a long day of napping.

Here are today's links:

• You have to read the video description to really appreciate this video.



• Dictatorships all seem to have that "Do what I say, not what I do!" attitude.



• Yet one more reason to not fly commerical.



• Only in Florida.



• I'm looking forward to this.

Short post

This afternoon, we had a major holiday disaster and I had to spring into action to attempt to save the day.

The cookie press, that my wife has used for almost 30 years, finally gave up the ghost and the end that holds the design plate cracked off the tube. This meant there would be no Christmas Tree cookies, no Star cookies and no Angel cookies.

I hopped into my trusty car and headed out to purchase a new one. I went to four different stores but my venture was a failure. Apparently you can buy a "oil sprayer" for your salad, an "electric chopper" for your nuts and a "one-handed wine bottle cork screw" but there are no cookie presses anywhere.

Fortunately, my daughter took it upon herself to create the cookie designs and we will all be enjoying Christmas Circle cookies this year.

Personally, I like cookies no matter what shape they are.

⧫

Update:

While I was watching The Antiques Roadshow and surfing the interwebs, I found this.

It made me smile.

⧫
Now that I'm home from my journey, I think I'll make some dinner and call it a day.

Here are a few links for your enjoyment:

• Like I said yesterday, I'll believe it when I see it.



• Huh, imagine that. I guess you can have too many cheese balls.



• I would not have guessed that the residents of Wichita, KS call themselves "Wichitans".



• How will the people of Windsor VT get their cheap cigarettes?



• Key phrase in this story: "He picked the wrong house."

That ends their season

The Patriots lost today, eliminating themselves from the playoffs.

The Steelers play tomorrow night and they are already assured a playoff spot.

Guess I'll be rooting for the Steelers.

⧫
Politicians (a.k.a. Lying Sacks of Shit) are claiming that they have agreed upon a covid relief bill that includes $600 stimulus checks for all of us.

I won't believe that until I see the money.

Politicians always claim that after hours of discussion and hard work (they always claim that sitting in a room talking about something is hard work), they have reached an agreement. Then, just when you think something might happen, some arrogant prick comes long and says, "We need to attach a requirement to the bill that provides all members of congress with a raise! I didn't get a harumph out of that guy..." and we all end up getting screwed.

Anyways, if they actually do get around to passing the bill, we might see a check in four or five weeks.

⧫
I've been watching some of the PNC Championship father/son golf match and I've decided I miss playing golf. My back doesn't miss it but I do.

Maybe this summer I'll go play a round on the par 3 course down the road from me.

After that, maybe I'll spend three days on the couch with a heating pad and a bottle of ibuprofen.

⧫
I'm going to make tacos for dinner.

While I do that, you can do these:

• I can't help but wonder if this is bigger than they think.



• My question is, "Is the vaccine still effective against this particular strain?"



• You gotta love dogs.



• I can't help but wonder how shitty this place will look in about a year.



• Key phrase in this story: "...hired by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance in April, shortly after her release from federal prison following a conviction for aggravated identity theft..."

And I'm done.

I managed to finish up my Christmas shopping today which means no holiday stress for me.

Stress-free holidays are nice holidays.

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Everybody and their brother is saying that the Russians hacked several government networks but along comes the great genius expert, Trump, to tell us every one of them is wrong.

This is the second (or is it the third) time Trump has contradicted US Intelligence and defended the Russians. I'm beginning to think that maybe he might be on their payroll.

I have never in my life thought that a president of the US might by treasonous. I thought most of them were pompous, spoiled brats but not treasonous. I can't help but wonder about this guy. He sure seems to like the Russians. A lot. And he also seems to have a thing for Krazy kim. That behavior should worry all of us

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Enjoy these few links:

• Exploding Polynesian Sauce would be a great name for rum drink at the Huke Lau.



• Key phrase in this story: "...these people are ridiculous."



• Australia: What doesn't kill ya, lurks in your barbecue.

