Well….it was an okay day yesterday and the turkey came out great again and I ate too much as always…but, my eating too much is really not a lot when I think about it…I mean one plate of food for the whole day? And no pie this year? Yep, so I shouldn’t feel too bad about it…and I don’t. Slept okay last night but feel pretty worn out today so I think I’m going to take it easy and just do some small work around here….I really have to clean more around here than I did at the apartment but I haven’t gotten that all figured out yet….I know the space is bigger but there’s more to it than that…it just seems that I track a lot more dirt in from outside than I did at the apt….and this place is really dusty, too…oh, well….I am going to check on amazon today to see if they have the soundbar I want on sale for black Friday but that is about all I want to spend money on right now…the new basement equipment I ordered is coming Sunday so that will be cool but I do need to not spend any more money until after the first of the year to let my reserves build up again…and I really don’t need anything but there are a few things I want that I have to put off for now….but, I’m used to that…have done that my whole life and it’s pretty easy….more later…
All posts by James DeVol
November 28th
Well….5 bucks for the GR press? Just went out to get the big paper of the year and they charged 5 frickin bucks just so I can get bombarded with ads? Okay, the ads are the point of today’s paper and it is a little treat for me so I guess I shouldn’t bitch about it…although that’s a buck more than I paid for my 14 pound turkey to put it in perspective….I think I may have found a sleep aid that works every time…a couple of days ago, I watched “The Mandalorian” and I fell asleep on the couch during it…so, I decided to watch it again last night since I am a big Star Wars fan and the same thing happened! Fell asleep multiple times as the loudness of the fight scenes woke me up time and again…so I think there may be something to it….slept okay last night and don’t feel to bad right now other than my thumb hurts like crazy again this morning…I did get out for a bike ride in shorts yesterday since it was 52 at 8am but it will be full thermasuit today…and I got the new front sprocket for the bike that I need to install but I’m not sure if I’ll get to that before I ride today…I think I can get through one more ride with the old one and I don’t want to miss Man U playing at 11 this morning…not sure how long it will take to change it out but I think the last one took about a half hour….not much to do today…just cooking, eating, and watching the Lions lose…and some cleaning if I can get motivated but I’m not holding my breath…more later….
I feel pretty lucky…
Well…as you know, I read a lot and one of the sites that I read the most is DailyKos since it has like minded people there from the more progressive side of the country…but, this one is not about the politics that I write about a lot but it is about the real pain that has been coming through a lot of the writing there over the past few days. One of the best parts of the site is the fact that, while they do have some paid writers there, a lot of the content comes from what is called the community…and any member is encouraged to add his two cents on any topic they choose…and this time of the year, there are a lot of people who are living through loss and loneliness…and are having such a hard time dealing with the change in their lives that comes with the death of a parent or estrangement from family that it is heartbreaking to read. But I do read some of them and comment when I think I have something to say that might help…and with that reading, a revelation has come to me that I am pretty lucky…I don’t see my family a lot and my kids spend the holidays with their inlaws…but I don’t feel the loneliness that other people feel and I realize that loss is part of life and have been fortunate to be able to let that go as just that…part of life that we all have to deal with in our own way. A few years back, I had quite a few friends who didn’t have any place to be on Thanksgiving so I would cook a huge turkey and invite them all over for the “Orphan’s Thanksgiving” and we would eat and laugh and drink a lot of wine…but, things have changed with many of them having their own families and new traditions but I still cook the huge turkey by myself and for myself and I still consider myself to be really lucky to still be able to do it and not be sad about being alone….I just wish that the posters at Kos could find some of the peace that I have…and find some little reason to smile that will lift the veil of depression for just a shining little while….
trump loses another one….
Well…even with the despair that most of the country feels as trump and his criminal cronies get away with committing crimes every day, there are small bits of news that offer some hope that our institutions are going to strike back with the rule of law….and that happened Monday when a federal court judge ruled that yes, Don McGahn has to testify in the impeachment investigation (or this one is from the Mueller investigation) and the judge went on to say that no one is above the law or a king who can just do whatever the hell he wants…and the opinion went on for 120 pages where the judge tried to teach trump and his cronies what the constitution says about the separation of powers and that the legislative branch is well within it’s rights described in the constitution to conduct oversight of the executive branch. But, that little hope is tempered by the fact that trump and his enablers have put so many shitty judges on the bench that most of them don’t even know what the constitution says and those folks are the ones who will be deciding the case when the inevitable appeal hits the courts…and, of course, with Kavanaugh on the supreme court, trump really could shoot someone on 5th avenue and he and the rest of the conservatives would say that it’s just perfectly fine and a president can do anything without consequence. So, where does that leave us? We need to vote, vote, vote to throw these criminals out in 2020 and then our task will be to restore the rule of law and codify that yes, a sitting president can be indicted if there is evidence of a crime…just like anyone else….
November 27th
Well…running a little late this morning for no reason other than I wanted to get the turkey into the brine for tomorrow and didn’t want to wait to do it….tried adding some veggie broth to this one just for something new and put some bay leaves, brown sugar, rosemary, thyme, and sage in to give it some really good flavor…so we’ll see tomorrow…I was a little concerned that a 14 pound bird wouldn’t fit in my roaster but it was just fine…and one of the biggest turkeys I’ve ever cooked….and the fridge downstairs is huge so it fit easily…looking forward to having a big dinner tomorrow and I need to use up all of the leftovers I have in the upstairs fridge so I’ll have a place to put them….slept okay last night but tossed and turned more than normal so I am a little worn out this morning but really don’t have much to do but make a run out to the south end to get some venison…I did get my refund from my apt deposit yesterday so I have 207 bucks to spend and spent some of it on some basement equipment yesterday for 79 bucks…and I think I may buy a sound bar for the tv for 65 bucks and then use the rest to have some cash on hand….found money is always fun…it’s 52 degrees outside right now and I may try to get out on the bike in shorts if it’s not too windy and it quits raining…that would be cool…more later….
