Destruction & Denial.
Playing around and engaging in meaningless rhetoric isn’t on my agenda today. There’s no point in it. Los Angeles is on fire, whipped up by record-setting winds. The rest of the country is freezing. We still have just as much snow on the ground as we did on Monday. Residential roads still have not been plowed because DPW crews are still having to address dangerous conditions on main roads. There’s no reason to engage in nonsense or frivolity.
I’m keeping the kids home today. I obviously can’t drive them in and it’s too damn cold for them to be standing out in the snow waiting on a city bus. They both have their school laptops. We’ll treat it like an e-learning day. They were both soaking wet and covered in snow after walking home from the bus stop yesterday. There’s no need to repeat that.
In fact, there’s a lot that doesn’t bear repeating. As we return to the ridiculous rantings of a President who fails to engage his brain before speaking (causing many to wonder if he has one at all), the most effective response is no response. One doesn’t take seriously the rantings of a madman. Don’t give his words oxygen. He doesn’t have a fraction of the authority he thinks he has. His rhetoric is meant to cause chaos. Don’t give in.
Disengage. Don’t spread political memes. Don’t share the articles. Don’t participate in the chaos. Focus on you and your family.
I am not well. I have scratches and bruises I can’t explain. Kat says I’m getting up numerous times during the night and I have no memory of doing so. My walking grows increasingly unstable. We have food, but I’m unable to work in the kitchen to cook it. My head spins as this headache continues into its ninth week.
There is no help coming. I called the insurance company yesterday. I’m number 6, 726 on the list for consideration for a Medicaid waiver that could get me into an assisted living facility. The insurance rep was not encouraging, saying that they’re anticipating rule changes at the very least before they can get even a quarter of the way through the list.
I’m on my own. The quiet of the kids being gone yesterday removed any sense of structure to my day. Did I eat anything? The near-empty bag of popcorn on my desk tells me that I did, but I have no memory of fixing it. Did I take my meds? My pill bottles were in a different position this morning, so I assume that I did.
The temperature outside has dropped seven degrees since I started typing an hour ago. I suppose someone might send us pizza or cheeseburgers, but I’m not holding my breath.
I exist, but I am nothing but a shell.
A shell that drinks coffee.
There’s Someone In Your Life Who Needs The Insurance Money
You’re Starving While Searching For Non-GMO Food
When The Polar Ice Cap Melts, You’ll Drown
You Drive Like A Moron
The Elevator Cable Broke
You Share Needles
You Weren’t Immunized
You Left The Oven On
Elves
Morning Update: 07/02/24
Hurricane Beryl became the earliest Atlantic storm to reach Category 5 status yesterday as it crossed the Caribbean Islands headed presumably for Mexico. What does that say about the rest of the summer? We’re in for a ride and all scenarios are on the table. Anything could happen. But then, when has that not been the case with this year? Uncertainty defines the first six months of 2024 and if this morning is any indication, it’s not likely to get better any time soon.
Yesterday was largely peaceful and calm. I did get the change of insurance information to my primary care doctor and made a new appointment to catch up on all the fun things I’ve missed, such as the shingles vaccine, kidney disease screening, colon cancer screening, and depression screening. Doesn’t that sound like so much fun? Such are the joys of aging; it’s not so much that your body is falling apart as it is checking to see how much of your body is falling apart at any given time.
This morning started early and that’s going to affect everything else that happens today. It was barely 4:30 this morning when Jack-Jack, the 20+-pound monster of our cat herd, decided that I needed to be up feeding him. I tried convincing him that he was wrong, but after an hour of literal head butting I decided to go ahead and get up and take a shower. All the cats were up and active already, which is never a good thing.
I took a shower, got dressed, and stepped out of the bathroom onto a wet floor. WTF? At first, I assumed that one of the cats must have thrown up because that happens with some frequency. But no, further inspection revealed that Hamilton had decided that he couldn’t wait any longer and he had distributed his urine all the way down the hallway. That had to be cleaned up before the cats could be fed, which didn’t make the cats any happier. And then I had to change socks.
I then went to make coffee only to discover that there were no spoons. There were none in the drawer, none in the sink, and none on the drying rack. That means they’re all in children’s bedrooms where they do not belong. Obviously, that did not stop me from making coffee, but it makes for an unpleasant start to everyone’s morning when Daddy has to yell about spoons in the most 2024 way possible: via text message.
As for yesterday’s SCOTUS decisions, there has been a lot to unpack. I’m concerned that the two less popular decisions are being ignored, especially when one has very strong First Amendment issues attached. I’ll be writing a lot this morning. Stay tuned.
Storms could potentially move in as early as this evening. That’s going to make for a damp holiday, which, in some ways, is probably appropriate. Given the SCOTUS rulings of the past week, our celebrations need some examination.
But that, too, is a separate post. Right now, we need more coffee. Lots and lots more coffee.
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