The Beast continues to live

The plow came by today and left some piles of snow at the end of my driveway and my next-door neighbors driveway. I decided to test The Beast and clear the two driveways.

I dragged it out of the garage and it fired right up. I used it for around 10 minutes with no issues.

This is very good news to me because it means I won't drop dead shovelling my driveway next time it snows.

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I've said it before and I'm gonna say it again, I'm getting a little tired of all the news stories about people getting vaccinated. I'm finding them more than a little frustrating now that there are fewer vaccines for those of us who aren't employed by a hospital.

It's nice that we have a vaccine and all but it would be nicer if there was enough for us little people.

It's going to be at least 5 months before us regular slobs will be allowed to get vaccinated.

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You can enjoy these links if you would like:

• Only in Florida.



• They got sophisticated moonshiners in Rainsville.



• $600,000??? That must be some pretty damned good chocolate.



• Australia: What doesn't kill ya, saves your beer.



• Key phrase in this story: "...had nine times an allowable amount of methamphetamine in his system..."
  You're allowed to have some meth in you?

I'm either a genius...

...or a moron. I haven't decided which one yet.

At 5:45 this morning, I went outside to clear my driveway so my daughter could get to the clinic and take care of a four-legged patient.

I opened the garage, started The Beast and cleared about 4 feet of snow before the machine died. I restarted and once again. cleared about 4 feet before it died.

Since my driveway as at least 70 feet long and 30 feet wide, I figured doing it this way was going to take most of the day. I bit the bullet, grabbed my shovel and headed down to the end where the plow had created a 2 foot high bank of snow.

I got the snow bank cleared as well as 10 feet of the end of the driveway and I was able to move my daughters car down to that cleared area. She was then able to back out and head to the clinic without any issues.

At this point, my back was killing me, my arms & hands were on fire and I was beginning to think to myself, "Huh. This must be how you feel just before you have a heart attack."

Since my daughter was on her way to work and neither my wife nor myself had any place we needed to be, I decided to take a break, rest for a few minutes and then try to figure out what was wrong with The Beast.

To recap, the machine ran fine for about a 10 seconds then it died from fuel starvation. My first thought was a clogged fuel line. I removed the tin that covered the carburetor, disconnected all the thing-a-ma-bobs, widgets, geegaws and whatchamacallits. I also pulled the gas tank and drained it of fuel.

The fuel line seemed fine and aside from a little stickiness with the governor, the carb seemed fine as well. All the jets were clear, the choke plate moved freely and gas was getting into the float bowl. I put a little water displacement formula #40 on the governor linkage as well as the throttle linkage because I'm a firm believer in the old saying, "If it moves and it's not supposed to, use duct tape. If it's supposed to move and it doesn't, use WD-40".

I poured a little fuel into the fuel line and started the engine. It ran fine for at least a minute. I put the tank back on, attached the fuel line, put all the stuff back on the carburetor, filled the tank with fuel and started it up.

It ran for almost 10 minutes before it died.

I primed it, pulled the starter cord and it ran for about 10 seconds. I primed it, pulled the starter cord and it ran for about 10 seconds. I pushed it back into the garage and grabbed the shovel.

As I was shovelling, thinking about how I was probably going to have a heart attack, I was also thinking about The Beast's symptoms. When I took it apart and then put it back together, it ran for 10 minutes. Then, each time I restarted it, it went back to running for 10 seconds. What would cause it to run for 10 minutes and then run for 10 seconds....

This is where the genius part comes in: I realized that in order for fuel to exit the tank, air must be able to get into the tank. If air can't get into the tank, gas can't get out. I loosened the gas cap, started the machine and it ran fine for the rest of the morning. I was able to finish my driveway, my back patio and a large portion of The Small Dogs back yard.

This is where the moron part comes in: I took most of the engine components apart, including the fuel tank, I managed to spill gasoline all over myself and my garage, I think I got frostbite on my fingers from the cold and I wasted at least two hours of my day doing that. All of that and really all I needed to do was to loosen the gas cap.

