Shock

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

I realized with a shock a week ago that the anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel is now less than 2 months away. This startled me and shocked me, because in my mental map, it happened yesterday.

It took looking back carefully to see the months and months of anti-semitic attacks all over the nation, the ridiculous pro-Palestine demonstrations trying to swell up to the level of Buy Large Mansions, the various losses of mind over technical Supreme Court decisions, then the growing incoherence of the Junta culminating in what amounts to an internal coup d’etat, oh and attempt on Trump’s life which like a lot of things — the Las Vegas shooters, that explosion on Christmas day four? years back — will never be adequately investigated or explained.

And I realized I thought it happened yesterday, because I’ve spent this entire year in a state of high alert, of stress, waiting for the next shoe to drop. Looking around, in astonishment at the things that are okay, normal, no one says much.

It’s been like that since 2020. Closing down the entire country; putting the entire population effectively under house arrest while scaring them about a virus that, yeah, was dangerous to people over 80, but turned out not to inflict any excess mortality beyond what a bad flu year would do — all of this would be considered so stupid, so highly implausible that I couldn’t get away with using it in a book. People would mock me if I tried and ask me what universe I lived in.

Yet, there we are and they did it. And since then the crazy outrages keep piling up, including the in-your-face-stolen election at the end of 2020 and the slightly less blatant one at the end of 22. Including the attack on Israel, which sure, was another country. But the atrocities, and the bragging about them, the targeting of civilians, women and children, and the fact perpetrators thought it was a great “victory” that would achieve, heaven only knows what, was like the stuff I read in history books when tribal societies clash, things that should be de-facto impossible in civilized societies. Certainly bragging them should be impossible without drawing condemnation from everyone. Except our officialdom and the left did not condemn the atrocities, and have instead been screaming at the top of their lungs because Israel is defending herself. This should not be possible, but of course it is, because people though angry are atomized, propagandized and incapable of fighting back with their elections corrupted.

Now the left thinks that this means this wonderful strategy of replacing shock with shock and outrage with outrage will give them a reign of a thousand years.

Leaving alone the fact that they live in a fantasy reality and couldn’t govern their way out of a wet paper bag with the directions written on the inside, there is the fact that eventually the traumatized population, after repeated retraumatizing goes into unreasoning and complete fury.

Judging by various things including our potemkin economy and increasingly obviously, transparently false news reporting, and the expressions of people at the grocery store, something is coming. And it will be neither good nor peaceful.

The biggest risk, honestly, is not letting the fury consume and destroy all, and to return to our civil society at the other end.

It’s almost impossible, but it’s not impossible. And America is a nation of miracles.

Heck, maybe the biggest miracle will occur, and we’ll be able to turn this around without it getting ugly and kinetic. Don’t bet on it. Prepare for the worse, but perhaps G-d still looks after fools, drunkards and the United States of America.

What is more important right now, while we wait for this very profligate centipede to drop yet another shoe, and wait/fear that the powder barrel we’ve been tap dancing on to blow, it’s very easy for stress to kill us, particularly those of us of a certain age.

You have to recognize that we’re living a very unnatural life, one beset by high stress that we keep trying to ignore so we can live life.

It’s easy to relax when the storm has passed, everyone is alive, and your main task is to recoup and regroup.

But the storm hasn’t passed, and power lines keep breaking and sparking all over, so we keep stumbling on them and getting shocked despite ourselves.

You can’t, on your own, do something about the terrible situation the world is in, as the beast of socialist governance keeps spasming to stay in control and causing more and more damage as it does. At some point either enough people will have enough and be in a position to fight back (If it’s on Christmas, you’ll be required to speak Romanian) or — it’s possible — the whole thing will fall apart at once, through extreme stupidity and malfeasance (it’s happened.)

But nothing will be won if by that time you have let stress and rage eat you, and make you ill. I don’t care how old you are, most of you who read here are rational human beings, and we’re going to need you to help rebuild on the other side, so maybe, just maybe we can get our representative Constitutional Republic back (while knowing that it hasn’t existed as such, not functionally, since before I was born and I’m somewhat past the mid century mark).

So, how do you manage the stress and the rage, not forgetting or avoiding seeing what they’re doing to us, but refusing to let it get inside our heads and destroy us?

Well…. Most of what you can do are small mitigation efforts.

Prepping for the worst helps. I know that, because my PTSD forces me to. If I don’t, I get to the stress level that doesn’t allow me to function.

What else? Well, carve out time and space every day to do things that de-stress you and make you feel better.

I can’t tell you precisely what that is, because I am not you.

If you’re a reader of this blog, reading is probably a great part of your relaxation and recovering strategy. So, find books that make you feel happy. Ignore if they are stupid or don’t teach you anything. Don’t hold yourself to impossible standards. Take time and make space to have things that make you feel happy. Books, or music, or something.

Sometimes when you’re very stressed, listening to a favorite tune with headphones might help. Reading a book or re-reading a book you enjoy might help. Taking a walk with your loved one might help.

On that, yesterday while dealing with bureaucracy for the kids’ wedding, the basement flooded with sewage because of a city line thing. Which is why this post is so late. And why my stress is somewhere at the point that you can expect a chimney to emerge from the top of my head and whistle.

But we’ll get through this. Personally and nationally. We will survive.

It’s all about maximizing our choices and not letting our stress kill us till it does.

161 thoughts on “Shock”

  2. I still remember my shock at an older lady saying about the October 7 attacks, “But you gotta understand how frustrated they are.” Apparently not realizing that she now has no reason to complain about any attacks if someone can complain that the perpetrators were frustrated.

    Liked by 2 people

    4. One wonders how frustrated she would have to be to commit acts of rape and murder.

      perhaps not very…

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  3. After reading all the ghastly details … and I couldn’t bear to watch the worst of the worst of the videos … I was forevermore done with sympathy for the Palestinians. Nope. Just done. I’m certain there were winsome Japanese orphans and nice German hausfraus getting the worst of WWII … but didn’t stop us from leveling Japan and Germany. Israel can’t exist with that degree of hate aimed at it. Not for the last 70 years. Make the Gaza rubble bounce like a trampoline. I DO NOT CARE.

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    1. When it comes down to it you have to do what’s best for you not for them even while doing the best to show compassion for them. I empathize with your sentiment but beg you to realize that that’s an answer ultimately do to you. You aren’t worth losing that way and deserve to stay the better person you are, even if we do have to level the whole thing we need to lose it without losing our humanity or losing your humanity

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      1. She is not losing her humanity. Quite the contrary. She is recognizing the inescapable truth that some folks -choose- not to be human, and that those folks tend to casue obscene amounts of grief until finally put down. If one allows them to continue, nothing but Woe results. If one has the ability, the means, and the opportunity to stop them, and stands aside for them, one is complicit in their evil.

        They can change whenever they want. They usually do not want. They -like- what they are. Their behavior might be moderated by high cost. But sometimes not even that.

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          1. 100%

            The protesters here in the US need to be rounded up on the spot, with the usual supporters from legislator (congress, senate, and white house), and shipped to Gaza.

            Liked by 1 person

            2. Some here in California are facing court charges, surprisingly enough, after blocking the freeways. The charge is “False Imprisonment”, since people on the freeway were basically trapped in place with protestors in front of them, and a sea of cars behind them.

              There is the possibility that the charges will be dismissed or bargained down. But the public was pissed off enough over this that it might actually go to court.

