Random Thoughts and Ponderings

So far, 2018 has stunk.  I don't remember a year that started off so poorly:  Two cars lost within two days, with one needing to be replaced; one broken toe; one crown loosened; business suits held captive since before Christmas by the dry cleaner because it lacks the staff to get things done; and news today that a dear friend has pancreatic cancer, but needs heart surgery before they treat the cancer.

Is it 2019 yet?

So in an attempt to distract from all the doom and gloom, here are random thoughts and ponderings:

--  This summer as I drove back from court on the other side of the state, I heard an ad for Wendy's offering for fifty cents a small Wendy's Frosty.  The thing that struck me was that the offer was limited to people in the continental United States -- the lower 48 -- but not available in Hawaii or Alaska.  One can question whether Frosty's are popular in Alaska -- this was during the summer -- but what about those two states excludes them from these promotions?  Wendy's isn't the only outfit that excludes them.  Can't they get the ingredients there in sufficient quantities?  Are there special trade restrictions? 

--  The Super Bowl is in a couple of weeks.  Typically, Karen and I go to a movie.  But we've been so disgusted by Hollywood's treatment of the President that we're not planning on going to a movie this year.  At least I don't think we are.  So what should we do?  And don't say home repairs, because...

--...last weekend we nearly killed ourselves doing home repairs.  We have a couple of more things to do, but I've been promised that we're resting this weekend.

--  I find the hysteria over the President's injudicious comment about certain countries entertaining.  On the one hand, it was perhaps uncouth, but when one is in a closed-door meeting with other legislators, a certain degree of privacy should be expected.  Even so, it's not the worst comment ever made, and there's truth behind it.  Still funnier is the explanation for the hysteria:  We shouldn't denigrate these people (he didn't; he denigrated the countries from which they come) because they're fleeing horrible circumstances.  Um, that's the point.  One genius even tried to defend the hysteria by saying that the President is obviously racist because he lumped the entire continent of Africa in one bucket, while there are very good countries like South Africa (very biracial), Egypt (largely Arabic) and Morocco (again, largely Arabic) on the continent.

--  Funnier still is the handwringing over the announcement of President Trump's physical.  The reactions range from incredulous to mocking.  Unless the POTUS is on his deathbed, I don't care.

--  Keep an eye out for more condemnation from the Brits about the Republic of Ireland and the border between the Republic and the Six Counties.  Tensions are mounting, largely because of the disaffected Protestant community in the Counties.

--  Why is it that certain groups with whom people have a problem are labeled as hate groups while others, with whom these same people agree, who do worse than the alleged hate groups, are not labeled as such?

--  I'm fully supportive of women being able to work without being harassed, and I'm fully supportive of equal pay for equal work, and I applaud the bravery of women who have come forward to accuse their abusers, but I hope as a society we're ready to hit back when false accusations surface.  There are other examples -- the UVA frat rape story in The Rolling Stone, for example, or the Duke lacrosse team members -- where false accusations have ruined men's lives.  I don't care much for Matt Damon, but he does have a point, however ill-timed.

--  So there's a conservative movement afoot in California to split the state in two, divorcing the coastal liberal section from the rural conservative section.  I'm not sure that this will be politically possible.  Better to wait for the big one to take the coast and its liberals awy.

--  Both Hawaii and Japan has false alerts about incoming ICBM's within the last week.  I say it's too unusual to be coincidence for human error to have occurred.  North Korea may be trying some white noise to decrease the efficiency of our alert system, or trying to see how quickly it reacts.  Expect more false alerts in the near future.

--  I think Ellen DeGeneres can be very generous, but she can be cruel in the search for humor.  Her new game show has funny moments, but she apparently has the dumbest audiences I've ever seen.  And they all scream.  All of 'em.

--  Why would anyone in his right mind elect this Manning person to be a United States Senator?

--  My wife makes the best shepherd pie.

--  I deleted a friend from Facebook after announcing that I would distance myself from anyone who engaged in political name-calling.  She posted a meme that likened Trump supporters to jock straps.  I don't think she even notices I unfriended her.  Bumping into her in town might be interesting.

(c) 2018 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles