Dad's Obituary

I have been asked by my mother and my siblings to write Dad's obituary.  See what over a decade of spewing awful writing via this dumb blog  gets you?   It's not that I'm a great writer, but I practice more than anybody else in the family.  Plus, it's the least I can do being in California and the rest of them in Minnesota.

I'm getting choked up just thinking about it.  

Dad does not want a funeral, and his wish is to be cremated.  I respect that.  I'm wondering if at some point the immediate family can get together to spread his ashes by his most favorite place on earth when it's not -15*......his deer hunting stand.  

What to write about dad's life besides the basic facts is vexing me.  There was a point in my life where we did not speak for a long time.  He never missed an opportunity to tell me how he was disappointed in me, and criticized everything I did.  He was hard on me.  However, it made me an extremely strong and independent person.  Over the years dad mellowed and our relationship deepened.  As my own kids began to mature I understood him more and more.  He had demons from his own childhood he was dealing with, but never wanted anybody to know.  We had a very complicated relationship.  

I can't write about it now, but I know dad has been visiting.  Myself and my son have had experiences that defy logic.  

Well, goodbye to 2021 and goodbye to my crusty cowboy Midwest farmer father.  They don't make them like him anymore.   

As I included in a previous blog some time ago, this song will forever remind me of my father.  While I was texting his sister (my auntie) yesterday it came on the television.  We were texting about planning a farewell party (NOT a funeral) for dad.  Dad always hated sad, sappy shit.  

Merry Christmas - NOT!

 I'm dreading it already....the chirpy inquiry, "How was your Christmas?"

I know the question is not aimed at making me feel miserable and is a general conversation opener.  Here's how my Christmas was.

MY DAD DIED ON THE TOILET ON CHRISTMAS DAY.

Yup.  There it is in all the glorious details.  Dad died on the toilet after having prime rib and a beer for Christmas dinner.  He had asked me for my favorite prime rib recipe, which I gladly shared a few days prior.  

Dad had been sick for a while, but he was in a stable state and we did not expect him to go the way he did.  I'm sure he was not expecting it either.  I won't go into the details as I've already overshared.  

I'm going to miss his Midwest style of crusty orneriness.  He could smell B.S. ten miles away and knew if somebody was genuine or fake.  He had no time for fake people.  Say what you mean and mean what you say, if not keep your flap shut.  My favorite quote from him was, "If a man's word ain't worth nothin' then the man ain't worth nothin." 

Crime Spree

[whiny sheltered SF liberal] ....what do we do about the crime spree going on in SF?  I'm sooooooo upset! I don't feel safe in my neighborhood any longer.  I feel threatened when I go out to buy my organic, wheat grass soy latte and gluten-free breads.  Somehow, my 'black lives matter' window signs don't exempt me from getting my catalytic converter stolen from my Honda Prius and all the windows smashed in.   HELLLLLLP!  I'm going to move to Sonoma County to get away from all of this. 

[crusty non-politically correct truther].....well, what did you expect with your "De-fund the Police" campaign?  Did you think that coddling crime was going to end well?  Did you think that excusing crime on the premises of economic victimization was going to end well?  I've got news for you.  We are ALL victims of economic victimization.  Some are capitalizing on it. 

[whiny sheltered SF liberal]   It's just so horrible!  I don't know what's happened to SF!  It used to be a clean, safe city.  My professors at Liberal University said that if I just give each and every homeless person, beggar, and drug addict all my money the world would be Utopia.

[crusty non-politically correct truther]  YUP.  Bingo.  Tell me....where does your uber liberal professor live?  My money is that he lived in SF or Oakland until he could not take it anymore.  Then he decided to move to Sonoma County (a conservative hicksville he bashed as a bastion of white trash) to get away from it all.  Now he's here bringing all his liberal political bullshit that trashed SF and Oakland to Sonoma County.  Please.  If their liberal agenda is so great and loving and perfect and wonderful, why are these liberal rats abandoning the ship and moving here to Sonoma County where the exact opposite political views are prevalent?  

[whiney sheltered SF liberal]  .....oh.....  we only like all this super liberalism until it impacts us directly.  The minute we are confronted with crime in our immediate neighborhoods  we flee to conservative towns but still don the liberal cloak.

[crusty non-politically correct truther]  here's the truth.  We don't want you here.  You trashed SF and the Bay Area with your over-the-top liberal bs and now you don't like what you have created so you're moving here in droves.  FUCK YOU.  Go back and fix what you created.  Then we'll talk.  Yes.  We need a border wall between the North Bay Counties and SF to keep you all from moving here....AND we will get SF to pay for it.  Hey, something could be constructed on the Golden Gate Bridge to keep all the SF (and other greater Bay Area scum from coming in).  If you're coming from SF you will be automatically zapped by a giant laser on the GG bridge. 

LOL....sound familiar???? 

...and then there were two

 .....ok, so this stupid blog is not all about angry rants spewed aimlessly into the universe.  A few months back a black cat started coming around not too long after our cat died.  We named him Skade.  Now, another has started coming around as well.  I'm not sure where s/he lives (assuming he has a home) but now both of them are fixtures at our house.  We named the white newcomer Pig, as it's amazing how much he can eat.  The two are very friendly with each other and play well together.

SFO = Shit Show

 Literally.  SFO is a shit show.  Oakland is a shit show as well. Homeless people panhandle, crap in the streets, shoot up, whatever.  Organized groups smash and grab at stores.  Forget about parking your car.  Your windows will be smashed in and whatever they can steal they will.  

All of the over-the-top bleeding heart liberal idiots who think the world can be saved with milk, hugs and warm cookies living in their privileged liberal arts college campus fantasy land are getting exactly what they asked for with making the police out to be villains.  

The police can't win.  They are damned if they do their jobs, and they are damned if they don't.  Of course cops are leaving the force in droves.  Unless you have direct experience in law enforcement, I suggest you STFU and hold your armchair quarterback opinions to yourself on how awful cops are.  You are more than welcome to put your life on the line every time you go to work never knowing if a routine traffic stop will blow your head off.  

Like it or not, the police are the only thing that is between some semblance of civilization and utter chaos and lawlessness. 

All I can say is you get what you vote for.  

Wisconsin: Land of WTF

Cheddarheads are a real thing.  To find out what they are, stay tuned.  The five-state area that surrounds my home state of Minnesota consist of:  Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa.  Minnesota's northern border is Manitoba and Ontario (that's Canada for those who are geographically challenged).   The point is that we all have our sibling jokes about Iowa (Idiots Out Wondering Around) and the other places that border Minnesota.  

Wisconsin has always been the butt of jokes since I can remember.  Wisconsin is famous for their beer and dairy industry; hence, residents are cheddarheads.  Wisconsin also harbors some atrocious crimes such as serial murderer Jeffrey Dahhmer.  It also is struggling with social issues as of late with the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha and now Darrell Brooks running his car through a holiday parade in Waukesha.

The joke is that people from Wisconsin are brain damaged.  Why?  They drink the beer which gives them gas, and then they eat the cheese which plugs them up.  The gas has no where to escape, so it travels up the spinal cord and wreaks havoc with the brain.  

From what I'm reading about Wisconsin, I'm thinking there is legitimacy to this theory.  

Thanksgiving

 I love Thanksgiving.  It's all about the FOOD.  This year we're hosting about 15 people, and yes, we've had our shots.  I already have my turkey and most of my ingredients for the meal.  Perhaps the weather will cooperate and we can set up the table outside.

Anyway.....switching gears....

Today I'm going to clean out my closet in the bedroom.  I know that's about as exciting as watching paint dry.  I hate doing it, but always glad when its done.  

Wow.  What a thrilling Saturday. 

On Strike

 Look around.  There are signs everywhere HELP WANTED.  I don't think there's a lack of workers.  I think there is a lack of workers because they are fed up getting treated like crap from customers/clients and management.  Workers are sick of slaving away for a pittance with skimpy benefits.  Workers are sick of whining, entitled customers who are always trying to get something for nothing, and then treating workers as sub-human in the process.  Workers are sick of management citing production and sales numbers at the end of the quarter to appease the stock holders.  

It's an unsanctioned strike.   

November 1

 We used to have a thing in our household that the furnace would come on no earlier than November 1.  In the not-so-distant past it used to be a struggle to try to keep warm in mid to late October.  The kids would complain that the house was too cold.  We would complain about high PG&E bills.