              Liked by 1 person

            4. You have sent the Reader off to read Louis L’Amour. He never has. Your words have real impact, Caroline.

              Liked by 2 people

          3. Making the rubble bounce in Germany, blockading, firebombing and nuking Japan were not nice… but in the long run it saved lives and allowed the surviving citizens of those countries to live (and thrive) in civilized countries.

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            1. A pet, cut down by a disease of madness, is not a man, wallowing in willful, even gleeful, evil.

              Bad, not mad.

              At the extreme, madness and evil can be difficult to distinguish. The essential difference is “willful”.

              Liked by 1 person

              1. I would have satisfaction in justice done, innocent protected, etc., but still sadness that one human or once so forsook good to destroy themselves.

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              2. Yup, that’s going in a story.

                Left-wing whiner: “You can’t just kill them! They’re not animals!”

                Main character: “They’re worse than animals. They choose not to be better than this.”

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                1. You get what you earn, when you CHOOSE to be inhumane, you cannot expect humane treatment from those you chose to wrong. Often times the fear you tried to cause comes back tenfold to you. The lord works in mysterious ways and his blade is often those you have wronged, nothing will stop a righteous man, not even death. Life is the choices we make, chose well my friends and keep your powder dry.

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        2. Truth! The Palestinians have spent the last 70 years proving that they are depraved savages, incapable of living in a civilized society — or even near one. Israel will never have peace or security so long as one Palestinian remains living in Gaza. Thus, the goal must be to dig every single one of them out of their rat-holes and send them packing. It’s no coincidence that NO COUNTRY will accept them. Everybody knows what they are. So what can be done with them? I say load them on barges and land them on the Gulf coast of Iran. The Iranian regime has been funding their terrorism for decades; let them deal with their own monsters.

          As one of my characters puts it: “See, this is why you deal with such criminals permanently. Now, two innocent people are dead and a dozen more are being held hostage, all because coddling a violent psychopath made you feel better about yourself. You should be prosecuted as an accessory to those crimes.”

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          1. Some.

            Perhaps even most.

            But not all.

            .

            We still must distinguish the guilty from the merely wrong-headed or passive.

            Very important: don’t become them.

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            1. “the merely wrong-headed”

              “Stupidity is the only capital crime.”

              “or passive.”

              “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

              I suppose that if someone wants to put lipstick on the pig of providing himself or those he cares about as human shields for the guilty, that’s a choice. Just don’t presume to lecture those who refuse to do so.

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              1. Most of the Palestinians were passive. Well, they did vote, in a sense. And they did dance in the streets. And they did state that they supported Hamas. They did fund Hamas and allow themselves to be used as human shields. And they did stay in Gaza when they could have hone elsewhere.

                That’s passive, right? They didn’t do anything DIRECTLY. /sarc off/

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              2. Don’t become the enemy.

                If you want to claim any sort of moral high ground, you cant simply dehumanize everyone else you don’t like and unleash slaughter. Else they get to do you as you do, as does anyone else who objects to our nice little country. Bad enough as it is without going there.

                Otherwise why not just gas all of them into fertilizer? No? Why not? Some remaining vestige of humanity saying “stay your hand you freaking lunatic”.

                Or if you truly are “just kill them all” adjacent, then please get off my county and stop embarrassing it. That sort of idiocy has no place in “All Men are created Equal”. I certainly hope you are smarter than that.

                And shame on you for equating “selective targeting” with “do nothing”. That is the dumbest strawman ever. One can rather ruthlessly target enemy leadership and warcrime dipshits, while sparing as much of the bystanders as practical. You also teach the reachable ones “See? The enemy isn’t nuts. You can self-segregate from the lunatics and thus survive.” Or do you really prefer a slaughterfest where their only hope is to kill as many of us as possible? Because rest assured, those other folks can ramp up. Don’t give Hamid Average who -isnt- nuts the reason to join actively with the lunatics, and maybe we can wind this down by culling the crazies and effectives.

                The enemy leadership -want- us to go slaugherhouse on them. It serves their agenda and their objectives, especially the genuinely insane ones. One doesn’t win wars by helping the other side achieve their objectives.

                One doesn’t win wars by helping the other side achieve their objectives.

                One doesn’t win wars by helping the other side achieve their objectives.

                Cull the goats. Don’t become them. Duh.

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                1. “One can rather ruthlessly target enemy leadership and warcrime dipshits,
                  while sparing as much of the bystanders as practical. You also teach
                  the reachable ones “See? The enemy isn’t nuts. You can self-segregate
                  from the lunatics and thus survive.””

                  ………….

                  Which is what Israel is doing.

                  Unfortunately not all Hamas’s victims have a choice to not be there. Not when Hamas is using civilian schools, hospitals, and religious, locations, the buildings themselves or building tunnels and headquarters underneath. Near as I can tell (despite Hamas screaming otherwise) Hamas has kicked out the most if not all the legitimate users of the facilities in question. By Hamas using civilian facilities as cover, it is Hamas’s fault when damage and killing is done to any civilians to remove Hamas killers. Hamas OTOH directly targets civilian facilities fully knowing they are civilian facilities, and absolutely no, none, link to military use.

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                  1. Keep in mind that the “schools” in Gaza, staffed by Hamas and UNWRA, indoctrinate children to hate Jews and desire the global genocide of Jews at a very young age.. They young children proudly proclaim their desire to kill Jews.

                    Is it any wonder that the Democrats and global left are appalled when armed Hamas members are targeted in such schools and there is collateral damage that damages the indoctrination centers they are using, and which US and European governments finance. It is the equivalent of taxpayer dollars going to fund the Hitler Youth.

                    Liked by 1 person

            3. The Israeli’s have been sorting the sheep from the goats. Their record in getting combatants vs. civilians is much better than everyone else in the world.

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        3. Nobody likes my proposed solution of starving them out. Even if it’s relatively peaceful and free of violence.

          Either way, they started it, perpetuated it, and derive visceral joy from the deaths of Jews. F*ck ’em with a firework. Push ’em into the sea for all I care. They are not the ones who are worthy and deserving of mercy and protection. They done exempted themselves from proper civilization.

          Fine. So be it.

          If they oppose civilization, let civilization deal with them as it has all its foes over the many centuries. Kill them. And move on.

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            1. Just as they are, currently and for a long time, first in line to get anything that enters “their” territory…

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          3. I believe the IDF has a winning strategy. Make life short and interesting for the enemy leadership. Spare the bystanders when practical. Teach that mercy exists, but has a price. Implacably whack the guilty leadership. Achmed Anybody will wave the white flag when the time comes. it may take a few iterations of leadership-whackamole, but eventually they run our of effectives and Achmed Anybody always has the odd white rag “for cleaning purposes, boss”.

            Some folks don’t -want- a victorious Israel, especially on Israeli terms and methods. There is a really ugly thing in the midst of that desire. Folks need to be cautious they don’t become the bigger monster.

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        4. While the initial Oct. 7 attacks, the border breach and initial attacks and airborne concert assault, were committed by structured formations of Ham-Ass and other Gazan military organizations, subsequent waves crossing the breached border and joining in with the Gazan military formations in their widespread raping and murder were Gazan civilians, who thought it was a splendid idea and did not want to miss out.

          Gazan civilians, hurrying to join in.

