Category Archives: Mostly me

A Job!

The Boomerang child is once again employed. He starts Monday at an auto dealership, working in the repair bay. I’ve already told him not to let the crazy woman cost him this job like she did his last one. He really liked it, but the bosses got tired of the Not-Wife calling him every day.

He needs to turn his phone off or keep it on mute while working. Unless I expect a call, my phone is rarely off mute. One of the reasons is that I made a mistake giving out my number when I donated to a political candidate. Now I get solicitations from every Tom, Dick, and Mary politician that wants money. Take my word for it — don’t do that.

That’s it for now.

As a bonus a look at the yarn that’s been multiplying under my bed.

Never leave two or more skeins of yarn under your bed. They breed.

I’m getting frustrated

My son has issues. I can’t deal with him and my own issues. At least, I’m self-aware and am dealing with them. But having him around stresses me out. We are the only family here. My daughter lives out of state with her own set of adult child problems. There are only two of my former in-laws alive and they have nothing to do with us and it’s very easy for them not to because they don’t live near us.

I’ve lost track of how many jobs he’s had since high school. It seems like in the 26 years since he graduated, he’s rarely worked at a single job for more than a year. I swear the thought of responsibility scares him. He’s very competent as a cook, but the minute he gets moved up a step, he quits.

This last job was for assistant manager at an oil change place that also does minor maintenance, but they put him on the floor to learn what the job entails because he never did much work on cars, having worked in kitchens from high school on.

Most of this week, he told me he was home because he was sick. Then last night he texted me not to come up to yell at him in the morning because he didn’t have to go into work, unless they called him. My spider sense says “fired.” I went upstairs but he wasn’t home. So I don’t know what’s going on.

He used to be such a great kid, but the alcohol got him early. It ran deep on his father’s side. I remember the first Christmas I spent with my in-laws. We stayed overnight and the first thing I was offered in the morning was a Bloody Mary. His dad and grandparents were never without a drink in hand.

I’m certain that after my in-laws sold their house and moved out of state, the local beer distributor who serviced their house mourned the loss of delivering 30 cases of beer every month. I know, because I was asked to meet the truck once when no one else was home. 720 cans of beer a month! For a private home! I’ve had maybe 5 beers total in 60 years.

For me, alcohol is what I drink when I go out or when a group of us would get together for a weekend of camping. I don’t have it for breakfast. Even at the lowest times in my life, alcohol has not been my go-to substance. I’m more inclined to bake a batch of cookies.

People knew to bring their own drinks to my Halloween parties and to take the leftover booze home. Right now, I have a very small stash of alcohol that my son doesn’t know about in my bedroom armoire. I have rum because I used to make rum balls for Christmas to mail to a family member. She died a couple of years ago. There’s probably only enough rum left for one last batch of rum balls or to be poured over a fruitcake.

The vodka bottles contains vanilla beans for extract. There’s enough tequila left for a margarita party. But there won’t be one because most of the people I would invite to a party have died. They were all way younger than me, but cancer, diabetes, stroke, alcohol, and car accidents took their lives. It’s weird. I’ve outlived about half of my high school classmates, and at least a third of the various people from my college days. I’ve even outlived my college.

Update: He did get fired last week. I guessed and he confessed.

Election Stuff and the Maker Space soda machine

I just got a reminder email from the City Clerk’s office reminding me of my schedule for collection from the drop boxes. Those three dates are already on my calendar. I’ll get paid for three hours a shift plus a bit for gas. Then November 3rd, I work the election at the same polling location that I did for the primary.

It’s going to be an interesting race. One of the candidates for Governor is a long term Republican Senator; the other is a Democrat who served as a Milwaukee County Executive. It’s probably going to be a tight race. Two Democrat primary candidates who withdrew from the race still remain on the ballot and could skew the Democrat results since nothing prevents voters from selecting them in the booth. As for the other races, I’ll vote for whomever is not a Republican.

In other news, I published a poll for the Makerspace membership to vote on what drinks are going into the new vending machine. Not everyone is happy as several of our former offerings were not in the top 8 choices. Fewer than ten percent of the membership voted in the survey and I expect a lot of complaints about our reduced selection. Our old machine had slots for twice as many brands and variants but the compressor died. I did search online but could not find a replacement compressor to fit the space.

The bill collector was not accepting dollars, so I messaged for one of the electronics gurus to attempt a fix. I would have figured it out but I would have had to stand on a stool to get close enough to find the proper wire and connector. I did get a response from one of our newer members who used to do vending machine repairs in his other life and he was able to repair the bill collector.