Well, guess what.  Keeping the furnace off before November 1 is getting easier and easier with each passing year of global warming.  As I type this doors and windows are open as it's so warm.  

Aren't we feeling a tad bit guilty each and every time we take a flight, drive a car, or otherwise consume in a matter that is detrimental to Grandmother Earth?  

I do.  

Can we just cut down on our harmful emissions just a little bit?  Can we all just cut back on all the waste?  Why do we think our plastics and other garbage should be barged off and happily accepted by another country, somewhere, to dispose of?  They don't want our garbage, either. 

Pretty soon there won't be a choice.  Grandmother Earth will make the decision for us.  

Americans.  We've always had a problem with authority and listening to our elders.  Look what we've done to the rest of the world in making them believe we are the "in" crowd.  We are the 16 year-olds who are insistent that our elders are out to ruin our lives and THEY JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!!!!!   UGHHHHHHH!!!!!!  (dramatically slams door, flops on bed, and puts on headphones). 

Spirit vs Physical World

 Oh yes, there is so much more going on than what we see, feel, and hear with our limited senses in a human body.  

So many relationships extend beyond this physical lifetime.  Don't feel that you have to fix every friendship, co-worker dynamic, whatever in this lifetime.  There are plenty of other planes of existence to work out karma. 

Parting ways on the physical plane does not mean that it's over and that the relationship with your sister, parents, whomever is forever doomed.  It means that you are freeing up energy on this plane to deal with the task at hand.  

It's totally OK to put thing on karmic hold. 

Glasgow, Scotland

 All the world leaders are there right now wringing their hands about fossil fuels and our warming planet.  I'm wondering how many of them consumed the very fossil fuels they are wringing their hands about getting to the summit meeting?  Same for the people who are demonstrating.  

We have not figured it out.  We can't have our cake and eat it, too.  We can't enjoy our modern conveniences without harm to the planet.  That includes all the emerging green technologies as well.  Batteries and their chemicals do not magically disappear without harm to the planet.  A single blade for a wind farm is the length of a football field.  Where does that go when it goes out of commission?  The manufacturing of solar panels is not without its scars on the environment.  

The only way out of this is to return to life in balance with nature.  Nobody is willing to do it, except for those already living in tribes that have not been corrupted by our influence.  And to think....we are so arrogant as to send missionaries and the like to "save" them and to make them more like us.  

 

Choreography Time

 I will need Laura's help on this one.  It's time to start thinking about the father/daughter dance for my daughter's wedding in June.  Both husband and daughter are looking to me to help with the choreography.  I'm looking to Laura to help me with the choreography.  I'm confident that between Laura and I we will come up with a dance that will be fun and memorable.

The first step for choreographing a dance, at least in my mind, is the music.  Once, the music is selected the dance moves almost create themselves.  The selected music is Glen Miller's "In The Mood" which was my daughter's paternal grandparents' song when they were dating.  Yes, her paternal grandparents really are that old, and sadly now both deceased, as her father was born late in life.  

It took no prompting for my daughter to choose this song.  She selected it entirely on her own without any influence.  She did not even know the history of it when she selected it.  She cried when I told her the meaning of it and how it was her grandparents' song.  I'm so glad her grandparents will be there in spirit (literally) on her wedding day.  

50's Day

 It was 1950's day at Laura's Class today.  With that being said, we heard songs from The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, and Buddy Holly.  Lo and behold, all three died when their plane, headed for Moorhead Minnesota from Iowa, crashed in a corn field in Iowa not long after takeoff.  

Actually having been to Moorhead, Minnesota....my choice.  Die in a plane crash en route to Moorhead?  OR... actually go to Moorhead.  Hmmmmmmm.  I have relatives in the Moorhead area.  Let's just say that Moorhead is Fargo's little sister, who does not have the same corny fame that Fargo has.  After all, they are right across the river from each other.  LOVE YOU MOORHEAD. 

All kidding aside, it was a tragic day for American pop music.  My mother went to school with Buddy Holly's cousins.  My husband's old boss had tickets for the show that never happened.  

Where I'm going with this is so much talent died on that day.  For whatever reason, I feel the need to honor their talents and contributions to rock-n-roll.  They may be gone physically, but their music lives on.  FWIW:  I love the saxophone in Big Bopper's Chantilly Lace.  

It's RAINING?

 Here in Sonoma County we have not had any significant rainfall for how long now?  Two years?  We don't even know what rain is like anymore.  

Guess what.  It's raining and we are going to get a hefty amount over the next day or so.  Finally.  Still, this does not alleviate our drought by any means.  The good news is that any threat of fire is gone.  I think all of us hold our breath from July - November when everything is so bone dry.  Well, for the last few years we have actually had to hold our breath for said time periods as we have been choking on smoke and ash.  

The bad news?  My daughter's fiance's best friend is getting married today.  Both my daughter and her fiance are in the wedding.  It's raining.  The venue is outdoors.  Who would have thought we would actually have rain in late October?  

While I'm so happy we are getting blessed with Mother Nature's tears, I'm sad that it's raining on a wedding day.  

On another completely different note....

Our cat of 18 years died this spring.  It was horrible and sad.  Our cat had been sick and we knew that he was reaching the end of his life span.  Shortly after our cat died, another cat started coming around.  We named him/her Skade, who is a character in The Last Kingdom who was a witch.  

Well, Skade keeps coming around and we look forward to his visits and feed him.  We have asked those in the neighborhood if they recognize the cat and even posted on Nasty Door (ooops, I meant Next Door) if anybody knows where he lives.  Of course, the first thing we look for is a collar.  S/he does not have one.  He has a clipped right hear, which usually indicates that he is feral and has been treated by Forgotten Felines.  The Forgotten Felines organization takes feral cats, gives them a health examination, gives them vaccinations and sterilizes them, and then turn them loose in an area where they are likely to thrive.  The organization clips the ear to signify they have been treated.  

Bottom Line:  I think Skade has adopted us.  If Forgotten Felines thought our neighborhood would yield a bunch of suckers who would take in a stray cat, it worked ;)  

Here is a picture of Skade.  S/he is a thing of beauty.  I have a special soft spot for black cats with green eyes.  I love that black cats embrace the whole Halloween vibe - which is one of my favorite holidays. Skade is skittish, so we don't force ourselves upon him.  He needs to learn to trust us and bit by bit he's getting more and more comfortable around us.  

Underwear Model

 This came in the mail the other day.  For once an underwear model is real.  I admire the company's inclusiveness of different body types.  Hey, maybe I can be an underwear model!!!  LOL

Facebook Down

 Facebook was down the other day.  The entire world lost their minds.  I did not notice as social media is something that I do not actively participate in.  

Be careful with what you use for communication.  Nothing is free.  Your information is being tracked, bought, and sold with every comment, post, and "like" no matter what their privacy policy states.  I've been warning people about social media for years now.  Apparently, people don't care as they continue to broadcast every thought they ever had.......and then they complain that social media should stop snooping on them.  

This stupid blog is no exception. 

1980's at Laura's Class Today

 I have been jamming with Laura for the past 10-12 years or so.   Laura is this *incredible* woman who is in her 70's and still teaches fitness classes 5 times per week.  She is no plastic looking piece of you-know-what that looks like she will melt in the sun.  Rather, she is a fabulously fit woman who has a *REAL* body and she looks GREAT.  

Laura is my dance instructor.  We would have class a couple of times per week pre-COVID.  When COVID hit, we hit a wall trying to figure out how to move forward with the reality we were handed.  Dance studios are generally enclosed.  Dance classes are sweaty by nature.   COVID dashed any hopes of us gathering inside with what was familiar to us.  

Lovely Laura found an alternative.  We meet twice per week at a local park outdoors.  We don't have ballet bars and mirrors to check our form, but we have the music and the moves that have several of those who are passing by walking their dogs or whatever pause to take notice - and then ask how to join.  This is not a secret club.  Just come and dance.  On Monday we had a two-year-old boy and his mother join in.  All of us old ladies gushed over the two-year-old boy and he cried when it was over. 

Today was 80's day with the music at Laura's class.  I'm going to brag for just once in my life.  I could name every song and artist less than three bars in.  Others in the group were astonished at how I knew the songs AND the lyrics as I also sang them.  I told them I used to hang out at night clubs waaaaaaaay back in the day when I was young.  I thought of SSP and SYB, who are  Minnesota besties and fellow dance fiends.

