Morning Update: 10/11/24

G is on his way to Florida for the next 10 days. Are we a bit anxious? Absolutely. G has never been one to even stay the night with his friends, let alone travel halfway across the country. The state seems to have spaced the worst storm surge. Milton hit far enough South of Tampa that the storm’s energy sucked water out of Tampa Bay, rather than bringing it in. There are still millions without power and A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued a man who was left clinging to an ice chest in the Gulf of Mexico. Where G is going is North of Tampa and inland quite a bit. Kat checked with the host of the AirBnB where they’re staying to make sure the facility is still in good shape. It’s going to feel strange around here without G’s presence.

The stats on Hurricane Milton are still coming in; different sources give you different numbers. As far as I can tell, the current body count is twelve, and there were possibly as many as 150 tornadoes. I think the Weather Channel may have some of the best videos of the devastation. There’s no question that between Helene and Milton, the Southeast is going to spend a lot of time and resources trying to put things back together where they can. The Gulf is still exceptionally warm. There aren’t any new depressions on the radar at this moment, but conditions remain for one to pop up at any time.

President Biden told Trump to ‘get a life, man’ and stop storm misinformation. The Orange Felon won’t listen, of course. He never does. I’ve been watching the President carefully this week, though, and as much as I hate to admit it, I’m increasingly of the opinion that his stepping aside and allowing Kamala Harris to take the Democratic nomination was a good move. Watching Biden this week has reminded me too much of the last two years of Reagan’s presidency, where he was little more than a puppet pushed out to stumble through speeches. And the Felon is behaving much the same with slurred speech, difficulty completing sentences, and awkward pauses where pauses don’t belong. We have a constitutionally required minimum age for the president. Perhaps we should have a maximum age as well.

I’m pretty sure almost everyone in North America got a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis last night. How do I know? 90% of you posted your views on social media. Personally, we had too much light pollution to bother taking a picture. I could see a faint hint of pink in the sky, but that was about it. Still, this was the highest coverage across North America I can remember.

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize goes to Nihon Hidankyo, a group of survivors from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki blasts that have worked hard against nuclear proliferation. The group has made sure that the world remains aware of the long-term consequences of nuclear war. We might have thought we were doing the right thing ending WWII this way, but history has proven us wrong. Of course, there are still those who disagree and Vladimir Putin is at the top of that list. I’d rather die slowly and painfully of natural causes, thank you.

Last night was definitely painful. My poor bones were aching to the point that it hurt to have Solaris lying on top of me. I’ve been awake since 4:00 this morning, which means there will be a nap immediately after finishing this post. Sure, I’m drinking plenty of coffee; that’s the only thing that provides a remote sense of coherence to my writing. The caffeine isn’t enough to override the exhaustion I feel after taking my chemo meds, though. I’ll be crashing hard.

BrucePac of Woodburn, OR has issued a recall of five tons of meat and chicken after the FDA found listeria in some of the packages. The recall specifically involves products processed and packed at a plant in Durant, OK, a sleepy city just north of the Texas border. They were produced between June 19 and Oct. 8 and shipped to restaurants, food service vendors, and other sites nationwide. That means you’ll have to just depend on food service managers paying attention to avoid getting tainted food. Good luck with that.

Taylor Swift donated $5 million toward hurricane relief efforts. Ask your local billionaire how much they donated, especially the ones running for office of any kind. Don’t expect a response.

I saw a headline that read, “High food inflation leaves less in lunch boxes of poor school children.” I was halfway through the article before I realized they were talking about India, not the United States. While I was reading, I received a phone alert that the price of Redi-Whip Zero Sugar had dropped. I’m sure whipped cream will solve everyone’s problems, right?

The New York Times is making the argument this morning that viral dances are changing the way women move. It’s an interesting read if you have a couple of minutes. I think women’s movement always changes with the culture, though. When I remember the way my mother walked when she was younger, a very proper but determined step with perfect posture, compared to any generation after hers, there is a marked difference. Does music and dancing influence those changes? Absolutely. But so do fashion, media, and changes in social attitudes. Their study needs a healthy dose of expanded reality.

The twins are making the argument that I’m done typing this morning. As they chase each other back and forth across the keyboard, I’m trying to keep up with the need to delete characters from the middle of words. If you see a misspelling, it’s most likely their fault.

Meanwhile, food, medicine, and coffee are up next.