The bed was crowded this morning. Queen Bit, licking at my hair, woke me five minutes before the alarm. Solaris was on my head. Gabby was in my lap. Frankie, the smashed-face wheezer kitty, was on my feet. Both dogs were at my side, snuggled in close. Kat had Fat Guy and Kronk snuggling with her. Hunger was the only motivator for anyone to move. Once I’m up, the cats know food is coming next.
Once the cats are fed, it’s time to take the dogs out. Hamilton prances impatiently as I get dressed. He doesn’t understand that with a windchill of 0, I need a fleece below the twenty-pound overcoat. Putting on the coat is a little painful this morning. Once we’re outside, though, I’m glad I have it. The wind blows from the Northwest, pushing the fur from the collar onto my face. The ground crunches beneath each step. Hamilton loves the cold and does a couple of quick laps around the yard. Belvedere does what he came to do and then returns to my side, anxious to go back indoors. A gust of wind tries to take the hat off my head.
With the dogs fed and coffee in hand, I sit down and wake up the computer. A number of AP alerts pop up from overnight. Biden pardons 1,500. Time selects a demon as its Person of the Year. North Carolina seals a five-year deal with Bill Belichick. Hannah Kobayashi is found safe. The importance of any story depends on what one has at stake. Are you harmed? Are you threatened? Do you benefit?
A shooter arrested for killing a CEO fights extradition. Is he a hero? Do insurance workers have a reason to be afraid? Opinions try to keep some balance on the highwire of morality. The demonization of insurance companies comes easily. Yet, it is legislatures that deal the most damage. Indiana state code could threaten health coverage for 754,000 Hoosiers. Yes, we are included in that number. The US House passed a defense bill that denies coverage for transgender minors. We have friends who are affected.
Meanwhile, CEOs are tripping. Literally. They’re high as fuck.
If killing one CEO strikes fear into the insurance industry, what might it take to deliver the same level of fear to Congress? We complain about insurance companies, and rightfully so, but the solution of Universal Healthcare has to come from the idiots you elected to Congress and the bunch being seated in January isn’t likely to be cooperative on the subject without some motivation. Is targeted violence an answer? Nothing else has worked. We need to look carefully at the options.
Putting this update together is being complicated and painful. I’m sure I’ve seen a story this morning about rising cancer costs, but I can’t find it. That happens a lot. My head still hurts, focus and memory are shakey at best. I sit here struggling with what to write.
Do I care that more teens are looking at porn? Only to the extent that what they’re watching tends to be more violent. When parents fail to provide honest answers and never have reasonable conversations about sex, then yeah, kids are going to look to porn for that information. Teens have questions but they’re finding adults don’t have answers. Want a better outcome? Provide a better resource.
Totally unrelated to anything, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled that reality TV contestants are technically employees. Yeah, that’s going to affect what we see next year.
If you came here from Facebook, you may want to be aware that Meta, FB’s parent company, donated $1 million to the Felon’s inauguration. Google+, where are you when we need you?
Another alert pops up, this time from the bank. They’re insisting that I need to put $186 in my account to bring the balance to $0. The only thing I can do about that is this: Venmo: @C_I_Letbetter. CashApp: $ciletbetter. Other than that, I’m just screwed until the first of the year.
The animals have all settled down for their morning nap. I need some hot cereal and my meds. That means I should stop typing now.
Is this even useful to anyone? I wonder. Maybe I’m just typing words.
Stop believing everything you read on the Internet. 
Don’t rely on the computer to help you make friends.
Do something you’ve never done before.
Vote the bums out.
Read something longer than a damn list.
Morning Update: 09/23/24
Oversleeping is anxiety-inducing and I have it by the truckloads this morning. After a rough day yesterday that had me dizzy and puking, I slept right through the kids getting up and ready for school. Fortunately, Kat was awake and saw them off without any issue. Still, not only do I feel horrible for having missed them, but I feel as though I have to rush to catch up with the things that need to be done today. That’s silly since there’s nothing overly pressing on my calendar, but that’s the way my brain works.
The kids did have a good weekend. G was a sewing fiend; if you see Kat, she’ll show you his handiwork. Tipper had a movie date to see the new Transformers movie. I was asleep when she got in, though, so I can only assume that it went well. She’s back in school this morning, so we’re hoping that goes well.
Apparently, there were a couple of tornadoes across the state yesterday, but none of them were close to here. I’m not sure we got a quarter of an inch of rain here; it was spotty. There’s more moisture in the atmosphere, though, so we could see some scattered showers this afternoon and more heavy rain tomorrow. Welcome to Autumn.
Since I’m already running late, I won’t linger much over the news this morning. Lebanon says Israeli airstrikes killed at least 100 people and let’s just go ahead and say the war is now regional. Stop pretending that this is merely a defensive maneuver on Israel’s part. We need a cease-fire and we need it now.
This is Banned Books Week and if you’re not putting banned books in the hands of your kids, especially your teens, are you really parenting? New U.S. State Laws Are Fueling a Surge in Book Bans, Reports by Activists Say. If other parents want their kids to grow up to be closed-minded idiots, there’s not much we can do about that. Our kids don’t have to be ignorant, though. Buy the books. Discuss the books. Let them learn.
Congress managed to avoid a shutdown of the government late last night, but there’s no reason to celebrate. This is only a three-month stop-gap bill. Come December, we’ll be having the same conversations again. This is a stupid way to govern. Remember this nonsense when you vote.
The Colts managed to win! Honestly, this was one of the most boring games I’ve seen in quite a while. The fact that the Horse won has less to do with their superior ability and more to do with who made the fewest mistakes. The whole game was sloppy and at this point, I’m pretty sure either team could be beaten by any of the top five college teams. Yeah, it was that bad.
KC pulled out a win over Atlanta, but they’re still not close to playing championship football. The Chiefs simply are not playing up to par. Dare I say that Mahomes is starting to look old? They’re going to have a rough season if they can’t play better than they did yesterday.
Who did play well? The Rams. When I checked in at half-time, I didn’t figure there was any way they’d beat the 49rs. Boy, was I wrong. The second-half highlight reel is nothing short of spectacular. Rams come back and win it, 27-24, in an exhibition that proves they need to be taken seriously.
Have I typed enough for you this morning? I hope so. I’m already starting to feel tired again. The skies are going to be mostly cloudy, so that will make sleeping easier. Maybe I’ll actually wake up on time in the morning.
Let’s see if I can keep breakfast down, though.
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