⧫
Speaking of The Small Dog...

I cleared a pretty good chunk of the back yard for her because I figured no one, including a dog, wants to stick their butt into the snow to pee.

I figured wrong.

She runs out the dog door, scampers across the cleared area and runs directly into the snow where she promptly stops, drops and pees.

Why do I bother...

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My back still hurts but my arms & hands are doing much better.

While I groan each time I get off my couch, you can click on these links:

• One of the big problems with the internet is that it gives a loud voice to conspiracy theory nutjobs.



• This is better than finding a snake in your Christmas tree.



• I just discovered that Roswell, New Mexico, home of many crazy people who are looking for aliens, has a online police log. This could get interesting.



• If you go to another country, follow their laws or pay the price. It doesn't matter how blonde, young, arrogant or selfish you are, they don't care.



• That's nothing. Before the boy scouts took over in the 1980's, we drank in the office.



• It appears that David Werking has never heard of the internet.

No, I'm not done yet

I still have two more things to find before I can call this a successful Christmas. They are not expensive things, they are just hard to find things.

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We are currently awaiting the arrival of a snow storm. The National Weather Service issued the following for us:

I guess I better get my snowblower ready to go.

⧫
You can enjoy these links if you would like:

• I expect we will see many more of these kinds of things.



• Yes, alcohol was involved. Also, a lot of stupidity.



• Australia: What doesn't kill ya, hides in the sea foam and tries to kill ya.



• Speaking of Australia...



• Here's a little something that I spent 20 minutes messing around with.



• Welcome to Maine, home of The New England Hillbilly's.

Still covid free

Because the college tests everyone for covid on a regular basis, I’ve had ten covid tests since August. Well, actually, I’ve had eleven if you count the one at Baystate Medical but I’m trying to forget that day ever happened.

Anyways, here are the results of the test I took this past Monday:

Ten tests, ten negative results. I’m batting a thousand.

And for those of you that care - Yes, I have a sex and yes, it is male. The remainder of the information is none of your damned business. Hence the black bars.

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The weather dweebs are predicting that we will gt between 10-15 inches of snow on Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

I hope they are wrong and we get bewteen 1-3 inches. I'm getting too old to deal with 15 inches of snow.

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Time for dinner.

Enjoy these links:

• Obama encouraged this. Obama was an idealistic fool. Biden isn't much better.



• He was terrible last season. Hopefuly he'll be better this coming season.



• Australia: What doesn't kill ya, messes with your Christmas decorations.



• Apparently there is some kind of weird demand for sea cucumbers.



• Add this to the list of ways I don't want to die.



• Well, this may rule out my cousin Dan.



• Only in Florida.

It is now official

When the founders of the United States sat down to create the laws, rules, regulations, etc.. that govern us as a nation, they ended up creating a federation. They decided that the federal government had only a few jobs:

• The common defense of the nation.
• Regulating commerce between the states.
• Forming pacts and treaties with foreign governments.
• Declaring war
• Minting money

There are a few others but those are the big hitters.

They held this belief that the federal government should be subordinate so strongly that they actually created a specific amendment to address any future issues that arise. It's the tenth amendment and it says:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

They did this because they wanted the states to retain a high level of autonomy. They wanted each state to govern its people they way the people wanted to be governed and if someone in a state was unhappy with the way they were being governed, they could move to another state. For instance, if I didn't like living in Massachusetts because the state government spends my tax money on things I don't like, I can move to New Hampshire where they are a lot more frugal with their tax dollars.

Another thing they did to assure that the federal government remained subordinate to the states was they created a way for the states to elect the president. They called it the electoral college and they gave the states control of their electors. This way, if a president started acting like a king, the states could fire him by voting in someone else.

Today, the states spoke and they officially elected Joe "I'm old and sometimes I say dumb things" Biden as the 46th President of the United States.

Now we get to watch the hillarity that will be Trump refusing to admit defeat. It will be extra funny if he refuses to move out of the White House on January 20th. We will also get to watch Biden bumble around and screw things up when he gets confused by a shiny object.