Hey, my daughter's wedding is quickly approaching.  We need to polish up our dance moves to show 'em how it's done, right?  Nobody knew the very beginning of this song when it came on at dance class today.  The computerized voice had them all thrown off.  I named  in immediately.   Hey, I should go on Name That Tune.  I just remember when 1999 came out it was 1983ish.  I thought 1999 was sooooo far in the future.  Now it's 22 years in the past.  Holy COW I'm old.  LOL. 

 

The Wedding/Housewarming

Sick of gift and money grabs from quasi-friends and acquaintances of long ago for their weddings (or kids' weddings), housewarmings, baby showers, etc.?   Most of the time these invitations arrive via e-vite, or some other electronic, impersonal form that requires the least effort possible on behalf of the beggar, oooops, I meant sender.  

Decline the invitation.  Do not purchase something off their registry as that's exactly what they want you to do.  They really want you to just fork over gifts/money and not actually interact with you at all.  

Here's how I deal with it.  I reply to the invitation with a gushing and excited response as to how I have missed them and so glad they have reached out as it has been F-O-R-E-V-E-R.  I then tell them that the best way to get in touch with me is by my cell phone, and I give them my number.  I then tell them that I would love to get together for a walk or a lunch and get caught up on what's been happening in their lives and to please contact me....and I really mean it.

99.9 percent of the time it's crickets after that.

See, if you can't make a one-on-one attempt to have an actual relationship/friendship with me leave me off your list of people you think should financially donate to you.  

Haitians

Everybody knows that if you want to get to the United States illegally that you come up through Mexico.  The Haitians know this as well, as did Trump regardless of whether you loved him or hated him.  Maybe I'm missing something, but the masses of Haitians storming the borders are not recent victims of the series of unfortunate events in their homeland.  Rather, they are those who have made a stable life for themselves in several Central and South American countries some years ago, who chose to abandon what now they have to try to get to the United States illegally because "somebody said that Biden open the borders." 

Please tell me I'm wrong.

I don't know what the border patrol was supposed to do when they are faced with illegal migrants crossing into our country with the scarce to nil resources they had available.  The border patrols tried.  They were doing their jobs.  Now they are being chastised for it.

There are so many of those who want to enter the US legally and they are patiently waiting their turn.  Why should illegals get to jump in line and get preferential treatment?  Many who are waiting patiently for their legal entry to the United States are coming from dire circumstances, perhaps more dire than those who are trying to jump the border.  We will never know as the ones trying to enter legally are being ignored and pushed down the line to make room for those who cheat and mock our laws, and also to create sensationalist headlines as to how cruel we are. Nobody is asking for illegals to come across our borders.  They are crossing by their own volition. 

Enough is enough.  Borders, and the associated laws of entry and citizenship, are there for a reason whether you personally agree with them or not.  You are always welcome to leave the United States if you do not agree with our ways and think that it's better elsewhere. However, another country will have to admit you.  Even if you find a country you want to immigrate to, you probably won't like their immigration policies and the chances are that there will be a lengthy and cumbersome process for entry and/or citizenship, should you ever get that far.   

Does that give you the right to jump in line and enter illegally? 

Russians

This hacking attempt is so lame.....and yes, I'm certain it's the Russians.  LOL.  Seriously, this showed up in my inbox as if I'm stupid enough to click on it.  I don't open any email attachments unless I'm expecting them.  Even then, sometimes I verify emails as hackers are getting trickier and trickier.  For instance, if my name is not specifically mentioned and there is nothing of detail in the subject matter I don't immediately recognize I won't open it.  

Example:  You have overdue payment.  Pay now.  

None of my bills are ever overdue.  Even if they were overdue, I would not respond to any email demands.  If it's truly something of importance, they will snail mail me.

 

 

Paul McCartney: Still AWESOME

 Paul McCartney is still kicking it.  Yes, it's a deep fake video but it's soooooo cool.  It took Paul 79 years to get his groove.  LOL.  I just *knew* if he came to dance class with me I could teach him a few moves.  Paul will be my forever first love.  Yup.  Me plus 10,000,000 other teen age girls.  He was one of my first crushes at age 12.  Too bad he does not know I even exist. 

Black Lives Matter

 Recall California Governor Newsom:  YES

Who will replace Newsom:  Larry Elder

Why?  Because BLACK LIVES MATTER

On a serious note, California is way out of balance politically.  You do know what happens when something is seriously out of balance, don't you?  There will be an abrupt correction to the opposite.  It's simple physics.  For every action, there will be an opposite reaction. 

We need a psycho-conservative to balance the out-of-control bleeding heart liberals.  

Nashville

 I'm scheduled to go to Nashville, Tennessee in a few weeks.  I cancelled my trip.  I also cancelled my trip to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho that happened last week.  I was also invited to some super snob-atorium-old-money-resort in Virginia that's scheduled for Sept 12-15.  I declined that invitation as well.

Why did I decline?

For starters, I don't want to wear evening ball gowns to dinner in Virginia.  I don't even own an evening ball gown.  I don't want to.  Along with my invitation, I was issued instructions on proper attire for breakfast, lunch, cocktails, dinner, etc., to honor their time honored tradition of proving to everybody how snobby they are.  If they really knew how boring and non-wealthy I was, I would not have made the invite list to begin with.  That's a story all unto itself.  

Sigh.

All that attire instruction to hob nob in the Virginia snob-a-torium is too exhausting for me to deal with.  Give me the Florida Keys where homeless people blend with ka-billionairs and nobody knows one from the other.  

On a serious note, the reason I'm cancelling all my travel is because of COVID.  While we had a reprieve over the summer, it's back with a vengeance.  Yes, I'm fully vaccinated.  No, I don't want to be trapped away from home sick and not able to GET home  - even if I don't end up in the hospital.  I'd still be away from home.....and sick.  My nephew, who is fully vaccinated (age 28 super healthy male) got the Delta variant.  He was flat on his back for 10 days.  He still can't taste anything.  He did not end up in the hospital, but was on the verge.  Good thing he did not have to go to the hospital, as the beds are FULL.  

Somehow, traveling to Virginia or wherever needing a beaded ball gown seems so unimportant in comparison - let alone the impacts of human travel on global warming.

Hurricane Ida?  Tahoe Fires?  No water? 

This is just the beginning of the end.   Nobody should care what I wear to dinner (ball gowns), let alone whether I show up or not as the impact of human travels is what caused us to be where we are at.  

I'm staying home, and I'm quite happy about it. 

California Gubernatorial Recall

 What?  Pretty Boy Newsom is SHOCKED he is being called on his crap?  Sorry, your highness, last time I checked we can still choose our elected officials no matter how long your list of family connections are and how long they've been pulling the strings of California politics (the Getty Family, Brown Family, etc.).  

Newsflash for Newsom:  You are a cocky, arrogant prick born into the LSC (Lucky Sperm Club) and think that you are exempt from the rules you create.  Would you have a career in politics at all if it were not for family connections? 

No mainstream media dares to touch on the fact that Pelosi and Newsom are related....and then we are expected to trust the media.  If it's not a big deal that they are related and no nepotism is going on, why not have it be public knowledge?  Why can't it be exposed that the same 4-5 families have been dominating California politics for the past 60 years?  

Trump is the perfect distraction for all of this.  Wait.  I take that back.  Trump is NOT perfect.  

Now that Larry Elder is throwing his hat into the ring for the recall election, your "Black Lives Matter" yard signs and "systematic racism" that Newsom's fiberal supporters recite over and over that keeps black people down is now going to blow up in their faces.

Here's the scene:  White, liberal Newsom supporters who have been ranting about Black Lives Matter and wailing about the injustices of systematic racism that has kept black people down now has to eat their words.  How are they going to object to a black man who has made a name for himself without looking like the KKK?

Tastes good with ketchup. 

 

More Northern California Fires

 We are so accustomed to smoke, ash, heat, fog, wind (a strange combination) this time of year that the shock, awe, and disbelief has just become another day in the life of Northern California.  I guess it's like those who live in a war zone who become numb to bombs and bullets.  

Another northern California town burned to the ground?  Yawn.  Flip the channel to the California gubernatorial recall and the circus of candidates.  More smoke and ash on your car?  Whatever.  