          The artificial construct that posits some bright line separation between those culpable for all the oh so thoroughly documented atrocities and the Gazan masses, and the political construct of Gaza itself, is a lie, as is the idea that the distinct polity of Gaza itself did not attack and rape and torture and kidnap and murder noncombatant civilians. Gaza did it. Gaza itself must pay.

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          1. Defeat the enemy. Do not become the enemy.

            When fighting a bunch of genocidal maniacs, one must nor become genocidal maniacs.

            Or was your point thst they are merely exterminating the wrong group?

            No.

            Very, very important not to become what you condemn. We can win our way. Might take longer. Worth it.

            Worth nuking Imperial Japan, to give them a chance not to be obliterated.

            .

            “Kill them all. Let Him sort them out.” will include the speaker, and probably not in the way hoped.

            .

            Or if you prefer the practical of Sun Tzu, never press a beaten foe too hard. Else you harden their resolve to fight to the last. You had best give them an acceptable way to quit, or they won’t quit. They are not beaten until they quit.

            If we had insisted on “unconditional surrender” in 1945, we would either still be fighting today, or more likely we would have extinguished a hundred million people there and probably a bunch here doing it, invading a radioactive wasteland to get the remainder.

            Better how it went, yes? If we had killed the Emperor early, and the Doolittle Raid could have done it if not ordered to avoid the palace, they might have died to nearly the last. How might that have ruined us?

            No. Better a just war, a hard war, than trading in genocides. Better for -us-, lest we become a monstrosity, versus a beacon of Liberty.

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            1. I was perhaps a bit grumpy and perhaps a bit unclear. My issue is not “The Israelis are not killing enough people who live in Gaza” – I think the Israelis are being extraordinarily careful as they pursue legitimate military targets.

              My issue (trigger?) on this is the sustained approbation the Israelis, military and government, continue to get, and the calls for the Israelis to stop doing anything because “innocent” bystanding Gazan civilians might be stacked up around the legitimate military targets, any harm to which should stop the Israelis from doing anything, because “innocent Gazans!” Thus my observation about the culpability and responsibility those Gazans have for the start of this war. When civilians tag along on atrocities they lose all sympathy for subsequent downsides from me.

              They have always had a recognized way out – surrender and tell the Israelis where any still resisting are located. Sone and done. Or make a cell phone call and tell the Israelis where the hostages are bing kept, and I bet Shin Bet would get them and their family out. Or just move away from any and all bad guys. I know that would be opposed by the bad guys, but still – frigging put a sign on the roof saying the HQ is in room 243.

              So, my sympathies are limited, and my view of those who block roads and invade congress in support of the “ceasefire now” crap is quite low.

              But no, they should not all die. I hope any innocents left there do not.

              Liked by 1 person

            2. We did actually insist on unconditional surrender for both Japan and Germany.

              We then _chose_ to extend mercy to the surrendered, just as General Grant did.

              We don’t negotiate with terrorists.

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      2. Yeah, every life has value. Trouble is, in some cases that value is negative. They make life hell for everybody else.

        “Some folks just need killin’.”

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      3. Compassion isn’t always what it seems. It’s one of the lessons we used to teach better, especially in children’s media. Ol’ Yeller isn’t just about dealing with the loss of a beloved dog (or family member). It’s also a lesson about doing what’s right in the long run for everyone, even though the cost is high.

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    2. What the brain dead non-Muslim protestors in the U.S. fail to see is that Hamas kidnapped, raped, torturerrd, and murdered over 3 dozen AMERICAN citizens. That was an act of war, and instead of condemning Israel, the U.S. should have given them carte blanc to wipe Hamas and their sympathizers off the map. Additionally, we should have rounded up every protestor and thrown them in prison (for treason) far longer than the poor J6 political prisoners.

      Liked by 3 people

    5. And the kicker is… the Palestinians that have “escaped the plantation”, so to speak, agree with you. There aren’t many that speak out publicly about it. But the ones that do basically agree.

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    6. The “winsome Japanese orphans and nice German hausfraus” are in many ways one of the best reasons to do what we did, during the war and after.

      Beyond sheer self-defensive survival, sane altruism also prescribes that kind of cultural chemotherapy. Kill the tumor, save the patient.

      Because the fallback Plan B to that is, “when this war is over, Japanese will be a language spoken only in Hell.”

      Literally, not in any way figuratively.

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      1. My wife’s uncle brought back a German woman as his WWII consolation prize. She made a better citizen (and nicer person) than half the people in this country today.

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    7. I wonder if there’s a provision in law for declaring all of these terrorist organizations hostis humanis generis, like pirates, and outlaw so that they can legally be killed wherever they are found, with no repercussions for the killers.

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      1. No. I believe it was a few decades ago, but the elites around the world legislated that out of existence. Because they knew they’d be charged with that at some time. Can’t declare someone an outlaw because that status has been eliminated. You can’t issue letters of marque and reprisal anymore either.

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    8. Like Ukraine’s war, or the quest for Welsh independence, or China’s oppression of the Uighur, Israel and Gaza are part of the “not my circus, not my monkeys” problem set.

      I regret that people are unhappy, oppressed, or even killed, but it’s not my problem.

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  4. Just got back from annual cancer screen and I’m 7 years cancer-free.

    I also hit 25 years marries a few months back.

    May the Lord bless us all.

    Liked by 3 people

    3. Congratulations on both!!!!

      Hurray on Cancer Free, 7 years and counting!

      25 years is a great milestone. Before you know it the next milestone will be here. (Aunt and Uncle are at 69 years this fall. They’ll be 90 and and 87 respectively. Aunt’s parents, my grandparents, made 75 years together before passing within 3 weeks of each other. Mom & Dad only made 52, as dad passed 3 months before 53rd year. Just showing these years together are doable.)

      Liked by 1 person

    8. May this trend continue in perpetuity. May you and yours enjoy many more days full of life, love, and friendship. Be well, live strong, and greet each day with anticipation and humility.

      Liked by 1 person

    10. “Living well is the best revenge,” they say. And it is.

      As well as a magnificent gift of Fate!

      (So many people forget, or never even notice, that the Book of Job does have a happy ending…)

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          1. You can make a type of cement using bone powder. Just casting the blocks instead of chiseling them would save a lot of labor.

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  5. “…[E]ventually the traumatized population, after repeated retraumatizing goes into unreasoning and complete fury.”

    And a largely leftist audience laughing at a talk show host claiming that a major news channel is objective is a symptom.

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    1. “…goes into unreasoning and complete fury.”

      Yes, naturally. And (as noted) we’re already pretty close; Complicit News Network being simply — known for doing that slanty thing, right now.

      But before (just before?) that point, with enough insight and intent, it’s possible to go into reasoning, calculated, cold and meticulous fury instead — not easy, but possible.

      (See: the American way of total war)

      One of the tangible things that tends to give me hope. There are certain signs, nationally and internationally, in that direction.

      ATH is one of those places that’s been busy giving out and helping along that sort of intent and insight. (Tips hat toward Our Esteemed Blogmistress…)

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      1. the American way of total war

        TL:DR; “Kill it with fire.”

        From Sherman’s March to the Sea to Dresden to Hiroshima, it’s an American military trademark.

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  6. Sarah, I do hope you’re right. I do hope we come through, survive, and most importantly win. (I would personally trade the first two for the third, but that’s me.) I just wish I could see some clearer signs.