A win for democracy here in Michigan….
Well….as the repubs continue to cheat to win elections and to rig the votes through gerrymandering, the judicial system has come through to protect the citizen initiative for fairly drawn districts. Just yesterday, a federal judge dismissed the repubs lawsuit that tried to get the non-partisan redistricting commission law thrown out even though 61% of the people here in Michigan voted for it…showing that the repubs don’t give a damn about the people of Michigan’s wishes but just hanging on to power any way they can….and the only way they can is to cheat since fairly drawn districts would put them out of power possibly permanently…or until they become a party that actually cares what the people want…and that is not more tax cuts for the rich that decimate the services that all of us depend on. So, of course you know how this is going to play out…the repubs will appeal and try to run out the clock so the commission can’t do it’s job for 2020 and the cheating districts that the repubs rigged will have to be used…isn’t anyone else tired of the repubs undermining our democracy for their own venal needs? I know I am and want every damn one of them gone….
November 26th
Well….as you can see, the site was down this morning so I am late getting here today…but, with it down, I did get out and run all of my errands so all I have to do the rest of the week is veg here and work…after I get out to the south end and get some venison tomorrow…yay! B has steaks and burger for me and I can’t wait to make some tacos after I get tired of eating turkey…but that won’t be until Sunday and they will be a nice change after I get there…slept okay last night and didn’t get up til 6 so that is okay after the 3am wake ups that have been happening for so long….and I feel okay today with being out running around and now getting ready to get on the bike after I do this…I do have two political ones to do this afternoon about the courts both nationally and in Michigan showing they are the last bulwark against the repub lawlessness across this country….but, right now, I need to get the laundry out of the dryer and get it put away before I ride….more later….
There are tapes…
Well…not sure if you read about this little bombshell that dropped over the weekend but one of the Ukrainians indicted for funneling Russian money to repub campaigns in 2016, and who was neck deep in the Ukraine/Biden conspiracy has given tapes of trump, giuliani and others to the House committee that is still investigating the crimes that trump and his cronies committed. Now, let that one sink in a minute…Lev Parnas has tapes, photos, and video of the conspiracy in real time that he has already turned over to investigators…now, I wonder how the repubs are going to spin this one? “Who are going to believe, me or your own eyes?” is going to be the latest talking point that is going to come out of the conspirators and fox news…and it won’t make a damn bit of difference to them that these tapes will make abundantly clear that trump was at the head of these crimes and induced others to committ felonies on his behalf…now, we all know that there is nothing trump can do to lose the synchophants who are protecting him…but they all better lawyer up for when trump is gone because they are all going to need them….
November 25th
Well….that’s a new record…didn’t get out of bed until 7:10…after getting up for the first time at 3:14 that is…but, I feel pretty good so I’ll take it….and I even slept okay so we’ll see how the day pans out…didn’t get a lot done yesterday but the bike ride and ordering the new front sprocket for the bike….I am a little disappointed that both the front and rear sprocket sets wore out at 8,000 miles when the first set on the last bike lasted over 10,000 miles but the chromed rear set I have on it now doesn’t show a lot of wear even at…hmmmm…not sure how many miles but I know I had them on the last bike for at least two years and maybe 3….the new front only cost 20 bucks and should be here next week so that will put the bike back to not skipping again….now, I just need to figure out why the shifter sticks and I’ll be happy…or, as happy as I can be…I am looking forward to cooking a big t-day meal and eating a bunch of turkey then making turkey soup again, but that will be next week….think I’m going to use my standard brine and add a little sage this year when I butter the skin before cooking….not much to do today…it’s pool day! It will be nice to get out of here for a while but I need to wash the car this morning since the glass is pretty dirty….and it is going to be warm enough to do it in the driveway this morning before the bike ride…and I got my November top down run in yesterday and that was good with the cold that is coming….more later….
Poor Devin stepped in it…
Well…as Devin Nunes did everything in his power to try to derail the impeachment hearings, reporting that came out Friday gave us part of the why…other than being a trump loving asshole, that is. In December of last year, ole Devie and three of his henchmen took a trip to Vienna to meet with, guess who? The disgraced former Ukrainian prosecutor, Shokin, who was thrown out of office for corruption…and guess what he was meeting Shokin for? Yep, to try to do trump’s bidding by looking for “dirt” on the Bidens, the server, and whether or not the moon is made of green cheese. This idiot spent 63K of taxpayers dollars to do it, and with that, he committed the same crime that the idiot trump did since ole Devie was part of the conspiracy that every other damn person in the trump crime family is guilty of….and reveals that his is dumber than a box of rocks and is just another repub who Putin is using to attack the US….like every damn on of them. Luckily, the dems are in control of congress for this ethics investigation and little Devie is not going to escape with a slap on the wrist this time…how about no more committee assignments where he protects trump? Oh, and the latest is that he is going to sue CNN for reporting on his crimes…just like is suing a cow for tweeting bad things about him…it ain’t going to end well, Devie….oh, one last thing…one of the Ukrainian “fixers” who were working for trump in his scandal has said that yep, Devie was there and he did talk to Shokin…twice…sue that Devie…