Did anyone really want to wake up early this morning? I might be tempted to call you a liar if you say you did. Another Monday starts another dry week. Temps today are warmer than usual—plenty of sunshine. There’s rain to our west, but there is little chance of it surviving long enough to even give us a sprinkle. Leaves on trees are about as colorful as they’re going to get this year. And you still have to work.
On the positive side of things, G made it back to Indiana last night. We’ll see him after school and I’m looking forward to his chatter, assuming he’s not completely exhausted. The animals will be happy to greet him, too. His absence has made quite a difference in how everyone behaves.
Kat’s car started throwing codes at her over the weekend and one of them is potentially bad news: The battery pack is dying. She’ll have to take it to a dealership to find out if they can replace single cells in the battery pack or if the whole thing is dead. She was planning to buy another vehicle in January. Having to do so now would be a tremendous hit to finances.
At least yesterday had some interesting football. We’re at that point in the season where injuries are causing good teams to struggle. The Colts managed to beat the hapless Dolphins, 16-10. It wasn’t a terrific game for either team and for a moment in the fourth quarter, it looked as though Miami might mount a comeback. Chiefs beat the 49ers, 28-18 in a Super Bowl rematch that, if we’re honest, was totally disappointing. Statistically, Mahomes is having his worst year ever. San Francisco is struggling to field a healthy team. That the Chiefs are now 6-0 speaks to how good the team is and how lousy the league is at the same time. A late field goal allowed the Lions to give the Vikings their first loss of the season, 31-29. Both teams are playing surprisingly well for the first time in decades. They’re going to make the playoffs interesting. After so many tight games yesterday, can tonight’s games be anything but disappointing? Ravens play the Bucs in Tampa and the Chargers travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals. Baltimore and LA are the favorites, but this could be a real snooze fest.
The exciting news comes from the WNBA where the New York Liberty won their first title over the Lynx, 67-62 in overtime. Of course, it’s the WNBA so the officiating is being blamed for affecting the outcome of the game. Still, it was one of the most exciting basketball games we’re likely to see this year. The men will have to actually work hard for once if they want to be as entertaining.
And, because we’re in that time of the year, there’s baseball news worth mentioning. It will be the Yankees versus the Dodgers in the World Series. Again. This is the 12th time the two teams have met in the World Series, going back to 1941. The rivalry is almost as old as the leagues. Jet lag plays a strong role in how the visiting teams play. If you can stand to watch baseball on television (I can’t), this could be a decent series.
The rest of this morning’s news is boring by comparison. Here are a few headlines.
- US convenience stores look abroad for the secret to decent food. They’re fast becoming an alternative to traditional fast food.
- Israel’s wars are expensive. Paying the bill could force tough choices. This is the result of win-at-all-cost thinking. No one wins.
- Musk offers voters $1 million a day to sign a PAC petition backing the Constitution. Is that legal? In an age where people can now gamble on the outcome of elections, it’s questionable.
- Lionel Richie likens touring to vacation as he announces Europe shows. WTF? Maybe the musician needs to cut back his activities at home if the chaotic schedule of touring is considered a break.
- New cases of political violence roil the U.S. ahead of a contentious election. This is sheer stupidity. You don’t get to force your views on others. Remember when people kept quiet about how they were voting? Let’s go back to that.
- These are the 21 best types of American cheese. Because everyone needs to know, don’t they?
I’d list more, but you might fall asleep reading them.
Sunrise is sneaking up on us. I suppose it’s time to start looking around for something that resembles motivation. Maybe I’ll find it under the covers.
Or in another cup of coffee.
Morning Update: 10/25/24
Winning becomes difficult when losing is the dominant experience. Yesterday, we were dealt another setback as Kat was diagnosed with pneumonia, likely a leftover symptom from having COVID-19 a couple of weeks ago. Kat’s chest had been hurting the entire time, but she assumed that she had pulled a muscle or something with all the coughing. Then, she coughed up blood yesterday. To the ER she went. They did multiple EKGs and X-rays before coming to the conclusion that she had pneumonia. This means she won’t be at work until at least Monday, and possibly beyond that if her condition doesn’t improve sufficiently. This hits at a time when her books are so full that she had clients scheduled six days out of the next seven, and well past that.
The kids are rather busy at the moment as well. Tipper is going to a friend’s Halloween party after school today. G is adding an entrepreneurship track and a media emphasis to his already packed schedule. We’re at that stage where even when they’re home we hardly see them. As long as they’re doing well and are happy, we’re supportive of everything they’ve got going on.
Meanwhile, cancer sucks. I’m blaming the fact that my leg bones are screaming on the weather. We’re not going to get a lot of rain, but the change in pressure is enough to make life a bit more miserable than it was. For me, the challenge is how to take care of Kat without walking any more than necessary. Some things can be farmed out or delivered, but we need to visit two different pharmacies to pick up meds for both of us. Getting out isn’t something we’re likely to find invigorating.
Against this backdrop, I’m finding it difficult to be sympathetic toward any news that doesn’t immediately affect our lives. McDonald’s says onions from California-based produce company linked to deadly E. coli outbreak and more fast-food chains are dropping onions from their menus as a result. Okay. We have plenty of healthy onions at home and weren’t planning on eating fast food this week in the first place. Can we be done with this story?
King Charles acknowledges ‘painful’ slavery past as calls for reparations intensify and at the same time, President Biden’s trip to Arizona will be the first time a U.S. president has apologized for the abuses that happened at the schools over a period of 150 years. When politicians apologize for sins committed by other people in a different century, what really changes? Yes, the acknowledgment is nice, but the government isn’t a person. The apology doesn’t mean crimes against other marginalized people groups are suddenly going to end. Neither does it mean that the families of those affected by those crimes are going to get their loved ones, or their loved ones’ potential offspring, back. When we can’t punish the people who were directly responsible, are the political speeches anything more than empty words?
Election polls are pretty much tied at 48% for each party. This is going to get ugly because people on both sides think that democracy hinges on them winning. But then, we’ve never been a united people. Never. Ever. Why should we expect such now? This isn’t even the worst it’s ever been. There is not a political system in the world that is fool-proof. There are just too many fools.
An alert just popped up on my monitor that there is lightning nearby. If it cares to linger, I have a list of targets for it to hit.
At least it’s Friday, which in itself is rather meaningless, but it means there’s football tomorrow. Although, the Rams beat the Vikings, 30-20 last night. The game was an offensive battle as people are starting to return from the injured list. That could be a precursor to what we see this weekend.
Or maybe I’ll just curl up and sleep through the whole thing.
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