    This tracks rather well with how I regard religion, I think. I’m stuck as a metatheist (someone who believes he should believe in God) not so much because of metaphysical improbabilities but because I’m too aware of how some people can be horrid liars, even or especially about the most important things. I’m not accusing you or anyone here of lying, but fooling oneself would lead in similar directions. One can want too hard to believe, and being on the right moral or intellectual side does not inoculate one against that.

    (I think I might have to blame Orwell also. He taught me too well that people can be broken by evil governments wielding untrammeled power.)

    I’ll keep looking for one nugget of fact that can change my outlook: it’s happened before. And I’ll keep acting like I believe it, because going through those motions smooths its own path, making me more receptive to actually believing it. (Taken from George Washington’s life: act like you have good manners, and soon enough you will have them.)

    But I am ready for that next shoe to drop. Preferably on some nitwit candidate’s head. I have a couple in mind.

    Republica restituendae, et, Hamas delenda est.

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  7. If you are seeking inspirational reading, I recommend Brian Kilmeade’s book series America’s Heroes and History. My favorite is George Washington’s Secret Six, the story of George Washington’s spy ring, who provided intelligence to Washington at great personal risk, during the darkest days of the American Revolution.

    Other than that, trust in G-d and keep your powder dry.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. I’ve been thinking about the last five years and I’ve been wondering if my luck has been getting worse on a regular basis.

    Got stuck in the lockdowns. “Two weeks the flatten the curve” became three years.
    Lost my job, benefits, that August. Managed to get onto Medi-Cal, unemployment before things went insane.
    Got my degree, had a new job…lost the job just before Christmas.
    Had my first ever panic attack that December, because I didn’t want to disappoint my family, because my bad brain-meat won’t let me accept some things.
    Mom fell down, got sick, started to get well, got sick again…
    Got a new job after nearly three rounds of interviews and dozens of applications, didn’t last for more than two months before I was fired for “not fitting in.”
    Mom got worse. Mom got really worse.
    Mom died.
    Got a new job with a startup that I’m wondering, a year on, if it’ll actually take off and succeed. When it does pay me.
    Dad is dealing with his stress by renovating the entire house and doing a massive purge of everything, including our own stuff.
    Oh, and Dad found a new dying widow to make his cause. At least he waited a year and a day before really getting deep into taking care of her.
    Dad’s planning “our” trip but I feel like every time I’m about to suggest something, he makes this half-sigh sound that he doesn’t approve yet he’s not going to say anything.
    Did I mention that I’m doing backup job hunting, just in case? And learned that you should expect to apply for about 200 legitimate jobs before getting a new one, that you’re competing with 150+ people at minimum for most positions, you’re lucky if you’re in the 20% that get a Zoom interview, you should expect multiple interview cycles, and managers and HR people think they can get away with playing Sqid Games with the candidates…because they can and will?

    And the outside world…has gone nuts.
    England has gone to a two-tier justice system and I’m not sure if they’re going to go full Orwellian or caliphate.
    The election this year…the E!Democrats have gone full Communist/fascist. The only way I can see Harris winning is the Mother Of All Steals. And I think that, along with a successful Trump assassination, will set off the boogaloo. And nobody will like what will happen after that. Especially if our foreign enemies decide to try something when this happens.
    The State of California is being run into the ground by morons. Most “blue” states are being destroyed by morons, and they are destroying the Earthly Paradise.
    The entertainment and news industries are killing themselves trying to deny reality.
    And we’re coming up on a year after October 6th…and people want the IDF to stop, because the Palestinians don’t deserve what’s happening to them. And this is after what is nothing less than an atrocity, and something that I wouldn’t have had any problem if the IDF just bulldozed Gaza flat…and the Palestinians could either get to Egypt, Lebanon, swim, or drown.

    Oh, and my usual destress methods are getting harder to use. Most of my friends aren’t in the area anymore. Gaming has gotten stupid and/or out of my enjoyment range. I’ve damn well memorized most of the RCN and Harrington series, re-reading them over and over again, and nobody seems to be making good new novel series like those. Movies are crap, along with TV. Anime has been taken over by the wokescolds, and I don’t think I’ve read a new mainstream comic book in years. And the less said about the convention circuit, the better.

    What’s really left is booze, webcomics, gym, and adult art on Patreon.
    …and Apple is trying to nickel and dime Patreon.

    All I can hope for is that 2025 will see some kind of good luck for us all.

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    1. Weber has a new series, set far back in Empire Of Man history. ‘Governor’ was published in June 2021, and ‘Rebel’ drops next month. You didn’t mention Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter and Grimnoir series; both are outstanding. The next Black Sword book, ‘Graveyard Of Demons’ will be here in November.

      Have you tried Wen Spencer’s Elfhome books? The latest one dropped this month and I’m reading it for the 3rd time. You might say it’s pretty good. :-D

      Lemme see — Michael Z. Williamson’s Freehold series, Lois Bujold’s Barrayar books, John Ringo’s Council Wars and Troy Rising series…there’s quite a few options.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Weber has a new series, set far back in Empire Of Man history. 

        I think it’s the beginnings of the House of Murphy, from the Path of the Fury universe.

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    2. Sometimes you have to wake up, look life in the eye, and give it the double finger salute. Despite it all, you have survived. Keep doing that. It sure as heck pisses off the libs every day. The more masculine the man, feminine the woman, the more patriotic the American, the more fun and delight you find in life…

      …The more they abso-f*cking-lutley hate it. Be the reason a leftist cusses today. Sometimes, you get by on spite. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that, for the right cause.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I want to live for more than spite. It’s gotten boring at this point. I’m even at the point that mass crucifixion of rapists, murderers, drug dealers, and Karens will make me go “meh” rather than want popcorn to watch.

        Some of the younger leftist ladies might be attractive if they’re cleaned up and trained properly…but explaining what you’re going to do gets interesting when you’re doing it in front of a judge…

        Liked by 1 person

    1. “Please don’t make me angry. No one likes me when I am angry.”

      Best line of the series was in the pilot episode. Could have been a cheesy tag line for every hulk-out, but amazingly they didn’t do it.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Personally and nationally.

    Nationally? Perhaps. Even probably. Personally? That’s a whole other ballgame. There are people who are not going to make it through to the other side of this. The tree of liberty’s “natural manure” is the blood of tyrants and patriots.

    Liked by 2 people

  11. I got hit with the, “If you don’t have 200 resumes out you aren’t trying,” bit back in the ’70s. It sucks.

    I got with a temp agency, which was interesting, while I took the Civil Service exam (twice) and waited for results. I know things are worse now.

    You might want to look at online for, “Data Annotation.” They give a written exam, if your pass they start making online piecework jobs available. If you turn out to be reliable they begin directing you to better jobs.

    Our son is doing that now. It’s letting him make some income while working on various debts while he also works on figuring out what he really wants to do.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Noice! Just looked up the data annotation thing and sent a link to my daughter. She just graduated from college and is having a heck of a time even finding jobs to apply for. Has some physical limitations but is a very skilled and creative writer, fluent in French, and generally a smart cookie. Looks like the business is training AI in various ways; she might have some of the skills & abilities they’re looking for.

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    2. ’03 (specifically 08/02 – 01/04) for me. Not helped because I had 20 years in programming and was 2 years short of 50. 02/04 landed me an entry level programming job. I was way overqualified. It was a paycheck that, if unemployment was still coming in, which it wasn’t, was better than bleeding $1k/month out of savings. I’d already cut everything that could be cut (also not helped that we were paying for two households or hubby would have been out of a job too. That was only *half of the $1k.)