There is an old Chinese curse that says: May you live in interesting times

My friends, we live in interesting time.

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There is a storm heading our way and the weather dweebs are unsure how much snow we are going to get.

I've heard anywhere from 1 to 14 inches starting Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

Thank goodness the weather service spent billions of dollars on new super-computers so they could narrow those predictions down.

⧫
I'm getting pretty sick and tired of hearing about the covid vaccine "rolling out".

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that people like you and me won't see this vaccine until sometime in April or May.

Keep on keeping on folks. There is a light at the end of the tunnel but it's a pretty long tunnel and the light is kinda dim.

⧫
I will not be watching football tonight because I'm tired and I will be going to bed early instead of falling asleep on my couch.

Who am I kidding. I'll put the game on and fall asleep on my couch like I always do.

The Steelers lost last night, giving them a 11-2 record. Not the best record in the NFL but pretty damned close. The Chiefs have the best record at 12-1.

The Patriots record is 6-7 which sucks but at least they aren't the Jets who are currently 0-13.

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While I watch the Ravens play the Browns, or maybe I'll watch some Good Eats! reruns, you can click on these:

• Remember when I predicted this?



• Key phrase in this story: "It is unacceptable for political candidates to treat our election system as though we are a third-world nation and incite distrust of something so basic as the sanctity of our vote."



• I wonder if my wife will get pissed if I buy myself a little Christmas present.



• Speaking of aircraft: Boeing needs to get its shit together or it's going to go out of business.



• Proof that sometimes they actually do eat your homework.



• Australia: What doesn't kill ya, keeps evolving until it can kill ya.

It's rewired.

The gift that I mentioned yesterday has been redesignated from being a gift for my daughter to a gift that is for all of us.

The gift is a treadmill and we decided that since covid has minimized our normal activity of walking, stair climbing, standing, sitting, etc... we could all use a little something that gets us moving. This machine will do that for us, particularly me.

I watch a lot of youtube DIY videos. I mean a lot. I have five or six guys I follow who release videos on a weekly basis. Each video is between 30 minutes and an hour in length and if I walk on the treadmill while watching an hour long video, that's some pretty could exercise. The machine has a mount for an iPad that will be perfect for watching my youtubes.

So anyways, the machine has been moved to the basement and uncrated. I now know which end the power cord is on and that meant I could install the new outlet. That is done and tomorrow I will put the machine together, fire it up and let my daughter test it out.

She'll figure out how to regulate the speed and the incline as well as how to connect it to our devices via bluetooth.

Merry Christmas to us.

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Speaking of Christmas, my wife informed me today that she had wrapped and tagged the sweaters she bought for me to give her for Christmas.

This is the best Christmas ever...

⧫
I did not watch any football today. I did find some links:

• Reason number 1,483 why I have a pilot's license: The world is full of crazy people and they all seem to fly commercial.



• I'm not entirely sure I want to try this.



• Only in Florida.



• Someone is in trouble...



• Sure, they're cute all by themselves but put a few trillion of them in your driveway and they're a real pain in the ass.

So I rewired it!

Tim Allen is stuck in my head today because I'm putting in a new electrical circuit.

One of the gifts we bought for our daughter requires a dedicated 15 amp circuit. This is no big deal because I happen to have an unused 15 amp breaker in my electrical panel and plenty of 12/2 wire.

Today I pulled the wire into the panel, clamped the correct wires to the appropriate locations (bare copper to ground, white to neutral and black to hot) and unspooled the wire to the approximate location of the gift. I haven't yet cut the wire to length because until we get around to building the gift for her and putting it where it is going to go, I don't know where I want to locate the plug.

So anyways, as I was randomly jamming screwdrivers and needle nose pliers into my electrical panel, I was doing my best Tim Allen imitation, yelling, "So I rewired it! Ugh, ugh, ugh"! I also tossed a little Michael Keaton in there when I said, "Oh yea? You gonna make it all 220? Yea. 220. 221. Whatever it takes."