I still have to get the Treasurer to set us up for card payments at the machine since a lot of younger members want to pay by card instead of cash. I’m not going to pay an extra ten percent for a drink by using a card. If I don’t have cash, I have my emergency caffeine under a shelving unit in my studio and there’s ice in the breakroom freezer.

Another Civics lesson

Today’s topic is the 25th Amendment

25th Amendment

The 25th Amendment, proposed by Congress and ratified by the states in the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, provides the procedures for replacing the president or vice president in the event of death, removal, resignation, or incapacitation.

Section 1.

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

Section 2.

Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Section 3.

Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

Section 4.

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.

Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.


When you read this, you will notice the serving President has a way to fight the impeachment by submitting documentation proving that he does have the capacity to continue in office. It then becomes the duty of the Vice President and two-thirds of Congress to refute the statement of capacity and vote for impeachment if their evidence supports the fact that the President is, in fact, not capable of discharging his duties.

With the current Congress, even if the opposition party gains a majority in the midterm election, they may not get enough votes from the minority party to fulfill the two-thirds requirement.

PLEASE VOTE IN THE MIDTERMS. Our democracy depends on everyone voting to change Congress to a more moderate organization and expelling the current regime before we find ourselves in a much larger battle for survival.

Thank you.

There’s been a lot of talk about amendments of the Constitution.

Why we have birthright citizenship. Civics again

There’s a lot of talk lately about birthright citizenship AKA the 14th Amendment —the rights of citizens.

Section 1 defines citizenship as “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof , are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” It states further that the United State as well as individual states may not make laws or enforce laws that are counter to the privileges and immunities of citizens including the right to due process and equal protection under the law.

Section 2 describes how Representatives are allocated by the number of male inhabitants of each state, the minimum age to vote for such representatives, originally age 25, now age 18; and what counts as a disqualification for voting – insurrection, giving aid and comfort to enemies. The right of women to vote is a later Amendment.

Section 3 details that those engaging in insurrection are barred from Government office including the Office of the President, Vice President, the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as judicial officers, if they were under oath as government agents when they participated in the insurrection. It goes on to state that Congress may void the insurrection action by a two thirds vote.

Section 4 Public Debt The expenses incurred by The Civil War are authorized to be paid except for expenses incurred by the states that participated in the Insurrection.

Section 5 Congress has the power to enforce the provisions of this amendment by proper legislation.

Normally Americans become citizens by birth or naturalization. A child born in a foreign country to American citizens is an American by birth. A child born to foreign nationals can be considered a citizen by birth if the parents are seeking asylum or are long term workers abiding by the laws of the United States or are awaiting naturalization. Children born of officials working or representing foreign countries in the US are not considered to be “birthright citizens.”

Birthright citizenship was a way to give the former slaves, who might have been in the country for several generations, legal status and protections as citizens. It didn’t really give the former slaves all the rights and privileges of free persons, but was a way to break the South’s economy during and after the Civil War.

The net result was backlash against the now freed people. Even though the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments granted the former slaves freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote, the South worked tirelessly to limit the new rights of the freed slaves. Intimidation, poll taxes, murders, and bombings were used to prevent the former slaves and their descendants from voting or even improving their lives.

We are experiencing a backlash against birthright citizenship. The current administration is representing birthright citizenship as a scam by non-white persons to overwhelm our population using their old catchphrases “mongrelization,” “diluting their blood”, “undesirables.” and “criminals.”

We have people imprisoned without due process, shipped to foreign prisons, starved, beaten, raped. Small children carried off, protesters killed. It’s like having Idi Amin in charge. Except the current incumbent make Uncle Idi look sane

My opinion on AI data centers and other stuff

How are people supposed to live if their jobs are being taken over by artificial intelligence and robots? I agree that some jobs are done better by automation – mining, deep sea exploration, cleaning polluted water ways and land, parts assembly, exploring other planets that do not have breathable atmosphere, and mind-numbing tasks like verifying a hundred pins are in a packet.

But humans shouldn’t be replaced, especially in a country has no real social welfare programs in place to enable the unemployed or disabled, or even children, to have a meaningful life. There are so many forms to complete, so many proofs of employable status or unemployable status, and gatekeepers and nosy parkers who involve themselves in other people’s business and create problems.