      (*) Helped that we owned outright the RV he lived in. Had to pay to park it, power, and water.

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  13. As I’ve mentioned a lot, Attachment theory is my current shiny hammer. Stress can make it hard to form family bonds. (oxytocin)

    However, one of the other ways to form bonds is teamwork bonds. (vasopresin)

    Basically do things cooperatively with another person, especially to resolve stressors is a big deal in bonding, resolving stress and building a buffer against future stress.

    Men tent to be more receptive to that, but women under stress really need to use that too to get the stress levels down to the point they can do oxytocin bonding.

    As I understand it, pretty much anything cooperative sets up vasopresin bonds. It just haste to be working together to resolve something and both can see what the other is accomplishing.

    So yeah, find your partner and ask them to help you with something, anything.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. My beloved and our son have been building a vardo (gypsy wagon) together. Plans are for it to be solar-powered for when a plug isn’t available.

      I’ve done the painting, they’ve done the rest. Not finished, and we’re off to volunteer shortly, but it looks really cool and I’m looking forward to spending a night in it. And I think working together has done them both good. And yes, my beloved went back to work on it as soon as he could.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Very cool. I’ve loved some of the moder. vardos people have come up with. I have built my own camper, which I am currently in the process of reworking somewhat.

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    1. My wife’s uncle is still around, and was finishing up his Army medic training told he was bound for the Pacific when he heard the war ended. My father in law is not around any more, but he was still over in the ETO waiting to ship back when he heard.

      A lot of the “real” baby boom babies (vs. the “it’s 1962 and you are still calling these ‘post war baby boom’ babies?”) would not be here if the war had continued and the big Army formations in Europe had been shipped over for the invasion of Japan. Those eggheads in Los Alamos made a huge difference in postwar America, and in postwar Japan as well, as the invasion plans on their side would have been incredibly brutal for the Japanese civilians.

      A day to celebrate, that has been pretty much lost.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I never heard when Dad was sent home. He was a draftsman in the 8th AAF, but went to Okinawa* since he got drafted late in the war. Roughly at age 27. He had been working for a steel company (as a draftsman) building various factories, so I figure he was exempted until they had enough built.

        The tricky part was that Dad had been training as Chem Warfare before he broke his collarbone in a “perfect” Parachute Landing Fall, and ended up in the hospital as one of the early adopters of penicillin. (He had a reaction, and the docs’ answer was Moar Penicillin. He survived, but lost his place in class and got to draft the Army Way.)

        As a REMF, he didn’t have many war stories (one uncle was a beach master in the Marines. Yikes!), but I got the distinct impression that if Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not successful examples of “Don’t Piss Off Americans”, he would have been reverted to Chem Warfare. $OLDEST_BROTHER was pre-boom, born mid 1945, but $OLDER_BROTHER and I class as classic boomers. Considering the casualty estimates, I figure I owe a bit of thanks to those involved in the Manhattan Project.

        ((*)) That got an interesting set of responses on Usenet back in the day. General Doolittle was the boss at that time. Seems most of the public awareness of the 8th disappears on VE day.

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        1. Both grandfathers and great-uncle were slated to be shipped out to the Pacific theater if the bombs failed to cause Japan to surrender. Still would be here as both mom & dad were born by then. Maybe. Grandma probably would have moved with the girls back to Montana to be around family, not to Oregon. So parents might never have met. Paternal grandfather and great-uncle were both exempt from overseas military due to leg handicaps (childhood polio and farm accident respectively). Maternal grandfather was a mechanic at Colorado mines (pulled out of early deployment as needed back at the job). Do have 3 uncles and their children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren, who might not be here if the three had been shipped out (born 1946, 1948, and 1950, respectively).

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        2. My father-in-law was an aircraft electrician in the Army Air Corps. He was assigned to Bock’s Car at Tinian.

          He was one of the ones who didn’t get demobilized immediately after the war, staying in until the late 1940s. He told me he almost never had to buy his own drinks after mentioning Bock’s Car.

          Everyone in the Pacific theater knew what the losses were likely to be when doing an amphibious invasion of the Japanese home islands. They were really, really glad when those two planes ended the war.

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          1. Have been watching reactions to Jaws (among other things) recently. There’s that scene in it where Quint tells the story of the sinking of the Indianapolis (providing back story on why Quint hates sharks so much). From time to time there are commenters that go on about “karma” because the Indianapolis “delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb”.

            People are stupid.

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          2. Dad told the story about Bock’s Car landing at Okinawa. Compared to what I’ve read, the AF rumor mill was way wrong. OTOH the real(?) story is pretty crazy. Low on accessible fuel (A bad valve kept them from getting to one tank), radio out, so they set off all the emergency flares they had (wounded on board, and so on). I believe there was about 5 gallons of fuel left when they stopped. (He was told that the plane flew into the mushroom cloud and was flown out to sea to be dumped.

            OTOH, I recall reading that a Japanese airplane flew into the cloud at one of the cities (Hiroshima, I think) and the pilot and observer didn’t last long after that.

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  15. “there is the fact that eventually the traumatized population, after repeated retraumatizing goes into unreasoning and complete fury.” – Can confirm on a personal level. Past a certain point your nervous system can’t take anymore, and you fall back on the primate instinct of “kill whatever’s trying to kill you”. And someone constantly and deliberately shocking your life so you get sick and exhausted is trying to kill you.

    This is not going to end well. But we have to deliberately take measures to calm down for our own health. I do a little beading when I can, even if it doesn’t pay much; the tactile sensation of handling beads and being able to finish something helps.

    I’ve also been reading and re-reading the Regency mysteries written by Grace Burrowes (the Lord Julian ones in particular), given they have main characters who’ve been badly beaten up by life but are still going. And lots, lots of various Kindle samples to just have new stuff to read.

    Some examples of music I listen to for de-stress.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Yeah, panic attacks are no fun at all. However, it was intensely helpful to go to urgent care and find out that my heart is so low on the stressed-out scale that it’s in the “smooth sailing” level. (Feedback, of course—getting stressed out, heart rate goes wonky, start worrying about heart conditions, get more stressed…) I’ve only had the one panic attack and a second one has become comparatively unlikely.

    And yes, a large part of that is calming myself. Can’t get too worried about things out of my control.

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  17. “Judging by various things including our potemkin economy and increasingly obviously, transparently false news reporting, and the expressions of people at the grocery store, something is coming. And it will be neither good nor peaceful.”

    Driving. I see it coming out in driving. It’s not just more aggressive than even five years ago, but just crazier. Close weaving, passing on two lane residential roads, all that has gone from yearly to weekly or even daily.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Defensive driving isn’t just a good idea, it is an absolute must, these days, every single minute, from the time you pull out of your parking spot onto the road. In other words, the only way I’m going to be in an accident when something happens right in front of me is because the vehicle behind me didn’t stop in time (or *3 vehicles back doesn’t stop). Even then I am going to be as far off to the side of the road as I can be without being off the road (good odds, I can hope, if what is behind me doesn’t stop in time they go right by my vehicle). FYI, this does not mean not being an aggressive driver (I am perfectly capable of “I’m getting away from this idiot” moves). It means being a proactive driver.

