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.