This country likes to claim it’s the greatest, but lacks a supportive infrastructure for its citizens. No universal healthcare, no guaranteed minimum income to ensure that everyone has a place to live and food to eat. Our food, water and air are poisoned by the upper 10 percent in the name of profit, who buy companies to transfer their debt to so they can declare bankruptcy, leaving taxpayers with higher tax bills and empty store fronts and businesses.

The few data centers that have bern built are already causing problems. The builders promise jobs and improvements for the communities they build near, but instead they pollute the water table, cause aquifers to fail, and consume electricity that increases the power bills of the nearby residents.

The centers will actually provide few jobs other than the initial construction of the centers and supervisory personnel, and the artificial intelligences will not add much to the value of the towns they are in. A few custodial humans will move in, but they will start to change the character of the towns. They will want more modern houses, wider streets, and demand higher priced goods and services. They won’t shop in the local businesses because they don’t provide the amenities of larger cities.

While other countries have invested in the health and welfare of their citizens, this country is devolving into a third world nation. The oligarchy siphons funds out of communities and hoards the wealth of the nation. None of the oligarchs could spend all of their wealth even if they all lived to be hundreds of years old.

The wealth of one man could modernize the entirety of the continent of Africa with funds left over. The fact that one percent of the human population controls most of the resources, most of the money, and the health and livelihoods of billions of people is the true crime against humanity.

I would love to be wealthy. Better than that, I would love to just be debt free. Unlike many people, I consider myself to be well off because I can afford to keep my credit use reasonable. I have a house — yes, there’s a mortgage — but I can afford the payment. I use credit cautiously, generally paying the cards off within a month or so.

One of the credit card companies notified me that they are reducing my credit limit because I don’t use the card enough. Fine by me. I’m cancelling that card anyway. My credit score will take a hit, but no big deal. It won’t be that much of a hit.

I spent years clawing my way up from practically no credit score to one that has three digits. I have everything that I need because my needs are reasonable except for craft supplies. We all have our faults.

Before you get all mad at my rant, remember this is just my opinion based on moderate research, reading, and life experience. You have your opinion based on your information gathering. We can have differing opinions. That’s what the First Amendment is about, right?

My theory for the sonic booms

Hear me out before you judge.

The sonic booms being reported are from aliens trying to send a vaccine to cure the current Dear Leader Infatuation Syndrome in the United States and hitting the Stupidity Shield created snd patented by the Administration to keep the followers from becoming self-aware.

Since it takes a long time to travel through space, it was probably an attempt to prevent the current disaster that is our government. The aliens misjudged the thickness of the American Stupidity Shield and the speed and power needed for an effective penetration to disburse the vaccine.

Nice try, Aliens. You underestimated the thickness of American Ignorance. You’d never catch enough of them for individual vaccination since they’re incredibly anti-vax.

Once again my car is broken

I think I need to just take the bus. This past Wednesday, I had a re-check at the Orthodontist. Not a problem. Except it turned out to be a problem. First I took a wrong turn because I misread the map. Once I got going the correct way and was going down the off-ramp, I was forced to the right by a car that ran the yellow and forced me to move too far to the right to avoid having another insurance claim.

I was closer to the right side that I thought and ran up the curb and then dropped back down to the road. I continued on to my appointment without hearing that particular sound that a flat tire would make. When I came out and started the car, I got a low tire pressure warning light. I walked around the car to get to the air gauge in the glove box, looked down at at the tire and realized I didn’t need the gauge. Called for a tow and called the shop that services my car to tell them the car would be on the lot when they arrived in the morning.

I let the folks at the reception desk know I was outside waiting for a tow in case anyone mentioned someone was just sitting in the parking lot. I had to wait an hour for the tow and had the car towed to my regular repair shop. It was still open so I was able to drop the key inside and tell them what happened.

I’m still waiting for the car to be done. There were six cars already on the lot for service this morning. I did get a call yesterday saying they are changing both front tires so they’re the same. I told them no rush, so I guess they’ll call me this afternoon.

I had the dubious pleasure of using our new and improved (not!) transit system to go to the makerspace for a meeting. I missed my transfer connection by 3 minutes because the connecting bus was running early. I texted one of the members to meet me on at a corner at the bottom of the hill. They showed up very quickly. After the meeting they brought me home.

What a mess. If I had kept my Saturn, this would never have happened because I’d be on a different timeline. 😂😂😂

I bought a camera and I’m this (years) old.

Yep. I decided that with the petty thefts going on at the shop, I would monitor my studio. It’s not an expensive camera, but sufficient for my needs. It watches the entry and I can access it from my iPad. It works well enough for my purposes and notifies me when someone walks past my studio.