      (*) True incident. We were stopped at a red, car behind us was stopped, car behind them was stopped or stopping (not like paying attention that far back). The pickup behind them OTOH never slowed. Hit the 2nd car back hard enough to force the car behind us into “hitting” us. No damage to us, or the front of the car behind us. Nudged hard enough that we went “um? Huh?” Stuck around to give statements. Did fill out accident report for the car behind us. Didn’t report to our insurance. Why? No damage to us. No damage to vehicle behind us. Not our fault any way shape or form. Not that our insurance at the time took it that way (we dropped them, 0 stars).

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      1. Space on the shoulder, space in the next lane. Stopped for construction, if I remember correctly, and a pickup coming up behind me way too fast.

        Idiot passed me, glaring, cell phone in hand, slammed on his brakes inches from the car that had been in front of me. I shifted to the other lane JIT, or I would have been pancaked.

        When I started driving Mom told me to drive as if everyone on the road is crazy. I’ve never seen a reason to change that habit.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. We got our defensive training from the USFS in ’77. That and field first aid (he worked on a fire crew, I worked on presale crew). Expected more forest road defensive driving, but reality check that was relatively simple. 1 – Remember driving on narrow gravel roads. 2 – Logging and Fire rigs have the right of way; Period. It was the highways that was getting USFS rigs in trouble.

          When we started teaching our son to drive, we integrated defensive driving. Then if he was in the vehicle, he drove. He had over a year driving experience before he got his drivers license at 16. Way more actual driving experience I had. at 19, when I got my first car, let alone when I got my drivers license at 16.

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    2. And speeds. +10-15 MPH or more, a large minority of drivers, from about Early Covid Lockdown up till now, no end in sight…

      Liked by 1 person

      1. “speeds. +10-15 MPH or more”

        I-5 is particularly bad, until one hits Woodburn going north (then it is a slow slog until 205 splits off. Good for a bit, then everything is packed again into and out of Portland. Not much better south bound either, until clear Woodburn.

        About the only place we didn’t find that is I-80/I-84 (I forget which) across Idaho, and that is because the speed limit is 80 … a little over, but < +10 MPH over. And the big rigs and RV’s were not going near that fast. Part is long rigs commercial or personal RV setups, is 60 – 70 MPH. The other part is the winds (the reason why there is a lower limit). We’ve seen a number of examples of why defying physics is a bad idea.

        Liked by 1 person

          1. Well to be fair, I-80 across Nevada is also 80 MPH posted speed limit. As is whatever the freeway is north/south through Utah. Oh look I-80 (E/W), and I-84/I-15 (N/S). All posted 80 MPH. (Not that I’d drive it that fast. Another reason why I am not the primary driver. FWIW.)

            Liked by 1 person

            1. Hmm, last time I did the I-80 run in 2014, the only state with 80 mph was Utah. Drove the Subaru Forester (with a decent stereo and CRUISE CONTROL, both features missing when I had to do the trip in my bottom-tier Silverado in ’05). Might have had a 75 limit somewhere on that trip, but 65 for sure. OTOH, I did versions of that trip in the 55 mph days.

              Definition of spooky: Doing 80 in western Utah, and getting passed by a Smart car doing 90 or so. Bless his heart.

              Liked by 1 person

              1. Amen.

                We came up part of I-80, in Nevada, when we came back from Arizona. Definitely sections of posted 80 MPH, the brief section we were on (not like I was driving it). Then we cut north to hit Hwy 97 to Hwy 58. Those were interesting (narrow) roads getting to hwy 97.

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                1. I never did the US-395 run from Reno to Lakeview, but would go north from Winnemucca to NV-140. (Start with a full gastank and a trustable forecast of good weather.) From Winnemucca to Lakeview it’s about 180 miles, with gas pumps at Denio Junction. Never needed it…

                  Continue towards Klamath Falls; if you want US 97, you can save a lot of mileage by turning near Milepost 33, to Sprague River and on to Chiloquin. That saves 20+ miles off the route, and it “isn’t bad”. There are a couple of tight spots overlooking the river, and deer.

                  I’ve done the stretch on US-97 between K-Falls and Chiloquin, and it’s way too interesting a drive. The hogback with a history of dropping rocks on the road combined with insane drivers makes it a rare trip. (Further north, still the insane drivers, but the terrain isn’t going to try to kill you. That hogback got somebody in a big quake in the 1990s…) Southbound isn’t much fun either, and STAY AWAY in midge season. Your car will be green. (Late August, early September, usually.)

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                  1. We messed up, or rather Google Maps via Waze did, and we by passed a fuel stop we should have gotten before climbing out of the hole on the narrow two lane highway north out of Susanville CA. Only place for fuel was in the perfect spot. We weren’t quite on fumes. Also the only bathroom place for a very long distance (Adin CA).

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                    1. Yes. We came through Reno. Not another trip I plan on making. We’d make different choices, probably. But OTOH we did come through as a major storm was hitting. Less bad east side. Siskiyou Pass was possibly shutting down (don’t remember if it did or not).

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                    2. $SPOUSE used to go that way when late MIL was living in Paradise, CA. There is/was a decent burger joint in Adin.

                      Have to rethink the recommendation for SR-140. East of Adel the road goes from a flat valley to the plateau. Very tight windy road. I’ve seen a pickup with a 16′ flatbed handle it with few problems, but that would be less than fun with a 28′ trailer. Haven’t seen any restrictions, but it’s tight. (That and lack of cell service for much of the stretch. I was rather annoyed to learn that much of the Starlink service that Subaru sells is cell-based. Never took that vehicle on that route, and after Mom passed, not likely to again, but that stretch is lonely. Would not take it if snow is in the forecast.

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                    3. Drove it in the 2020 Santa Fe. We were not towing. It snowed. Then it was raining hard in K. Falls, mixed with some sleet. Fresh show all the way to hwy 58. While blizzard conditions threatened by weather app, didn’t see any on east side. Siskiyou Pass, OTOH, was more than a “threat”, if not whiteout conditions, high wind (which shuts down that pass as much as ice and whiteout conditions).

                      “East of Adel the road goes from a flat valley to the plateau.”

                      Yes. Narrow road. Pretty much all the way into K. Falls. Noticeable steep climb (Old McKenzie Hwy west side steep climb with a lot fewer trees to block how far it is down on the cliff side) out of Susanville. Climb out of Adel wasn’t as noticeable.

                      Somehow we missed the route the guys travel to and from southern Willamette Valley to St George, via Reno and Vegas, when St George or Vegas are on their winter road trip location. This last winter it was Phoenix/Scottsdale. Not the first time he didn’t have someone to drive back with him. First time I flew down to have us wander our way home (Grand Canyon South Rim, Brice, home). They go as a group south, stopping overnight, play golf in the morning, go to next stop, spend a week playing at destination. He had two others with him going down. One drove back with the rig who was stopping for couple nights at Reno on the way home (hubby didn’t want to do that). Another flew home (got dropped off when hubby picked me up). Note, Vegas is the 2025 road trip.

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      2. Part of my commute is 3 miles of road that almost always has light traffic. At 60, the trip takes 3 minutes. At 80, it takes about 2 1/4. Is it worth racing at 80 to save less than a minute? A lot of folks seem to think so.

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    3. Aye. The route to town is half county and half state highway, all two lane until I hit city limits. I’m seeing it in crazy passes. The terrain is rolling, with (state road) gentle curves and I’ll get passed at highly inappropriate (and damned unsafe) places. Like starting a pass at the no-passing sign going up a rolling hill. Not sure if the idiot noticed a car coming up the other side not long after said idiot finished his pass.

