All Saints Day
Poland
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puddle— your story about the legend of Edwin Booth moved me to pull up his Wikipedia entry. The absolutely strangest story there is about the time he rescued Robert Todd Lincoln, [Click] not knowing until much later who he was.
ReplyDeleteDune: The newest movie, the book(s), and cultural representations [Click] An interesting analysis; it definitely discourages me from seeing the movie.
ReplyDeleteActually, the cultural appropriation described in the original makes it unattractive as well.
DeleteIt's been decades since I read the book, but what I mostly remember about the Fremen is the ways in which Arrakis had made them different from any possible Earth culture. And I'm pretty sure I would have noticed if the word Mahdi had appeared in the book.
DeleteReflecting on the congressional sausage making, I continue to wonder if Mr. Biden's failure to ask the Democratic caucus to vote for the infrastructure and reconciliation bills before he left for Europe was intended to show Senator Manchin that Representative Jayapal had as much power as he.
ReplyDeleteIMHO, the issue of the hour is whether the parties will survive. Republicans are trying to get an official slot as managers of elections, as well as primaries. If the Republican party survives, Democrats will have a reason for continuing. If not, the citizens will get the upper hand.
ReplyDeleteIn June of this year, Gallup determined that 24% of the voters claim to be Republicans, 30% Democrats and 44% Independents.
While Republicans would rather be dead than public servants, the electorate is not likely to care.
Let's not forget that people who buy lottery tickets have $70 Billion a year in disposable income. They can certainly get together to hire their own Congress critters.
I am not sure why the lessons of the Dean campaign have been so hard to learn. Is it all just too much work? I get regular emails from Katie Porter, AOC and O'Roark in Texas. I will be sure to contribute, just not every month. On the other hand, I will not be persuaded by Senator Scott sending me emails every couple of days in response to my critical communication. I do not open the messages because I do not want to know that he's using official communications for fund-raising purposes. That would be against the law.
Root canals aren’t so bad anymore. [Click]
ReplyDeleteChanged the outside lights from off-white to bright white and changed our wreath from roses to greens and berries, in honour of All Saints Day. Tomorrow the outside lights will switch to red, white and blue, for Election Day.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have an election to vote on? None here.
Yes, voted by absentee ballot.
DeleteNone here.
DeleteIllinois state and county elections are in even-numbered years. Municiple elections are in the spring.
DeleteSomebody culled my credit card number, probably from online purchases. They tried to buy $3,744 worth of stuff from Lowe's but were denied. I'm glad to belong to a credit union because they called me right away. Only problem is that now I'll be without a credit card for at least five days and will have to go hither and yon online giving the new card number. Ugh. I'm sure if I miss any organizations they'll let me know ASAP. People suck.
ReplyDeleteYou may find out eventually. Ours was culled a few years ago, in early December. Someone managed to use the number to buy a bunch of stuff at a Walmart in North Carolina, then went back and tried to buy more stuff there and it was denied. We were without the card just before Christmas. What a royal pain. Found out later on, via a letter that went out, that our number was stolen through the hack of a reputable children's clothing company from whom we had purchased some nice items for a granddaughter, the month before. I figure the person who culled it was both poor and crafty and wanted a bunch of nice things for Christmas. But they didn't get away with more than about $300 worth. And I didn't have to pay any of it, though I'm sure we all pay a little every time.
DeleteLast week we had a pretty cool night, and turned on the heater; but it wouldn't take. We had the same sort of problem a year ago, and the repairman said if it happened again we would probably have to exchange the whole thing (heater and air conditioner) for a new one, because one couldn't get parts for that model any more (after only 27 years). So I called the folks who installed it when we built the house, and the estimate would have been enough to buy a new small car not so long ago. I visited our contractor (our former next-door neighbor), and he suggested the fellow he uses for such things nowadays. That fellow seemed like a nice enough and knowledgeable fellow, and this morning sent us his estimate--for a somewhat larger setup, and a different but good brand--and it was about a third lower and had a somewhat better warranty. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have the overhead of the other and much bigger outfit.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good time of year to get that sorted out. We're having our parlour stove service at the end of November. (It looks like a woodstove, but runs on propane.) We only use it to supplement the heat pumps during the worst of winter, and occasionally for ambiance, as one can see the fire. I'm looking forward to getting the glass cleaned ahead of Advent and Christmas.
DeleteOut here, we haven't yet had enough cold weather for the heating/AC companies to get really busy. It's a little guy we are dealing with, so it may take a little time for him to get to work on it, but it's all good. We have an electric blanket and zoned heating, so we are pretty comfortable. Can't complain about a heater conking out after 27 years; it is an interesting design--like a V1 engine, and it makes (made) that same sort of putt-putt-putt sound, which we quickly became adjusted to. Very efficient for its time, and the A/C condenser has a variable-speed screw compressor, which is both very quiet and very dependable compared to the earlier reciprocating compressors. The A/C guys said all the new compressors are very quiet.
DeleteThe latest twist in the ‘Great Resignation’: Retiring but delaying Social Security [Click]
ReplyDeleteWil is delaying his retirement for 9 months past the required Social Security age (for us that's age 66 and 2 months). But he is only delaying his Social Security for 6 months. The reason? He did the math and saw that the amount he will receive in those three months would take years to be recouped, and not make any real difference in our income long term. Originally, he had planned to retire at the end of this year, but is staying on through March because that's when the company gives out the yearly bonuses; and as it's based on last year's efforts, and is only given to current employees, he's willing to go a bit longer.
DeleteThere are all kinds of differences in what makes sense for people; SS offers good guidance. For us it made sense for Miyoko to take SS as soon as I reached full retirement age, and I started to take it when I reached 70. I had planned to work until I was 75 (when our mortgage would be paid off), but the time came at 71.5. As it happened, we seem to have been unnecessarily cautious. We will have the mortgage paid off next year some time. And then there are people who are disabled, and truly need to take SS early. I remain of the opinion that the wage cap for SS deductions should be eliminated.
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