If your lights dim and you hear a loud screaming noise from south Wilbraham, you can assume I randomly jammed my screwdriver into the wrong place...

⧫
Aside from Trump and his ongoing, "I did not lose!" insanity, there are two other interesting things going on in the United States. The first is the approval of the long awaited 'rona vaccine and the second is the news that Hunter Biden might have actually been involved in some shady doings.

The first item is a good thing and if it actually works as advertised, we might be able to get back to living. My brother will be in the first wave of the first phase and he says if he grows a third eye, he'll let us know.

The second item is a bad thing and I'm not shocked by it. As far as I'm concerned, democrats are among the most corrupt people on the planet because they are really good at convincing people they are nice. Take a good long look at Nancy Pelosi and I suspect will find a slimy little con-artist. Shake the trees Schumer is hanging around in and I'm betting a lot of nasty characters fall out of them.

I will watch the outcome of both of those items with interest. The first because if my brother does grow a third eye, I'll be avoiding the vaccine and take my chances with the 'rona. The second because the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and if Hunter Biden is a scumbag, it's a good bet that his dad won't be any different.

⧫
The following links may be entertaining:

• I want a flamethrower drone because, well, who doesn't want a flamethrower drone...



• Key phrase in this story: "I apologize for having the maturity of an 8 year old boy."



• If you get the 'rona vaccine and it smells like tuna, now you'll know why.



• No thanks.



• Hey kids! Christmas is 12 days away. Let's go visit Creepy Santa!



• Another reason why I'm not a basketball fan.

I am almost ready

I took stock of what I have for gifts for my wife and I think I am almost good to go. I need to find three more things and two of them are always the hardest things to find.

I'm hoping I find them all on Monday and I can bring this Christmas adventure to a close in time for the holiday.

⧫
I drove by the golf course today and there were two guys out playing golf. I should note that there is still snow on the ground so these guys were hitting golf balls in the snow.

That, my friends, is what is known as dedication.

⧫
In case you weren't paying attention, the Patriots got their ass kicked yesterday, effectively eliminating any hope of making the playoffs.

The Rams beat them 24-3 and too be honest with you, they deserved to a beating.

Any football team that turns the ball over three times on fourth down rather than kicking a field goal deserves to lose. This is the NFL, not peewee or rec-league football.

⧫
We are currently awaiting the arrival of our daughter and our dinner.

While I wait for her, I think I'll add some links for you to click on:

• Key lie in this story: "...to break up cloud formations and scare away birds..."
  That's bullshit. He does it because it's cool.



• I just want to know who is gonna put the mask on it...



• I will never understand fashion.



• From the country that gave us golf, scotch whiskey and Boaty McBoatFace comes "Snowbegone Kenobi".



• Key phrase in this story: "The study also finds consuming alcohol daily, particularly red wine, can improve cognitive function as you age.."



• When you gotta go, you gotta go.

More gift shopping

After work today, we dropped my wifes car off with our mechanic. Then it was home for lunch and finally I was off to finish up some Christmas shopping.

I managed to get a few more items that will go a long way in making sure my wife has an enjoyable Christmas.

One key to a successful and happy life is to make sure your spouse has an enjoyable holiday. There are other keys but that one is kinda at the top of the list.

⧫
The Patriots are in still in California, taking on the Rams this evening.

The intellectual giants in the world of talking heads are predicting that the Rams will beat the Patriots 30-17 but my prediction is that the talking heads don't have a clue one about what they are talking about.

⧫
My wife made dinner this evening so I get to eat and then watch football.

It does not suck to be me...

You can enjoy these links:

• He probably should have worn his mask over his nose.



• Only in Florida.
  (PETA is a seriously effed up organization)



• There are several key phrases in this story but I think we'll go with: "The car was filled with dead pigs."



• Raining poop! would be a great name for a 1970's disco song.

Oops.

I had a lot to do today and completely forgot about this.