      I usually drive 60 mph in a 55 where it’s sane. (The mountain/Nat’l Forest section of the county road is far safer at 45-50, and most of the Horrible Examples have either learned or have had memorial services. Or ran out of cars to be retrieved from off the road.) Still get passed in the sane areas by people doing 70-75. Not that many deputies patrolling, but OSP gets some on the highway.

      City is spotty. Get a few people crossing the intersection on the orange, and on rare occasions, somebody will blow through a red. Last guy made it to the next light where I caught up. Didn’t say anything, but had thoughts.

      And that’s Eastside. West of the Cascades usually scares me, and has been spooky for decades. It might be worse lately, though I usually time my trip to avoid Drink-Your-Lunch hour and other fun times. I now take I-5 for a few miles as an alternate to driving through downtown Medford, and the stupid drivers have fewer options for mischief. Tailgating and crazy lane changes seem to be too common.

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      1. Hwy 126, either over the Cascades, or over coast range, Hwy 58, are both notorious for what you describe around Lakeview. Not made better by the idiots holding up the traffic who speed up when they hit the passing lanes.

        I can imagine the looks on drivers behind us, when expecting to pass our RV at the passing lane, but can’t because we barely get around the vehicle actually holding up the traffic, not an RV or large commercial rig, after they sped up at the passing lanes. I can imagine, because our big rig was on down the road well ahead of traffic, after passing, but the vehicle behind is stuck.

        Hubby hates being in a line of traffic. He’ll pass when I won’t (which is one of the reasons I don’t drive when he can). But he won’t take wild chances, let alone illegal ones. A long line? Moving at least posted speed (usually faster). Question is “Are we going to get there any faster? Why take unreasonable risks?”

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      2. Yeah. At first I thought this was me getting older but I started asking coworkers and friends. They are all seeing that and while, yes, we’re all getting older when guys in their 30s agree with guys in their 50s it isn’t “I’m just getting old”.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Going to work it drops from 40 to 35 going over the viaduct. Most people used to do 40 over it. Now people are going 50-55, then slamming on the brakes when they see the cop sitting at the bottom where it drops to 25.

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          1. Nevada had a variation on that near Lovelock. Eastbound, long straight downgrade, so there was a tendency to speed. Squad car at the bottom for unaware truckers. (I was using a CB in the 55 mph days, so got clued in.)

            A mile beyond that squad car, there was another. Brisk business, so I heard.

            Liked by 1 person

            1. We got pulled over east bound pulling the grade up out of Oakridge. Problem? Started the run, with pickup towing 28′ travel trailer. Surprised us. For reasons, got a warning, not a ticket.

              Haven’t been up there in decades, but another traffic speed trap is the Washington Olympic Peninsula. The one I’m thinking of is there is a warning of “35 MPH ahead”, from 60 MPH. Go around a sharp country two lane highway (not freeway) corner, which with a pickup loaded with a full size Alpine Lite camper on it, means slowing down anyway, but before out of the corner it is marked 35 MPH. Patrol car sitting just beyond. We weren’t at 35 MPH. Heck finding a safe place to pull over was a challenge with that rig along that highway. Also got a warning (hubby lucky).

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          2. See the cop? You jest. Not kidding.

            Part of the problem in Oregon is that the Oregon PTB took exception that Coburg was (legally) funding their city budget off of ticketing speeders on I-5 from northern to southern city boundaries (it was, SLOW DOWN, unless the units had someone already pulled over). PTB passed a law (?) or administrative rule, that only X percentage of the local (city/county) budget can come from traffic infractions. Result? Rarely see traffic patrols anymore.

            Used to see 3 pairs (state, county, city) of motorcycle patrols on Beltline from I-5 to Roosevelt, all the time. Now? Rare. Which means Beltline (except during sludge, 7 – 9 AM, and 3 – 6 PM) people are driving 70+ MPH, which is absolutely nuts. That road should not be driven faster than 60 or 65 (posted 55). Which puts I-5, even through Salem (which also used to be a high ticket patrol area) running 80+ MPH, posted 65 – 70. North of there traffic tends to slow down. But that is because not long before hit just before 205 splits off, and traffic stalls. Then Terwilliger curves on I-5 slows down traffic, even with 405 and I-5 split, until over Columbia I-5 bridge. Washington OTOH still has the roving traffic patrols, which means one can get not one but two or more tickets (has happened).

            It is crazy.

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            1. Looks up Terwilliger curves, gives smile that two-lane highways are his usual route to get from here to there. Yeah, they’ll kill you if you do something stupid, but it’s fairly rare that somebody else doing stupid stuff will kill you. (Unlike US-97, where trees and head-on collisions seem to be the common fatal factors.)

              OTOH, I did have an incident where I expected a Golden at the Road-kill Kafe to fly right instead of left. Hit him with my fender. Balds don’t get near roads, but I’ve seen more Goldens chowing down near the road than I’d expect.

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              1. We killed a (small) bird, just like a bug, hit the windshield when we were going 65+, between Corvallis and Newport. That is unusual.

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                1. While on my 9,000 mile motorcycle trip, I hit a crow in Texas, a pigeon in Toledo and a swarm of bees in Oklahoma. Wasn’t a good month for me and flying things. :-o

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                  1. We hit a pheasant, we think, it was almost midnight, north of Salt Lake. Came out of nowhere from the center strip between N&S lanes (early ’80s). Did an number on the driver side front grill and headlight. Thanks to zip ties …. (Also the trip where the transmission gears dissolved. Luckily when the truck was at the garage, up on a lift, when the transmission was pulled.) The only reason we didn’t hit a deer (give the trip so far) was because I saw all those little beady eyes on either side of the highway into Arches/Moab, below the windshield high wispy fog, and went “Nope. We are done for the night.” Turned around (probably not safe, but got away with it). Went back to the big gas station big parking lot, and we parked for the rest of the night. The transmission? We got off horribly lucky. When hubby told his brother (a mechanic) what had happened (not hitting the bird, before that). BIL said “Park it. Take it immediately directly to a mechanic immediately Monday morning. You are lucky the transmission hasn’t seized going down the highway. Gears will crumble when it is pulled.” He was right. $1200, 3 days later (brought in from Salt Lake), and a rebuilt, new to us, transmission, and we were on the way down the road. Luckily, thanks to Canyonlands, Moab is the largest 4×4 location (was then) in the US. They gave us a loaner, found us a hotel, that took dogs (camping, needed pickup, not towing, had the canopy rigged), so no downtime while there for Arches, Dead Horse State Park, and Canyonlands. Also December, so not as busy as “normal” (now would be a whole different story).

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    5. Chiming in to agree. I’m seeing more “where did that come from?!?” crazy driver tricks. Speeding, using the left-turn lane for passing, stopping at a red light and then zipping across even during rush hour as cars are coming, driving very aggressively when there is no other traffic … Some very strange behavior by drivers, and more often.

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  19. I’ve been flailing, especially with projects at home. And I’m really bad at the maintenance part of housekeeping.

    I’ve decided that since I get overwhelmed and do “Internet. Forever.” if I make any kind of grand list of things to do, I should do small tasks instead.

    So I’m trying to do four small tasks every night before I go to bed.

    Washing one tub of dishes, cleaning the toilet, assembling a few pieces of irrigation line… small things.

    It seems effective so far. The kitchen sink is empty for the first time in weeks, I can see large swaths of the kitchen floor, all the spiders that were living in the bathroom are now in the vacuum cleaner.

