Monthly Archives: November 2024

Thanx again (again)

Posted on by under Generic Rant

Looks as if I’ve got a tradition going. For the last two years I’ve written Thanksgiving Eve posts listing things I’m thankful for. (See here and here for some background.) Why not keep it up? It’s not like folks will get sick of something that only happens once a year or that I’ll run out of things to be thankful for before I run out of years. Besides, it’s good therapy to take a break and count my blessings.

So, here’s this year’s list of obscure stuff that mean little to others but are a big deal to me:

  1. Yahweh
  2. LOML
  3. The Kids!
  4. Grandchildren!
  5. New writing projects
  6. Still upright
  7. Still cycling
  8. Sleepovers
  9. Vineyard Square Wheelers swan song
  10. Huge family Thanksgiving celebrations
  11. Babysitting, even for non-babies
  12. Family photo book
  13. My right leg
  14. Weird lobsters
  15. Father-Daughter Shopping Day
  16. My bench on Edgartown Harbor
  17. Trekking poles
  18. Single-story living
  19. Helpful friends and relatives
  20. Simplifying life
  21. Memory Box
  22. Supper & Study
  23. Adventures
  24. Max and Leo’s
  25. Cycling partners
  26. Summer Street Grocers
  27. Pompano Beach Club
  28. Pressed Cafe
  29. Chelmsford Center for the Arts
  30. Puttshack
  31. Bar Harbor with the whole gang
  32. Problem solving lunches
  33. Surprise drop-ins
  34. Surprise run-ins (Acadia, Cafe12, Java Room, etc.)
  35. BFRT extension
  36. Solar eclipse road trip
  37. Salt Rock Chocolates
  38. Vineyard Square Hotel and (especially) Suites
  39. 13 MPH
  40. House phones
  41. Dewey
  42. Better World Club
  43. Scrolled
  44. James & Peter
  45. Clam runs
  46. Talented friends like Jerry
  47. The Bike Shop
  48. Brief getaways to MV
  49. The John Alden and The Original
  50. Salted peanut butter/butterscotch cookies
  51. Sunday connections with a Jive Turkey
  52. One last meal on Pater
  53. Sunsets
  54. The Bike Ferry
  55. Elizabeth Warren
  56. Fried chicken sandwiches
  57. Generous people
  58. Lessons and Carols
  59. Francis Collins
  60. Ad blockers
  61. Tello
  62. Whoonu
  63. The Holderness family
  64. New rail trails
  65. Don’s encouragement
  66. The remnant who refuse to bow to a false idol
  67. Gingerbread houses
  68. Faith… in things unseen
  69. Hope… when there seems to be little reason to
  70. Love… the greatest of these

Sorry. I usually list a couple dozen items but I got carried away. Y’know, I could go on and on with things we normally take for granted like sunsets, music, my car, an abundance of quality food, potable water on tap, climate control, waves, hugs, friendship, memories, pizza, light, ad infinitum. But there aren’t enough electrons to cover everything to be thankful for. They come at us fast and glorious. Don’t miss a single one.

God bless you.

The place to run out of gas…

Posted on by under blog snax, photos

A BlogSnax© post

No time for a full length post but here’s a picture worth checking out. If you ever run out of gas on a quiet country road, this is the one you want to be on.

What’s this pump doing in the middle of nowhere? Good question. If you figure it out, tell me. Also, if you can identify the location, put it in the comments. I’ll try to come up with a prize for the first person who comes close. General or specific is fine. Hint: It truly is in the middle of nowhere… or at least on the outskirts of it.

Mexico is building a wall!

Posted on by under Generic Rant, Original writing

As one of her first moves as Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum has declared that she plans to build a wall along the border with the USA and she expects them to pay for it.

“We proud Mexican citizens are tired of all these people coming from the US ruining our country. They send rapists, mentally ill, liars, felons, misogynists, sexual predators, and bigots. Admittedly, the only person fitting all those descriptions is the newly elected president of that morally bankrupt country. But with that buffoon in charge, can more like him be far behind? Stay out of our country! They’ve never even had a woman running the joint. How backwards is that? Hello, losers! It’s the 21st century!”

They’re eating the Taco Bells!

That’s not all that concerns her. She continued, “As if all that weren’t enough, they’re going to come down here and try to open up Taco Bells. Taco Bell!! In Mexico! Are they kidding? Why not open a Red Lobster in Maine? Or Papa John’s in Naples? We’re Mexican! We know how Mexican food is supposed to taste and that ain’t it!”

She concluded by declaring, “Keep your crappy food and your corrupt leaders and their reprehensible ways out of Mexico. Stay behind that wall and pay up when the bill comes!”

Two candidates…

Posted on by under Generic Rant

One of the candidates…

…has promised us we’ll never have to (read: “get to”) vote again.

…has already fomented an attempted coup, which he later called a “love fest”. Six people lost their lives and 174 police were injured in the love fest.

…sat watching TV while everyone around him begged him to call off his mob of supporters who were on a rampage in the Capitol threatening to hang his Vice President.

…has threatened military action against his opponents.

…agreed with a supporter who told him that nuclear war isn’t so bad because Hiroshima and Nagasaki are back.

…suggested one of his opponents should stand before a firing squad.

…claims to know more than anyone about technology, drones, courts, campaign finance, TV ratings, ISIS, social media, trade, visas, renewable energy, taxes, debt, money, borders, Democrats, the economy, and a whole lot more. But he knows nothing about his own party’s Project 2025, David Duke or white supremacy, or the Proud Boys.

…repeats unsubstantiated stories he reads on social media and never recants when they are proven false.

…has been selling sneakers, coins, bibles, crypto, watches, and a whole lot more while campaigning.

…has been convicted of 34 felonies and lost many civil cases, being fined hundreds of millions of dollars.

The other candidate…

…is a woman. The US has had as many female leaders as the Taliban.