I will try to be succesful tomorrow.

One of my heroes died today

General Charles Elwood Yeager died today.

When I was growing up, everyone knew who Chuck Yeager was. We were all fascinated by the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts, but to us, Chuck Yeager was the man.

If you've ever wondered why airline pilots all sound the same it's because they all talk like Chuck Yeager. He spoke in a clear, relaxed, "no-worries" slow southern voice and every pilot in the United States imitated that style. If you were in a plane in the 1970's and there was a problem, the pilot would come on the PA system, put on his best Chuck Yeager voice and say, "Well folks, looks like we're gonna be getting to the gate a little earlier than scheduled." What he wouldn't tell you is it was because one of the engines just quit, he had declared an emergency with ATC and he was in the process of saving all your lives by getting the plane on the ground as quickly as possible.

Yeager was the first human being to fly an aircraft faster than the speed of sound while in controlled horizontal flight. The "controlled horizontal flight" part of that statement is important because there are a lot of guys that flew faster than the speed of sound before him but they did it in vertical flight, directly into the ground. He was also the first human being to fly faster than twice the speed of sound.

In both cases, he said something to the effect of, "Anyone can fly fast. It's no different than sitting in an easy chair". He failed to mention that up until he did it, a lot of guys died trying to do it. But to Yeager, it was easy. Just another day in the plane, enjoying the scenery.

I'm not saying our world is a better place because he was in it but I am saying that I am glad he was in it. I hope he's with sitting with his buddies, chewin' on a stick of Beemans and petting GD Dog.

Yes, Yeager had a dog named GD Dog. He named it God Damned Dog after constantly tripping over it. His wife, Glennis, made him stop saying that in front of the kids so he shortened it to GD Dog.

At the age of 74, he flew an F-15 faster than the speed of sound. After he landed, someone asked him what he planned next and his reply was, "I don't buy green bananas." That was his way of saying, "Son, I'm 74. I live for today. I have no idea what I'm going to do next."

⧫
Not much else going on. I mean not much aside from the usual insanity that is Trump. Trust me, once Biden takes over, it's still going to be insane, just a different flavor of insanity.

So aside from these links, I got nothing else for you:

• I hope he wins.



• This is why I think the "news media" is full of shit. Why is this considered "news"?



• In case you needed more evidence that there are some weird people in our world.



• Here's your (semi)Naked Giy In The News story.



• Butt-dialing Anglers would be a fantastic name for a 1950 rock-a-billy band.



• That settles it. No panda's as pets in my house.

More Christmas shopping

My daughter and I went to the Holyoke Mall this morning and got yet another tiny bit of my Christmas shopping completed.

I was surprised at how busy the mall was. It was not like past years but still, there were a lot of people there. More than I anticipated.

I have a particular mode of operation when it comes to retail of any kind: I walk in, I got to the product I want, I buy it and then I leave. Under no circumstances do I wander around looking at other products. This mode of operation has served me well for many, many years and I see no reason to change it.

This means there is no reason for me to go back to the mall because I've gotten what I wanted.

⧫
After yesterday's massacre against the Chargers, the Patriots record is now 6-6. With only four games left in the regular season, it will take a miracle for them to make the playoffs so my hopes are not high.

No matter what happens during the remainder of the season, the Patriots will always be able look someone in the eye and say, "Oh yea? Well at least aren't the Jets!"

The Jets record is currently 0-12. That is the worst record in the league.

⧫
The Steelers vs. the Football Team (That's what the Redskins call themselves now) started at 5:00pm which is a reasonable hour for a football game to start. It means I'll probably be able to stay awake for the entire game. After that, I might watch some of the first half of the Bills v 49ers game while falling asleep on my couch.

You can do with these links as you wish:

• Only in Florida.



• Oh Canada.



• 2020 just keeps getting better and better.



• More people would watch beauty pageants if they all had things like this going on.



• I wonder if Trump is going to do something about this or if he's just going to continue to sit around and whine about the election.