    And I’m getting a bit more sleep into the bargain.

    Now to see if I can keep it up past this weekend, after the threat of visitors passes.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. “bad at the maintenance part of housekeeping.”

      Tell me about it. Ever heard the quote “Dust? Might be an ancestor.” Seriously. Horrible at dusting and vacuuming (“Oh, wait are those COBWEBS!”=cleaning frenzy). Doesn’t help that with all the pet hair that maintaining the vacuum is a PIA. Do keep the dust bunnies free off the non-carpet floors and stairs (we are going carpet free, someday, luxury vinyl everywhere except the stairs, which are oak). Kitchen is kept clean, and kitty litter gets taken out twice a week regularly.

      Liked by 1 person

  20. About 6 weeks ago, after mowing our very bumpy and uneven lawn, my right knee started aching persistently. A week later, as I was descending a long set of stairs, right at the bottom step that knee suddenly exploded in pain and I had to visibly limp for a few minutes. Called the doctor (actually, the nurse practitioner who took over the practice of my old doc who retired). X ray followed by MRI showed small to medium tears in the meniscus, ACL and MCL plus some spots where cartilage is wearing thin. I’m supposed to be getting an “urgent” referral to an orthopedist. Still getting by daily with prescription strength naproxen (Aleve) and frequent ice packs.

    What I really hate about this knee problem is that it makes everyday tasks like cleaning and shopping a lot more difficult (standing in line at the grocery store is especially bad) plus it’s just plain humiliating to be shuffling and limping around like an “old lady” when I’m not that old (is 60 “that old”?) I’ve started using the battery powered carts when shopping at Wal Mart and it really does help, however, I’m also acutely aware that I’ve become one of those fat white trash ladies that everyone makes fun of (no one’s done this to my face but I see it a lot on Facebook, et al), and it hurts worse than the knee pain does sometimes.

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    1. “daily with prescription strength naproxen (Aleve) and frequent ice packs.”

      What I was prescribed 3 days after my knee explosion. Used naxproxen and ice that day and afterwards. which got me at least limping, first with a cane, then without, very carefully. I still don’t know what damage was done (appointment is Monday), except I didn’t break, crack, or chip, any bones. I suspect a bad sprain, without tears, because it is getting better, slowly. But don’t know. Do know that it is possible to have tears that are not bad enough to warrant surgery, in fact surgery would make it worse (other knee 20 -ish years ago). The left knee took forever to heal, in part, because the kneecap was bruised, it is still “weak -ish”. Had the knee in question been the left knee I’d have figured it just “gave out” for no reason. The right knee OTOH, my fault, I spaced it, was stupid, and stepped out over the last step, instead of onto it.

      I’ll be on crutches before I will use one of those store electric carts. Second thought, will send husband or son shopping first.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. The Reader’s wife blessed him with the grocery shopping (and much else) for 5 months while she recovered from a torn tendon in her foot. She wasn’t always happy with the results = the Reader has a habit of bringing home less than what is on the list.

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        1. I’ve been the designated shopper since mask mandates ($SPOUSE hates them more than I do), and Kat-the-dog insists on having her human handy, preferably my wife. At home, thank you. :)

          I do my best to get what’s on the list, and on good days, will get what we forgot to put on the list. OTOH, “If it’s not on the list, don’t count on me getting it.”

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    2. Unless you’re one of those that overlaps the sides of the chair (you can hear the engine screaming) and has a cart full of candy and soda, I wouldn’t worry about it too much.

      It’s usually pretty easy to tell the difference.

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    3. It took 6 months from injury to surgery (5 weeks was me thinking it would get better. Nope.) The lateral meniscus was torn to hell (repair not an option, so removal) plus I had a few decades worth of chondromalacia. Meniscectomy and cleanup was the procedure, and once I got past the bureaucratic and waiting list delays, it went smoothly. I’m now 4 weeks postop, need no more than my morning and nighttime ibuprofen (arthritis and I are old acquaintences) and am reasonably painfree.

      If you have a choice, try to go for the meniscectomy rather than a repair. I didn’t take my cane with me to the day surgery center, but the issued crutches were only needed to get to my hotel room. Used a cane for a couple of weeks. After 3 weeks, the PA who assisted in the procedure recommended naproxen for “postop arthritis flare”. Needed it for a week. My reasearch said if one goes the repair route, the recovery is weeks to months rather than days to weeks. Physical therapy is strictly home, but I did a serious round when I tore the tendon between the patella and quadriceps 3 years ago, so I knew what to do and what works for me. Same knee, too.

      I probably should have used the gocart, but didn’t. Have a nice supply of canes. Folding canes are handy when dining; hard to forget it when it’s near the plate… Fixed canes are stronger, and one stays in the car and another in the truck.

      Can’t speak to ligaments. By the grace of God and Murphy, that’s one thing I haven’t screwed up in my knees.

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      1. Saw the PA 2 weeks (not 3) after the procedure. No stitches to remove nor fancy dressings. I like arthroscopic surgery!

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      2. Reason we had a cane when I tweaked my knee a few weeks ago is because mom carries and uses one when her ankle gets sore/tired. She broke the smaller bone slipping and falling on stairs, with little sister & BIL. It is healed. But she makes sure she has it when she travels. The good news with me doing what I did, I took the stair falling jokes off of her, for awhile. Right now it doesn’t hurt until I do something that makes it. So far, try to pivot on it, any degree. Unexpected stretch that straightens it out 100%. Kneeling on it is 100% “Oh C*p No!” Which is all why I think I just jammed the heck out of it, but didn’t actually tear anything. Find out Monday.

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        1. Crosses fingers. I won’t give the full recital, but the symptoms sound familiar. Hope it’s healable.

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    4. I didn’t do that many crazy things back when I was a callow and immortal yout, but obviously as I’m into my sixth decade, what I did do has accrued mostly to my knees.

      Not too bad, and not nearly as significant as a good friend of mine who was a volleyball enthusiast and has had more bionics installed into her knees and hips than Steve Austin, but mine is noticeable, and there are some flex directions my knees simply inform loudly that they decline to go.

      I can only imagine what John Ringo, as a person previously paid to jump out of perfectly good airplanes, has in the way of entertaining knee aging.

      Liked by 1 person

  21. 2020

    2020 won

    2020 part deux

    2020 weeeee

    2020 more

    Hang in there everyone, we’re not quite half way through the sucking twenties. But we’ll make to the other side.

    Liked by 1 person

  22. Sarah,

    Your posts/blog are one of my de-stressers. Do it at work, as needed. Not really supposed to, but it is better than eating junk food on break!

    Liked by 2 people

  23. History is replete with examples of ‘The Appeasement of Evil’ not working. Gaza is Hamas, Hamas is Gaza, and Hamas is Evil. There will be no peace until the evil is destroyed, thinking any different is idiocy. The choices you make in life, get you their own reward. Gaza choose Evil, they can chose to walk away at any time, they have not. Sucks to be Gaza. Personally I think Israel is showing entirely too much restraint. Reduce it to rubble, fire bomb it until it is sterile, lather rinse repeat as needed. Then afterwards turn it into a vacation resort, I hear that Gaza has some very fine beaches…

    Liked by 1 person

  24. If it’s on Christmas, you’ll be required to speak Romanian

    I just started Duolingo Welsh for boffers so I’ll have to demure. I’ll will accelerating learning of language used to describe Edward I though.

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