Still, the earth is warming and we are experiencing the dire consequences.  I'm trying to do  my part by driving less, consuming less, traveling less, etc.  The sad part is that our roads are not equipped to handle both cars and bikes.  Many more people are also trying to ride their bikes instead of driving for routine errands and what not around town.  Cars will gladly try to run you off the road, honking, speeding, and then flipping you off while you are trying to do your part for the planet.

 

Newsom: Cover Your Nose

So much ado about getting vaccinated with million dollar lottery incentives, social distancing, quarantines, donning a mask, etc., our own governor still can't set a good example.  It was not enough that he got caught breaking the COVID rules at the French Laundry.  Today he's pictured with impressionable kids in San Bernardino classroom incorrectly wearing a mask that does not cover his mouth and nose. 

 

It makes one wonder as to whom is really spreading the virus. 

It Ain't Goin' Away, Folks

 Spoiler Alert:  COVID is here to stay.  Mask, no mask, vaccine, no vaccine, social distancing, no social distancing......it does not matter at this point.  The genie is out of the bottle.  Trying to stop it is like trying to stop the cold or the flu. 

Good luck with that.

Be sure to take care of those "underlying health conditions" that exacerbate and increase the chances of a covid fatality exponentially.  

Black Lives Matter

......black lives matter.....I never knew that they didn't matter.  Racism is waning.  Granted, it's still out there, but it's declining and society has come a long way.  Let's focus on the progress made and grow that progress.  Drawing attention to anybody's race is counterproductive and creates division. 

Coastal Liberal Elites: Snobs Without Merit

 I'm soooooo sick of coastal liberal elites (a.k.a. fiberals) attacking anybody who lives in a state that does not have ocean front property as a caveman incapable of any intellectual thoughts whatsoever.

I liken it to the early settlers to America who wanted to banish the natives as they were "savages."  The settlers thought they were so worldly and holier than thou.  Their ways MUST prevail and anybody who disagrees with them are 'uneducated idiots.'

Sound familiar?  

Come to find out some years later that the natives were not so dumb after all.  They knew a thing or two, but nobody wanted to listen to them.  

I find it ironic that those who claim a love of diversity and inclusion want to automatically chastise and demean people based on their accent and zip code.  God forbid if those who claim to love diversity and inclusion come across somebody who has a different opinion than theirs.  They are all about diversity and inclusion - as long as it fits their agenda.  

Mortimer the Ghost

 My office is in a very old, historical building.  It has a reputation for being haunted and I agree.  However, I don't feel that the spirits in the building are malevolent.  If anything, I think they have been protective of me over the past 30+ years I've had my office there.

My daughter now works with me in the office as my assistant decided to run off with her English boyfriend to Mexico.  We were in the office yesterday afternoon when the door pulled itself shut with nobody there.  No, it was not a draft.  The door PULLED itself completely shut.  It takes a little bit of force for the door to shut itself completely.  My daughter was startled, but I'm kind of used to strange things happening.  

We went into the hall as my daughter was looking for anything that could explain what just happened (delivery person, etc.).  The lady with the office down the hall happened to be arriving and was wondering what we were looking at.  When my daughter told her our door just pulled itself shut, she  had a nonplussed look on her face as she has also experienced things like that.  Everybody knows this building is haunted, right?

Now......onto something completely unrelated.

While visiting my family in Minnesota my younger brother asked me if I have ever watched the movie Joe Dirt.  Nope.  Although the movie came out in 2001 it was during a period in my life where I was too busy with kids, job, pets, etc., to even think about taking the time to sit and watch a movie.

My brother knew we had a long road trip yet ahead of us before we got back home to California.  He told me, "When you get home, I want you to think of me as you appreciate just being in your own bed after a long road trip while watching Joe Dirt."

Joe Dirt.  A movie that is so bad it's good.  It's just what I needed on a Friday night after a very long work week.  Here's a clip of the fireworks scene.  

Flu Season - A Tad Late

After a rather heavy blog entry about things I can't explain while on the road, I'm going to blog about more things I can't explain but without the spiritual implications.   

All the news media is a-buzz about how COVID is re-surging and going to take us down.  Let's wait just one little second.  

What happens when the kids go back to school each fall?  About 3-4 weeks into the school season half the kids are down with colds and/or whatever virus happens to be proliferating at the moment.  Why?  Because after being separated for a few months they are now closed up in classrooms where germs spread. 

That's exactly what's happening now.  We have been separated for over a year.  We are now co-mingling.  We did not have a flu season because we were separated.  We are having a flu season now.  Every sniffle and cold is now being chalked up to "the Delta variant of COVID."  

Wait a tick. 

Hospitals and doctors and whomever get extra money if they can tag "covid" as the culprit.  There is a financial incentive for them to do so.  

Is the virus real?  Yes.  Is there hype and fear being instilled by the media?  Yes.  

Bottom line:  Nobody ever mentions the common cold or flu anymore.  Everything is now COVID.  It's as if the common cold and flu no longer exist. 

The true bottom line is that there are too many people and earth can't handle our swelling populations and polluting patterns.  

Mother Nature is about to spit us all out and I do not blame her.  I warned you all years ago that complaining about the color of your neighbor's house and other dim-witted complaints were to be overshadowed with Mother Nature's unhappiness with mankind.  

 

 

Spiritual Happenings

 I have not really had any spiritual 'uprisings' (for lack of a better term) for a while.  I do dream about people from my past and present (and future?) both living and dead.  Spiritual experiences in the non-dream state are completely out of my control.  Well, spiritual experiences in the dream state are also out of my control.  Recently, I had both a dream experience and a non-dream state experience.

Let's start with my pets: my cat and my dog.

My cat died in April after a long illness.  He was 17 years old and he was the mayor of our town.  He was very stately and majestic.  Everybody in the neighborhood knew him and loved him.  

Our dog has been battling cancer and huge tumors for about 3 years now.  She had major surgery almost 2 years ago and we've been on borrowed time ever since.  About a year after her surgery to remove the tumor, it grew back with a vengeance.....and then multiplied.  

Long story short when my husband and I left for Minnesota, our dog was in a state where we did not know for sure if she would be there when we got back.  Thank God for our daughter, her fiancee, and also my niece who stayed at the house with our dog.  They helped her up to go outside to pee, etc.  The tumor was so huge it was impeding her ability to walk.  

The night after we arrived in Minnesota I had a dream about our dog.  I could see her and her leg and tumor were all a mangled mess.  Her leg was bare from fur and had veins sticking out.  I knew in my dream it was not good.  Then, I saw our dog's soul and it was outside of her body.  Her soul looked like a miniature version of herself floating about a foot away from her body.

The next morning after the dream about our dog I told my husband that this was the day she was going to die.  He looked at me like I was nuts.  Sure enough, around 8:00 PM, our daughter called us to tell us they had to put our dog down that day as her leg completely collapsed and she could no longer walk at all.  The night before, our daughter also had a dream about our dog.  In my daughter's dream, our deceased cat was walking down our hallway coming to "get" our dog.  

My daughter and I both had a premonition about our dog's death.  

Now....onto the rest of the trip....

I've always have had a draw to the Black Hills in South Dakota and also to Yellowstone - and everywhere else in between.  I know of the indigenous peoples of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota tribes.  To the Europeans they were known as the Sioux Indians - a generic (disparaging) name the whites gave the tribe that encompassed natives living from western Minnesota to Wyoming.

My "feelings" started just west of the Missouri River (known as the Great Muddy River to the Natives) in the tracks of Lewis & Clark.  The name of the town where I started to pick up vibes was in South Dakota in a town called Mitchell.  I suddenly got a feel for what it was like trans versing across an unknown swath of continent.  Lewis and Clark's faithful Native American female guide, Sacajawea, was their real compass and reason for success.  I'll get to her later.

The first "weird" experience was in a historic hotel in Billings, Montana, where we spent the night.  All night long it sounded as if there was a party going on next door, but nobody was there.  

Chalk it up to being tired from driving all day and road weary.  Moving on.

The next day we end up at the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn (Custer's Last Stand) or the Battle of Greasy Grass Ridge as it is known to the natives.  The bodies of many lost in battle, both white and native, lie where they fell.  The energy of that battle still resonates. 

