M - 21 days and counting

 Today is the 2nd day of the 34th week, the 19th day of the 8th month, the 232nd day of 2024], and:

• Black Cow Root Beer Float Day - A&W Root Beer had their day back on the 6th.  Frank J Wisner of the Cripple Creek Brewing Co started serving root beer floats back in 1893.
• Coco Chanel Day
• Cupcake Day - this is celebrated in Australia, but hey, who doesn't like cupcakes?
• Great Bird of the Galaxy Day
• Independence Day - Afghanistan  from Great Britain in 1919
• International Bow Day -  the kind of bow you put in your hair, not the kind you use to play a string instrument.  
• International Orangutan Day
• International Talk Like Jar Jar Binks Day - celebrated on the birthday of the actor Ahmed Best, the actor behind one of the most divisive characters in the Star Wars prequel
• National Aviation Day
• National Hot and Spicy Food Day
• National Potato Day
• National Sandcastle and Sculpture Day
• National Soft Ice Cream Day
• Stay Home With Your Kids Day
• Tu B'Av - observed the 15th of Av in the Hebrew calendar
• World Humanitarian Day
• World Photo Day
• the Sturgeon super blue Moon is full in Aquarius at 2:28 PM EDT  [of course our forecast is cloudy with thunderstorms, just like last night, so I'll have to enjoy your pictures of it] 
• and Voyager 1 is 22h 44m 45s of light travel time from Earth

Quote of the day:

"Free speech carries with it some freedom to listen."

~  Warren E Burger - American attorney and jurist who served as the SCOTUS Chief Justice for 17 years. 

Just because you have something you say that you think is important to you, doesn't mean I have to listen to you.  Unless we are in a relationship, of course, but I am not in any relationship with any influencer, blogger, or journalist, so I don't have to read, hear, or watch you.  And of course, you all can completely ignore me too.

In exactly three weeks, the packers arrive.   IN THREE WEEKS!!!!   

Saturday I was over the new place, frantically pacing off the rooms and measuring to make sure the floorplans I drew up would work.  Seems like they will, much to my relief.  I spent Sunday going through desk drawers and getting rid of the superfluous stuff that always seems to build up in there.  

Today Frank from Junk in the Trunk came and whisked away 400+ books in less than a half an hour.  I have been using him as I hacked away at the Disaster Area through the years and I can highly recommend him as a resource, finding him a great value for the money.    If he can donate the items he does so, then the rest are recycled when possible and the remainder disposed of.  

This is the third major downsizing of my library that I have had to endure.  It may sound silly to you all, but it genuinely is painful for me to get rid of books even though I have about 800+ left.

Not quite as painful to let go was the two shopping bags of old computer games and programs, some on CDs and others on 3.5 disks.  Seriously, there should be a market somewhere of places where folks would be interested in things like the original MYST et al, old B5 screensavers, original LOTR games, old versions of MS Office, and off-beat games like PYST.  

Next step for me?  I have two entertainment centers with cabinets that need to be purged - the bedroom one is going to take the longest because it has more storage space - and then, at last, I am ready to start packing

A little bit of this and a little bit of that:

I thought I was the only person having issues with my Kindle!  And the first reader that actually lets me arrange my books the way that I want to, instead of the way they think it should be, will get my business, hands down. 

There is little doubt that we are overdue for a snowy winter, but despite the predictions that started out the last two winter seasons, we haven't had much in the way of the white stuff.  Now we are being told again that this will be the year that changes 

The thunderstorms have been pretty fierce hereabouts, and Sunday night hit the Howard County area hard. I am glad to hear that Ellicott City did not flood this time around.  

Space is a dangerously unforgiving environment.  For the first time, an all-civilian crew relying solely on commercially developed hardware, will expose themselves directly to the vacuum.   

Speaking of that final frontier, it appears the data collected by the JWST does indeed support the theory that the universe is still expanding from the big bang.  

Nice to know the younger generations are in sync with at least some of the things I have been griping about...

Why are so many Catholics being thrown out of Nicaragua?   Churches are even being desecrated.  Apparently the regime resents being called out for human and civil rights abuses and is trying to silence the opposition.  

I called the police three times once when I lived in Woodlawn about a loud party.   Nothing happened until the third time I was rather waspishly requested to turn my music down so the desk sergeant could hear me.  I informed him that was the music playing at the party two blocks away that he could hear inside my house, and finally a car was dispatched.  My sympathy is with the neighbors in this case

And now for the politics:

• The day the New York Times complains that Harris is "light on polidy", the DNC publishes it's 92 page policy for 2024.  Now, how about some responsible journalism comparing the DNC and RNC platforms?
• What if a billionaire with a huge megaphone decides he wants to stir up trouble because the person he likes didn't win?  He's already tested his ability to create chaos in the UK.  
• Weird theories from weird people
• Okay, I'm sure there is a context there somewhere, but it is still unsettling that the same person who will be a dictator on day 1, then tells his voters if they vote for him this time, they'll never have to vote again, asks "why are we having an election?"
• There is a difference between stopping price gouging and engaging in price control.  The GOP needs to learn it, although they will still probably ignore it, and the media apparently needs to as well.  
• I'll admit I as rather surprised when Waltz started drawing more ire than Harris from the GOP, and then I realized what the problem seems to be - Tim is all the things the GOP consider their target market, and yet he remains the basic nice guy who is definitely centrist instead of right wing.    And he came up with the description of "weird" that is just so apt 
• Even with the sexist attitudes, Clinton actually walked off with more of the popular vote back in 2016.  Let's hope Harris won't face the same gender prejudice.  
• Please take the time to check your voter registration and make sure it is active

</end politics>

Give me, and all parents, a break - there is no need at all to guilt parents who utilize child care!  I do not think it causes personality disorders or maladjustments.  On the contrary, I think my grandkids are actually far more socially adept than they would've been had they been home. In fact, being shut in for COVID has forcibly demonstrated to us all that it set them [and other students] back.  

This article makes two points that I think are pretty pertinent:  First, just because consumers aren't spending as much doesn't mean they are feeling weak or pressured.  Second, what is good for Main ST isn't always the same thing that is good for Wall ST.  

I still haven't quite recovered from the number of young'uns asking on the 100th anniversary of the sinking if the Titanic was "real" because they thought it was just a movie.   Meanwhile we are still learning the stories of the passengers.  

And we have come full circle as I look out and reflect on just how much I'm going to miss this endless vista of clouds and horizon that I have been privileged to enjoy for the past 15 years.  The new balcony brings me exactly at the level of the Nordstrom's sign, which can be seen clearly through the tree's foliage, so I don't know how many future #theviewfromthebalcony snapshots will be taken and shared.  

I have to keep reminding myself of all the reasons I need to move out of here - the bugs and mice, the maintenance issues, etc.  I do like the new place and I am sure I'll be happy, after the move is all over, but even so, I do know I am going to really miss this view