John has electricity

John's power was out for about 8 hours yesterday and didn't come back on until 10:30 last night. The man has a well so without electricity, he has no water.

You can live without electricity but water is kinda important and, despite my telling him over & over again, he still does not have a generator.

The man needs to get a generator.

⧫
The large main tree is decorated and ready to be the focus of our Christmas morning.

The cats, however, are not waiting til Christmas to focus on it. They are focused and ready to go right now. I understand that Cat1 has already picked out her favorite ornaments and is working on a method to get them of the tree and into play mode. Not sure what Cat2 is doing. I suspect she has been sleeping most of the day.

⧫
I am under the impression that Twitter is considering banning Trump after the inauguration. While I think they have every right to ban whoever they want, I don't see this as a good idea. Yes, the man says stuff that is full tilt bozos but that's the beauty of it. His insanity is laughable and entertaining as hell.

Banning him takes that instant hillarity away from us.

⧫
The Patriots went to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers and things are going incredibly well for them. The Patriots are up 28-0 at the half and I suspect the second half will go just as well for them.

A few weeks ago I said that Cam Newton probably will not have a job in New England next season but he has turned things around.

Oh, and the Patriots special teams had two touchdowns, one on a return and one on a blocked field goal attempt.

Two touchdowns by a group that doesn't usually score touchdowns is always very helpful.

⧫
I'm going to eat my dinner and watch a little news during the half time bullshit session that the network thinks we all enjoy.

Here are some links that you can click on if you would like:

• I can assure you that he is not Rick James.



• He was a very funny guy on a mediocre show.



• Australia: What doesn't kill ys, is a pain in the ass.



• In my humble opinion, the government should not be able to force a business to shut down without compensation for the employees and the owner.



• Key phrase in this story: "I like cucumbers! I'm the only one."



• Apparently bears don't like Christmas.



• Only in Florida.

We got 2 inches, if that

They kept predicting 3-6 inches but we ended up with about an inch, maybe two.

But I will tell you, that shit was heavy. I started pushing it off with the shovel but my old back did not like that at all and I ended up using the snowblower. Trust me, the snowblower wasn't too crazy about it either.

John, who lives around 5 to 7 miles away from me got about eight inches so it sucks to be him.

Now it can freeze and I don't have to worry about it.

⧫
I've been informed that the Christmas decorating is almost done. I understand that all that is left is the main tree. The secondary backup tree is all decorated:

For the record, we have cats that love the trees. They climb them and bat at the ornaments. As a result of thier desire to play with things, there are no breakable ornaments and we fully expect to lose some of the ornaments that are on the trees.

Oh well, that's what living with cats is like. That and they like to purr in my ear.

⧫
Okay, it's late and I'm gonna look for some links.

Here they are:

• Key phrase in this story: "I’m fine, I’m just a little tired."



• The problem is that most women who wear them don't have a butt like the one in the picture.



• Australia: What doesn't kill ya, scares the crap out of you.



• Maybe it's just me but seems like a tunnel with a roundabout might be a terrible idea.



• Chickens: the new guard dogs.

I'm surrounded by the 'rona

Just kidding, I'm not surrounded by the 'rona. My neighbor told me this morning that his whole family has it.

Him, his wife and his two little kids tested positive a few days ago. So far, no one has any symptoms other than his wife who says it's like a mild cold.

I'm still keeping my distance from them.

⧫
At some point in the future, I might be able to retire:

Please note that the word "might" is highlighted. That's because I'm pretty sure Biden will screw up the market to the point where my retirement will be nothing more than a pipe dream.

⧫
Enjoy these links:

• Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.



• Key phrase in this story: "...it’s illegal to store a frozen human or animal (or any body part thereof) in your home."



• Matt Damon grew potatoes on Mars.



• This is why you should never let the prisoners drive.



• Since I spend a lot of time flying over I-91 north of Northampton, this is kinda my plan in the event of a problem.



• File this one under the heading of: "Things I didn't need to know."