We get to Dillon, Montana where we rented a house.  On the way to Dillon, there were several old western ghost towns left over from the mining days.  None of them really spoke to me, but we checked them out just the same.  We took the road less traveled to get to Dillon and not the freeway.  I'm always one for stopping to check out historical sites and read the signs, and my husband?  Not so much.  Because I was driving at that point I decided to stop at a historical marker as it literally pulled me in.  Even before I stopped I had a feeling that the valley we were in was a busy highway of sorts for thousands of years.  We stopped and I read the sign.  It was Beaverhead Rock where Sacajawea met her brother with Lewis and Clark.  Very interesting.  It seems like Lewis & Clark along with Sacajawea have been following us this entire trip as there were so many historical markers and museums starting at the Missouri River.  

We get to our destination in Dillon, Montana and get ourselves settled.  As the sun went down over the mountains, I kept thinking about the valley we were in and how it was a busy highway for thousands of years and all the generations that walked through it.  Today, Interstate 15 runs through it.  A few generations ago the railroad ran though it.  Before that, the natives used it as a main thoroughfare. 

The next day we went to the old, abandoned mining ghost town of Bannack, Montana.  It is extremely well-preserved and many of the buildings stand as they did in the 1860's.  Some friends of ours live in Montana and they met us to give us the tour of Bannack along with the history.  Our friends told us that the town was featured on Ghost Hunters and that the hotel was haunted.  Being curious, that was the first building I went in.  My friend would not accompany me as she was freaked out.  I so wanted to feel the ghost, but felt nothing.  Disappointed, I went back outside to tour the rest of the buildings.  

We get to the jail houses.  One of the jail houses had a window where the prisoners could look out to see the gallows that awaited them.  The other jail house had an adjacent room.  I thought that if anything, the jail house with the window would have spiritual energy, but I did not feel it.  At this point I thought that feeling anything was just not going to happen for me in Bannack and gave up.  It was then when we walked into the other jail house that I felt something like the force of opposing magnetic fields trying to push me out.  My husband opened the door to the adjacent room and I immediately was repelled and said, "We need go get out of here.  NOW."  

I was startled and I don't know why.  It was then our friends we waiting for us in the parking lot while we finished poking around the buildings.  I told them of my experience.  Much to my surprise, they both said that I was not the first guest they have brought to Bannack that had an experience in that same jailhouse.  

Weird.

Back at the house in Dillon we noticed that doors would open and shut.  At first we thought nothing of it.  Then the shower curtain pulled itself open and both of us KNEW we left it closed.  The remote control for the TV would be in strange places where we did not leave it.  Objects would disappear and then reappear elsewhere.  

 Then there was the incident with the car keys.  There was a row of hooks inside the door where we kept them in case one of us wanted to use the car.  That day my husband went fly fishing with the guys and us girls wanted to to into town.  I said I would drive.  I went into the house to get the keys off the hook and the keys were not there.  Strange, they were there earlier.  I looked EVERYWHERE.  I tore through couch cushions, pockets, purses, the garbage, you name it looking for the keys.  I looked for a good 30 minutes revisiting spots thinking I may have missed something.  It was no use calling the guys to see where my husband may have placed the keys, but none of them took their cell phones.  Where are the KEYS!!!  I am a fanatic about keys.  I gave up looking for them thinking that perhaps I was going crazy and my husband had them with him.  At any rate, one of the other girls ended up driving into town. 

When my husband returned from fishing I asked him where he put the car keys.  He said he never touched them and pointed to the hook and there they were....hanging.  At that point I started freaking out as they were NOT there earlier - and nobody had been in the house.  

There were too many instances of things disappearing, moving, and reappearing to be ignored.  My husband, who is not a believer, was even weirded out. 

 

 

The Trip

 As I type this I'm sitting in the Bozeman, Montana airport waiting for our flight to San Francisco.  We have been on the road for over two weeks.  The purpose of the trip was two-pronged:  First, to visit my family in Minnesota, especially my ailing father.  Second, to take a road trip from Minneapolis through South Dakota and Montana.

This was a very emotional trip as my father's health is very fragile.  We did get the entire family together meaning all my siblings and my mother.  I have this sinking feeling it will be the last time we all see my father at the same time.  

To add more emotion on top of emotion, we lost our yellow lab two days into our trip.  She had been ill and we knew we were on borrowed time with her.  I'm so thankful for our daughter and her fiance for being brave and doing what they had to do.   

Crappy things tend to happen in threes:  My cat, my dog, my dad :(

Leaving Minnesota was tough.

The trip through South Dakota was just what my soul needed.  The Black Hills makes my soul sing.  I have not been to the Black Hills in a LONG time, so it was almost brand new.  Same with Montana.  We visited a very well preserved ghost mining town called Bannack.  Visitors can actually walk around and in the buildings.  Many of them are in original shape.  

I need to board my plane now, but there was an "experience" in Bannack and also in the house we stayed that I can't explain.  My husband also witnessed it, and he's not one for ghost stories. 

 

Summer Solstice - Fathers' Day

 I don't even know how to explain today.  Today is the apex of light and life as it's summer solstice.  I wish I could be at Stonehenge basking in the pre-Christianity knowledge of the universe.  Better yet, I wish I could be in the Lake District in England with our beloved friends J and P.  Instead, I'm in Sonoma County, California sitting under a grove of redwoods celebrating the longest day of the year.  

Such a magical night.   

 It's Fathers' Day.  Please reach out to your dad and talk to him.  I don't care if he was an a**h*** or whatever.  You only get one father.  You should be so lucky that your dad is still alive to talk to - no matter what wrongs he has done in your life.  Let's face it.  We are all in therapy because of our dad. 

One of my best friends was molested by her dad.  She found it in her heart to forgive him and move on.  It was not easy for her.  It was not a pretty journey, and it's not completely over yet.  

You will NEVER regret reaching out to your dad - no matter how much he has p***** you off. 

 

Stick 'em Up: Pay for Party

 My daughter is embarking on the challenges of adulthood and all the tacky and greedy people out there.  There is one rule of entertaining that must NEVER be broken:  Never charge your invited guests to attend your party.  

Here's the background.  My daughter's friend, let's refer to her as B, is moving from California to Florida.  B's mother, let's refer to her as K, invited my daughter to attend a going away party for B at a not-so-cheap rooftop restaurant.  Mind you, we already had a little private party here at the house for B to say our good-byes about a week ago.  This was an additional party that K coordinated. 

I know K well enough that she's the type of person who shirks all personal responsibility, including motherhood, to anybody within radius she can con and scam.  I was immediately suspect of K's intentions as I warned my daughter that K would try to stick everybody with the bill for the party she coordinated.  I encouraged my daughter to eat before the party and to bring her own water bottle. 

Lo and behold, when my daughter returned from the party she told me she was instructed by K to contribute $25 for the bill although she did not eat nor drink anything.  

I was livid.  There's a reason K and I are not "friends."  If you can't afford to throw a party at the not-so-cheap rooftop restaurant, don't have a party there.  At the very minimum, the invited guests should have been informed in advance that the bill was going to be divvied up whether or not you consumed anything.  That would leave opportunity for those who don't have $25 to gracefully decline the event.  To pull a tactic of inviting people and then surprising them by sticking them with the bill is a move of the lowest class of people.  

Bottom Line:  Never surprise your invited guests by presenting a bill at the conclusion of the event.  Never charge "admission" for your party.  You're better off selling tickets to the thinly disguised charity event that it really is.  Always entertain in a fashion that you can afford.  Having a picnic party at the local park eating on a blanket on the ground is classier than inviting people to an expensive restaurant where you have to pick-pocket your guests to cover the expense.  

Bucking Broncos and the Game Show Host

 Have not you heard?  California has been lifted of so many of the mask and social distancing restrictions as of Tuesday.  I think of all the 50 states, California took the virus and all the recommended precautions the most seriously.  We were the first to lock down and one of the last to open up.  We did not throw a hissy fit about wearing a mask; well, at least most of us did not throw a hissy fit.  We got our vaccinations as soon as we could; well, at least most of us did when it was our turn to get vaccinated.  

Now, after being penned up for 15 months we are like the bucking bronco being let out of the gate and Gavin Newsom is the cowboy trying to hang on.  

 Yes, about that Gavin Newsom.  He's facing a recall and pretty boy is sweating it as this is tarnishing his political career.  He's acting like a game show host offering prizes for those who get their vaccines.  He's giving away millions to people who don't deserve it.  Seriously.  He's giving away millions for those who have resisted getting the vaccine to entice them - California lottery style.  It's a veil attempt to buy votes.  Wait.  Dare I say bribe?   One guy wrote an editorial in the paper that the lottery money should go to front line workers.  I could not agree more.   