I was just reading an old Buzzfeed article asking how many years old you are without giving your age or birthdate. The answers were mostly from “youngsters”— the ones who grew up with remotes and color televisions. The oldest was “I’m riding in the back of the station wagon-years old” I can beat that. I’m “crouch under your desk and cover your head with your hands”-years old, also known as “duck-and-cover” air raid drills

Early Atomic Age— prepare for falling atom bombs AKA early Cold War Era. Eisenhower was President and Russia was Enemy Number One. We could be attacked at any time by the godless communists. Air raid sirens went off once a month. If you couldn’t get to shelter, you did the “duck-and-cover.” Yep. That’d save you from a real bomb.

Maybe with the current state of the country, we should start those drills again. Not that they’d do much good. Just ask the folks from Hiroshima and Nagasaki how well they did. The weapons we have now would literally blast us back to the stone age, not metaphorically, literally. There’s nowhere to hide. Maybe Greenland or maybe Antarctica.

With the luck of most of us, a nuke would strike Yellowstone and send us all not back to the Stone Age, but back to the Primordial swamp. Millions of years from now, the future inhabitants of Earth will be drilling for hydrocarbons in the areas formerly known as Chicago, Minneapolis, New York.

Geologists will speculate on the enormous pools of fatty hydrocarbons that were formerly Americans. Archeologists will be confused by the incredible amounts of crumbling plastic artifacts. Anthropologists and Paleontologists will be using carbonized and crushed shards of bones to assemble what earlier life looked like and will come up with creatures assembled from the fragments of humans and their pets.

They’ll mine the great rust beds that were girders of skyscrapers and wonder about the fragments of tarry ribbons winding about under the dirt. They’ll wonder why there are uncountable seams of copper that extend for thousands of miles but are scarcely thicker than a twig. And they’ll find the Twinkies of a bygone era- still in the plastic wrap, still with the creamy filling, and the soft yellow sponge cake.

What fun.

I just watched a Catumentory

That’s just a word I made up. I was given two tickets by my friend Carolyn, to “25 Cats From Qatar,” a film about cat rescue operations in Qatar. Carolyn couldn’t make the show so I asked the former “mini-me” aka my youngest granddaughter, to join me.

The film is part of the Wisconsin Film Festival which started in 1999 and highlights cinema from around the world. These are not your Hollywood-type movies, but the work of filmmakers from Wisconsin and different parts of the world.

“25 Cats from Qatar” is about an American cat rescue group based in Wisconsin. The camera follows a woman from Milwaukee to the capital of Qatar, the city of Doha, to choose 25 cats to bring back for adoption. You find out that 25 cats isn’t even a percentage point of the number of feral and abandoned cats in the city.

Most of these cats are abandoned by Qatar’s temporary workers who leave after their contracts are done. Rather than take the cats back with them, they abandon their cats on the streets. “It’s just a cat.” I learned that there is a rotating population of 3 million temporary workers and an estimated 3 million cats abandoned on the streets.

There are people who have been feeding and providing some care for cats in their neighborhoods and these are the lucky cats. Most have to scrounge for food and risk starvation or being killed by traffic or disease.

The film showed several people who take a few cats off the street, primarily to treat wounds and injuries, and offer them a place to recover before turning them loose again. The healthiest of the cats are held for foreign rescuers to pick up and take to their home countries for adoptions. Very few of these make the cut.

There are veterinarians who will verify that the cats are healthy enough for travel and who fill out the cats’ health certificates and their passports. Yep, today I learned that cats get passports. One of the cats turned out to be pregnant so she smuggled 4 kittens in in her belly.

The young woman actually brought 27 cats (+4) back to Milwaukee. All 31 found homes. I think the entire cargo area of the plane was wall-to-wall cat crates. At the end of the film, there was a question and answer period featuring rescuer and the woman who accompanied her to do the filming.

AJ and I didn’t stick around for that, because my bad knee was really giving me trouble. Apparently, the balcony of the 100 year-old theater was built for shorter people with good knees. I spent the entire film standing which was okay because we were in the very last row and I was able to brace myself quite well against the seat.

As we walked out, I took a tumble – very embarrassing, by the way. I made it down the steps okay. And as we were leaving the forecasted rain was pouring down. Being part cat myself, I really didn’t appreciate the wet, and sent AJ to get her car which she didn’t appreciate because she’s also part cat. 😀