I can't make this stuff up, people. 

 

Cupid Shuffle: The Laundry - The Dishes

 OK, so I'm about 15 years late but do you all remember the song Cupid Shuffle?  If not, here it is to refresh your memory.  I'll tell my story after you hear this song and smile to yourself....yeah, I remember that. 

I have a mom version that I'm creating that is a spoof on this song.  In the beginning of the original video you hear the whipers, "The cupid, the shuffle, the cupid, the shuffle."  

My version will be the whispers, "The laundry, the dishes, the laundry, the dishes" incorporated into a video of mundane house chores with some humor added. 

The Trip

 My father is terminally ill.  I'm scheduled to go back to Minnesota on June 23.  Who knows....it may be sooner.  My sister, God bless her, has been at the helm of taking care of my parents.  She sold her large home with property last year as she is a widow and it was too much for her to take care of.  She moved one door down from my childhood home, where my parents still live,  to the Lundgren House in NE Minneapolis so she could be near my parents.  

She knew.

My father is such a TOUGH guy.  He is proud.  His mind is as sharp as a tack, but his body is failing him. My dad has the ego of a peacock and it's killing him - literally.   I'm going to go to the CBD store tomorrow and get him some gummies and send them back to him hoping it can ease his pain as it's not quite yet legal in Minnesota.

I may need you all to bail me out of jail for trying to ease my dad's pain with stuff that's legal in some states, but not others.  If that's the worst thing I'm accused of, bring it on.  I'll gladly serve time in jail for making my 81 year old father feel more comfortable.  

OK... now I'm going to go all Pagan on you.  I have a friend who does rune stone readings.  I had her do a reading for me a few months ago.  From all the stones, I selected 'winter' (look it up for a picture).  So far it's been right on.  My cat, my dad, my dog, my mother, and my sister-in-law's failing health.  Yup.  I'm the middle of the winter season.

PLUS....mercury is retrograde...and it's a FAT retrograde.  

It's going to be a cruel summer, and I don't need the horrible BananaRama song to remind me.

 

Northern Girls

I'm going to take you waaaaaaay, back.....back into time....when Northern Girls toilet paper posters were a thing of art.  I had all of them lined up in my faux bedroom upstairs on the pony wall. 

I just remember how soft and pretty they looked and how I wanted to BE them.  I was maybe  7 or 8 years old at the time. 

Do you remember any of this???  

 

Michael Jackson: Beat It

 There are so many reasons I love this song.  For starters, it takes me back to my high school years.  I had a crush on a guy named Byron (who was dating a friend of mine) and he liked this song as well.  I never did anything to cross the line with Byron and my friend, so my little secret crush remained that - just a secret little crush that did not go anywhere.  

Innocent.

Then there is the choreography in this video.  I LOVE IT.  It's so classic Michael.  

Then there is the larger social message to kids out there.  Don't get involved with gangs.  

Then there is Michael Jackson in his prime along with his signature dance moves.  

Then there is the guitar solo featuring Eddie Van Halen.

Then there is me at dance class still dancing to this song with all the signature choreography.  LOL

Shit On A Shingle

 If you are from the WWII generation or had any interactions with veterans and survivors thereof, you know what I'm talking about.  

Shit on a shingle.

What is shit on a shingle?  The five-words-or-less answer is chipped beef on toast.  It was a staple on the American dinner table from WWII to the 1970's.  

What's in it?  Well, it's dried beef (the kind you get in a jar) sliced very thinly mixed with a roux with minimal seasonings.  It's served over toast and with a green vegetable on the side.  

What?  You did not know that dried beef came in a jar?  Of course not, you pampered millennial who gets $5.00 coffee drinks daily, orders Uber Eats, and then bitches that you don't have any money to pay your obligations.  

 

Pregnant AGAIN?

 My contributions to Planned Parenthood are going unheeded.  My grand niece (by marriage) is knocked up again by no "hables Englais" border jumpers who want to plant their seed (literally) to have their anchor baby in the United States so they do not get deported back to Mexico or whatever shit hole country they are trying to run from.

Sigh.

Here's what pisses me off.  Most of the rush from the border is coming from Honduras, Guatemala,  etc., but they bypass next door neighbor Mexico and rush to the borders of the U.S.A.   

Why?

Why is not Mexico absorbing the mass exodus of refugees?  Mexico is the next bordering country.  Why do they get to skip across Mexico and try for direct entry into the US?  

Because Mexico sucks?  Mexico does not want them and are punting to us? 

Yup.  Central American refugees are picking and choosing which countries they want to suck from and claim asylum .  They know Mexico does  not want them, so they will try for us here in the US as we are suckers and will give them more than what Mexico would ever think to give them.  

Border skipping.  Mexico is happy as they don't want them, and are more than happy to pawn them off on us.  .,

Here's a clue to all of you pumping out babies like a pez dispenser.  If you can't feed your baby, then don't have a baby.  And don't think maybe, if you can't feed your baby.   We collectively donate millions in birth control via Planned Parenthood so you don't have to have children you can't provide for.  Please beg their assistance.  It's free. 

Wrap it.  Control it.  Plan it.  Even the rhythm method is better than no method.  

None of this would be an issues otherwise.   

Ohhhhhhhhhhh...... I've offended the Latino machismo.  Just whack off a few more times and it will all be good.  I promise.  Your extra sperm has already done enough damage.  

No, I will not be winning the Nobel Peace Prize for my criticism of over populating humans beyond what the environment can handle. (we are over populated)  Get yourselves fixed or limit your offspring.  The environment  and all of us thank you.   

I've sensed a disturbance in the force.  Millions of angry do-gooder coastal liberal elites who live in gated communities in their mansions in Marin driving their Tesla (with equality for all stickers) and kids going to private schools decrying any and all development for the sake of the environment (code for we do not want any low income housing anywhere near us) want to hunt me down and kill me. 

Whatever.  

Walk this Waaaaaay - Talk this Waaaaaay

 It's been a very stressful week for Quiet Rage at work.  Add to the mix the health issues of people I love and it makes me even more stressed that I have to stress about work things that in the big picture are not worth stressing about, when my stress energy would be better served stressing about people I love.  

Have I mentioned the "stress" word in every context there is?  And how utterly useless it really is in the work picture?

Here's the hard truth nobody wants to face.  We are all going to die.  What is our life for?  Fulfilling corporate quotas? Preparing quarterly economic reports?  Competing with everybody in our work circle to prove how much more valuable we are than they?  Who is keeping the score on egos and material accomplishments in the afterlife?  I don't think God cares one bit if we followed the corporate bible.  God cares about His Bible...and I do not think there is any mention of serving the corporation as a demigod or proxy god. 

Yes, we all have to make a living.  Where we are struggling as a society is finding the balance.  Do we really NEED all of the STUFF advertising says we need?  Of course not.  But....the minute we figure that out the economy takes a dump because it's based on creating and consuming useless crap we don't really need....and destroying the environment in the process.  This business model we hold near and dear to our hearts is not sustainable.   

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..... I don't want to be all grumpy, but I am.  Maybe it's the full moon playing into my psyche.  Maybe it's STILL because I miss my cat.  Even more so it's because I see good people suffering from disease, and yet there are others who are evil that manage to skate by unscathed from any consequences of their bad behavior.  

Life is not fair.  

To be fair, nobody ever said that it would be fair.

I'm struggling.  

So.....with that I offer something completely brainless, but yet significant and unrelated by my rant.  I'm going to completely switch gears on you all.  Back in the late 1980's early 1990's-ish the group Aeorsmith and Run DMC were complete opposites.  Aerosmith being the typical white-guy-long-haired screaming hard rock hair band, and Run DMC the typical black-bad-ass-rappers.  

Culturally, these two groups were world apart.

Somebody had a genius idea to marry these two very different musical worlds in a video that literally breaks down barriers between blacks and whites.  The result was pure ecstasy for both music genres.   Who would of ever thought that Run DMC and Aerosmith could ever co-exist?  

Keep breaking down barriers.  'Tis all good.  

I love this video.  Proof that there can be peace in da hood.  Ya 'all dig? 

1099-K

 You're out of your mind if you think the government is not going to nickle and dime you to cover the kabillions of dollars in handouts.  You're also out of your mind if you think they are going to kill the goose that lays the golden egg (corporations).  

Here's a little surprise for you all that will sink in come 2022 tax season.  All of the people who have set up online Etsy shops and the like to make ends meet are about to get hammered on taxes.  Anybody who receives payment via electronic means (credit cards, PayPal, etc.) will get taxed on any and all income over $600.  Right now the current threshold is $20,000 AND 200 transactions.  The threshold for 2022 has been lowered to $600 and the transaction limit has been removed.

The $600 threshold is also the trigger for issuing a 1099-NEC or 1099 MISC.  Cash payments are easier to hide than electronic payments, so enforcement of issuing 1099-NEC is a lot tougher.  Electronic banking transactions are a lot easier to track and collect taxes on - plus their exploding popularity with the younger crowd makes this low-hanging fruit ripe for taxation.   

Bottom Line:  If you receive payment electronically, you will now be taxed.  

Hey, nothing is free.  How did you think all the money the government disbursed was going to get repaid? 

 

My Cat

 I've been mourning the past week or so as my beloved cat died.  He was 16.5 and had a myriad of health issues including kidney disease.  We've known for some time that he was not in the best of health as he stopped grooming himself and stopped jumping up on furniture - especially my computer chair as he would walk across my keyboard as I was trying to type.  

I will never forget the day we got him.  It was December 28, 2004.  My daughter and her BFF somehow convinced me to take them to the animal shelter that day 'just to look' at the animals.  My son came along as well that day.  

There was an area where there were kittens in a large cage.  There was young couple there who were also looking at the same kitten my daughter was.  The kitten came up and licked my daughter's finger through the cage.  

That was it.  He was ours thereafter.  The young couple did not have the heart to tear away a little kitten away from a little girl.  

Our cat was not like any other cat.  He thought he was a dog.  Many times neighbors would call him "The Mayor" as he had a very stately stance about him.  Everybody loved our cat.  He greeted those who passed by for pets and loves.  He really did have a local fan club and was a staple of the neighborhood.  

Sorry....I'm jumping all over the place.  I'm very emotional and mourning.  This blog entry is not very linear.  I'm in and out of tears. 

Today I brought leftover food, litter,  and other items that belonged to our cat to the animal shelter.  I was so tempted to want to adopt another one, but.........  there is a black cat with huge green eyes who has started appearing at dusk in our front yard.  She is very skittish which lends me to think she is a stray and does not have a home.  I started to leave food out for her.  We have named her Skade after a character in the Netflix series The Last Kingdom.  Will Skade ever warm up to me?  Only time will tell as I will not force it.  If she is hungry and a stray I will give her a loving home.  If she is hungry and not a stray, I will feed her.  If she just wants to hang around at dusk she can do that as well.  I will give her a safe space for whatever she needs.  

That is how I will honor my cat's passing - by taking care of another cat.  

Here's to you, Mr. Mayor.  We LOVE you and miss you.  I hope you're catching all the mice in kitty Valhalla.  

No, thank you

 Please do not confuse no, thank you with no thank you.

I'm at that point in my life where my kids' friends are getting married and whatnot.  I have one friend with four kids.  When the first one got married we were out of town, but sent a gift.  Months later we received a preprinted postcard stating how happy they were we could be there to share their special day (we were not) and for the gift.  Nothing was personalized and even the signature was preprinted.  It had all the warmth of receiving an advertisement in the mail addressed to "resident." 

Strike one.

The next kid because of COVID had a very small wedding.  Only immediate family was included in the ceremony.  I get it.  Still, I sent a check and a card to wish the couple well.  They managed to find a pen immediately to sign and cash the check, but can't find a pen to acknowledge the gift.  

Strike two.

Now, the third kid is getting married this fall.  

Do I hold the etiquette crimes of the two older siblings against this one by refusing to send a gift?  The other siblings have pattern of being ingrates, and it's presumed this one does as well.  Please, don't scoff that "nobody sends personalized thank you cards any longer."  Take that attitude if you will, but also accept that, "nobody sends gifts any longer." 

I'm saying "No, thank you" to those who send no thank you. 

The Rooster

Before I got kicked off the social media site Next Door, there was a post from a woman who recently moved to the area from Marin complaining about a neighbor's rooster crowing.  Typical.  They move to Sonoma County because of our 'country charm' and then bitch about what makes the country the country. 

Anyway, that was at least a couple of months ago and I've since got kicked off the site because  I dare to challenge the NIMBY's and other do-gooders who want to save the world - unless it means paying out of their own pocket or residing in their own immediate area.  

What?  Me?  Kicked off????  LOL

That's not the point of today's blog.  Have I noticed the rooster's crowing?  I guess so, but it's all part of living in Sonoma County and I never gave it another thought.  

That is until I got the mail the other day.  There in my snail mail box was a postage marked letter addressed to "neighbor" and it was sent anonymously.  It was not signed nor was their a return address.  In this letter it was telling me to shut my rooster up or brimstone and fire shall rain down from the heavens citing noise ordinances.

Sorry, but we do not own a rooster.  We never have.  I think this person just blanketed the neighborhood with letters.  What a coward.  

Well, the letter campaign did not work.  The rooster is still crowing, and I laugh to myself every time I hear him.  I'm thinking of getting a rooster just to irk the complainer off even more.  LOL

Phizer 2nd Shot

I just had my second COVID shot yesterday.  How do I feel?  Like I want to actually start living my life again.  I know I have to wait a couple of weeks and still wear a mask and whatnot.  I know there is controversy about "the vaccine."  I can attest that to date I have not grown horns nor a tail.  Am I a guinea pig?  Yes.  Sometimes one has to take a leap of faith and I chose to be vaccinated and yet still adhere to the recommended safety protocol of masking and distancing.  Does that make me a gullible chump who is manipulated by the media?  I'm certain to some people it does.  

Sigh. 

I miss my Minnesota family and friends.  I'm planning a visit late June.  I have not seen them since October 2019 and my soul aches for them. 

As far as work goes, I'm not telling anybody I've had my shot.  Zoom meetings are so much more convenient and suck less time from my day.  As I've said a million times before, at the end of the meeting I press a button and they ALL DISAPPEAR.  

It's PAT! Too bad humor has now been banned.

 

No!

 Here are my two statements for this time of year:

1.  No, I will not help you file your taxes;

2.  No, I will not help you fix your computer or iPhone issues.

People take me for granted on both fronts.  You would not believe the piles of scrap papers that have been handed over to me with begs of assistance on tax filings.  I am NOT your bookkeeper, accountant, organizer, etc.  Don't keep receipts in a shoe box and expect me to rifle through them to make rhyme and reason out of them so you can attempt to cheat the government out of what you owe.  Sorry, your trip to Cuba does not count for a tax deduction no matter how hard you try to justify it in your mind.  Most likely those who seek such deductions live in Marin and wave the flag of 'prosperity for all' and 'defund the police' and my personal favorite 'affordable housing.'  We have a name for these false folks = FIBERALS (fake liberals). 

And no, just because I may know a thing or two about electronic gadgets does not make me want to spend an entire Saturday fixing your computer or iPhone (for free).   I work full-time and I want to be able to spend what little limited free time I have enjoying the outdoors and not crouched under your computer desk that has not been dusted off in a decade trying to figure which cable belongs to which port to your antiquated system.  

Yes, I'm grouchy.  Stop trying to get something for nothing. 

March Madness

 I have more questions than answers.  All the basketball players are sweating and breathing in each others faces and sharing a sweaty ball they all handle.  Nobody is wearing masks.  If COVID is the big threat that the media is telling us, why are they all maskless - including the coaches?  

Also, I've noticed that the news casters are now all in the same room, sitting in close proximity to each other and maskless.  They tell us that the vaccine is no excuse to ditch social distancing.  

Again, 2+2 is not = 4. 

It's all magically disappearing

 California and other areas of the country are reopening.  The vaccination rate for adults in CA is less than 30% but suddenly covid numbers are down, hospitalizations are down, deaths are down, kids can go back to school, etc., etc., etc.  

None of this is making any logical sense. 

If the "virus" and it's mutants is still truly a huge and deadly threat as the media portrays, why risk reopening?  

Sigh.  Here's why.   $ and votes.  What else could it possibly be?  Yes, I'm cynical.  Just wait until you've been around the block enough times without filters and you'll see.  Just wait until life has handed you lessons that no college course could have ever prepared you for.  It's about money and power.  It always has been.  It always will be.  Even social causes are corrupt.  Take unions, for example.  They were formed because of the working man getting trampled on.  Still, they became what they were despised:  Corrupt and money hungry.  

Wait.  Sounds just like the democratic party.  You think I'm lying?  Try to volunteer and get involved in your local politics.  You will quickly learn that they are *not* for the people and godesses forbid if you veer off their script.  I so wish I could tell you otherwise.  Think for yourselves, people, and don't pledge blind allegiance to ANY political party no matter how appealing their 'cover' message is.  Most of all, please don't take any politics to social media where the look-at-me-self-righteous live and want to cram THEIR message down everybody's throat and write you off as a  moron if you don't agree with their thoughts. 

Another sigh.

I'm numb to it all at this point.  However, I'm dreading not being able to use "the virus" to avoid people and in-person meetings that I have been able to keep at bay for the last year.  I'm loving avoiding all the non-essential travel that has sucked my life force for the last two decades.  I'm so much happier.  I had no idea how much we packed into our schedules until we had the chance to stop and breathe.  

Now, completely switching gears and moving on from the rant.

Here's what I am looking forward to for 2021:  Our trip to South Dakota and Minnesota - driving.  Yes, crappy roadside motels, hole-in-the-wall diners, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer's Last Stand, Deadwood, Rapid City, DeSmet (Laura Ingalls - LOL), The Corn Palace, and seeing family and friends, and NO PRESSURE for a timetable.  :)       

Karen and Ralph

 I met a couple named Karen and Ralph.  And yes, Karen made me Ralph.  Sorry, my inner third grader was giggling. 

How to Paint Like a Biden

 So unPC, but so funny.  We better watch while we can before the thought police comes along and censors anything they don't personally agree with.  Think about it.  Censorship is happening and it's so ironic that it's coming from the so-called liberals. 

Harry & Meghan

 I know I'm dating myself, but I remember watching Prince Charles and Lady Diana getting married on television.  I forget what ungodly hour it was, but as a young teenage girl it was fascinating to witness.  I guess my invitation got lost in the Royal Mail.  

I watched Diana have her boys through the media and tabloids (shame on me) but I always thought that younger son of hers would be a rebel.  Don't ask me why I thought that, but I just did.  Now the boys are grown men and have families of their own.  I knew the minute Meghan came into the picture it would be nothing but trouble.  Sorry, but I don't liker her.  Don't waste your time trying to pin me as racist or whatever.  She is low-class trying to be high-class and it is not working.  We will never know the entire story of what happens a Kensington Palace, nor should we as every human deserves some privacy.  

Meghan knew what she was getting into when she married Harry.  She's an ACTRESS and knows what it is to be in the public's eye.  By very nature of her profession she is an attention whore who craves the spotlight.  Her actions prove it over and over again.  They ran away from royal duties to California because of constant harassing of the media citing their need for privacy.  However, there they are on world television blasting very private matters.  Sorry you two, you can't suck and blow at the same time.  You can't claim your need for anonymity while giving an interview you know millions will watch.  

My bet is that the royal purse has been cut off and they need to figure a way to finance their lifestyle and maintain celebrity status.  Drama is the only thing Meghan knows.  She also knows that the only title of queen she will ever have a chance of holding is Drama Queen. 

 

Yung Gravy "Oops"

 JLB know my warped sense of politically incorrect humor.  There's so much of me that is politically incorrect and she still loves me.  Pretty soon all humor will be banned as the PC thought police wants to stamp out anything and everything that makes us human.  Damn femi-Nazi's.  

Anyway, JBL forwarded me this video that is strangely humorous despite being a little edgy.  I'm sure the PC femi-Nazi's hate it.  Sorry, femi-Nazi's, but there are other viewpoints on humor.  

Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/NIdWvUuEBB0

It's Happening Again

 Swarms of illegal immigrants are storming the southwest border trying to sneak into the United States.  This was a lesser issue when Trump was president.  I wonder how those who advocate for the illegals justify letting them all in while others immigrants who have followed the rules are patiently waiting their turn for admission?  Who is to say those who are wanting to come legally are in any more dire straights than the illegals?  Is there a special "Suffer-o-Meter" tool that we are unaware of? 

If I were trying to gain admission to the United States legally, I'd be pissed.  Why should illegal entrants get to jump the line?  Everybody wants to live here and have citizenship.  If you disagree with me, you're free to exit the country and live wherever else you think will be better.  Buh-Bye.  Oh, wait.  You can't just jump to New Zealand.  They have immigration laws that actually have teeth.

Here's my advice to anybody who wants to come here:  Just go through Mexico - everybody else does.

Here's the brain twister on the situation you really need to think about:  Who will you exploit as slave labor if we close the borders? 

 

 

 

Still Confused

I'm still confused about what's happening with "the virus."  There is a push to reopen schools and states are seeing a drop in cases and lifting restrictions, but there are variants of the virus that are supposedly more contagious and deadly and also resistant to vaccines.  These new variants also infect those who have already had it.  

2 + 2 is not = 4.  Something is rotten in Denmark, as we are not getting the whole story.

Is the reopening of everything purely for economic reasons?   Is it because politicians are taking heat?  Is it because parents are losing their minds because they actually have to take care and responsibility of the lives they created? 

Yes, I'm being snarky.  

Somehow, I'm numb to the doomsday predictions the media feeds us.  Could it be that the gas shortage of the 70's was pure media manipulation?  Could it be that the whole Y2K was complete media infused fear?

.....then they wonder why we don't trust them (meaning the government and the media). 

Homeowners

 My daughter and her fiancee just purchased a home here in Sonoma County.  All of this is happening so fast that my head is still spinning.  My daughter is not going to be married until 2022, but her fiancee and his family have their ears to the ground when it comes to real estate.  

Long story short, my daughter's future father -in-law went to check out an RV that was for sale.  After talking to the lady who is living there on the property a bit, it turned out that the home where the RV was at had been in the family for 60 years and the parents both passed away.  Now there are three sibling owners of the house and two of the siblings live out of state - and one sibling living in the house.  They need to sell to divide the inheritance three ways as nobody wants to buy the other siblings out.  

My daughter's future father-in-law is VERY savvy with real estate and saw a diamond in the rough.  Long story short he put a cash offer on it right there and then.  Of course, there were other offers that came in that were higher, but my daughter and her fiancee wrote a letter to the owners stating how they both grew up in Sonoma County, both attended the same elementary, junior high, and high school together, and how they want to raise a family in the neighborhood where they grew up. 

My daughter and her fiancee ended up getting the house.  :)      It's soooooooo close to where we live that when they have babies I'm only 2 minutes away by car and 15 minutes walking (at most) so I can be there in an instant when the sleepless nights get to be too much and they need a break. 

Here's the catch:  The house was built in 1902 and it needs some work.  It needs some structural work and some cosmetic work, but the overall bones are good and it also has a large lot.  It has personality PLUS and great energy.  I got to tour the home on Sunday and meet the lady who is currently living there.  The pictures on the internet do not do it justice, but that's ok.  Seeing it in person was a really spiritual experience that I did not expect.  

When I walked into the house I got the feeling of light, air, and fun energy.  The house has little rooms with nooks and crannies that were bright and welcoming.  There was the surprise of yet another room, no matter how funky and and small, around every corner.  The kitchen was bright and airy with lots of windows with a layout reminiscent of a century gone by.  The yard has chickens and a chicken coop and a "fun pit" where raging parties happened in the late 1960's - early 1970's with live bands.  One of the rooms still has original prints on the wood flooring from 1902.  There are built in cabinets as well that one does not see in more modern houses.  The eclectic groove of the house is a Bohemian paradise. 

When I got to the lower level of the house is where it all came clear to me.  I walked into an area that was the former (deceased) owner's art studio, but I did not know it at the time.  The hair on my arms stood up straight.  I immediately knew this room was of special meaning.  I got the very strong message that the space was special and to honor it.  I spoke the words out loud that we would honor the space, but I was not sure as to whom I was speaking.

When I went upstairs the lady/sibling who is still living in the house met me.  I told her that I felt a presence downstairs knowing stating such that I was risking her thinking that I was an absolute nut-ball.  She reached out her hand and put it on my shoulder and said that was her mother's happy space where she did all of her artwork, and that I was not crazy for sensing it.  I told her we would forever honor it in some way.  

Honor the past, honor the present, and honor the future.  That's what I'm trying to do in all my imperfect ways.