Daynotes On A Budget, V6.0

I don't personally know a lot of doctors.  I know a few.  Most of them are incredibly intelligent people.  At least when it comes to health care.  Scott Jensen is someone whom I do not know, but I've come to learn that he might be a bit light on the brain department.  And his running mate, former Viking Matt Birk, might want to do something else, other than playing football without a helmet. Jensen is one of those people who wants to live in a world where reality doesn't mean a whole lot.  Sure, I'd love lower taxes.  But I also like living in a state where we have lower taxes thanks to the employers and companies who have made their headquarters here.  Which is kind of a big deal.  Jensen seems to be one of those fools who believes that lower taxes are always good.  In his case, he's got his sights set on the state income tax.  Because, you know, it takes money from the mouths of his children.  Oh, wait.  He's got plenty ...

Of late I find an awful lot of headlines and articles about Kanye West. And I have been aware, for some time, of his issues with mental health. So I don't suppose it's all that surprising.  I do understand that some folks very literally see all publicity as good.  There are those who seek to promote themselves, their work, gain attention, and seem to suffer a fair amount if they aren't the subject of attention, gossip, and ... well, in some cases, just plain old "WTF?"   Kanye West appears to be one of those sorts.  I do understand he is trying to promote himself, his work, and get some new contracts to replace those which have let him go.  But I do not think that the best way to go about that is to let folks know he admired one of the worst mass murders in history .  Let me speak plainly.  I do think it is a good idea that we study what Hitler did.  How he rose to power, what he did while in power, and how he was brought down.  And more...

Well, I did write something yesterday, apparently Blogger felt it wasn't worthy of seeing the light of day until today. But last night another political Ad started me thinking.  I guess the bottom line is that most of the political candidates from a certain party have decided that facts and reality bear little weight upon their anger, and thus they wish to lash out at someone - anyone - else. So while I expect this is probably of interest to no one, maybe you'll see a parallel to what's going on in your neck of the woods. Locally, our governor, Tim Walz, was a high school teacher before he ran for Congress, served there for a few years, then came back home to the state house, to run the State.  Mr. Walz is something of a true oddity.  He spent many years serving in the Army Reserve, before he retired, but while he was doing that, he was also a teacher.  Then he ran for office - as a - hold your breath - Democrat.  Yup, that's right.  A military veteran who ...

That is, I suppose, assuming some of these folks do. I noted with a fair amount of disgust that this Kanye West fellow is supposedly changing his name again, but due to his desire for attention, I doubt it will save him from the fallout of his recent behavior .  Mind you, that's the second incident which hit the news here locally, because earlier, this ... individual also said that it was his allegedly considered, educated opinion that George Floyd's death was due to fentanyl , not a knee on the man's neck. Mind you, I suppose this fellow's opinion of me might be rather low considering the fact that I'm absolutely willing to leave judgements on things like cause of death in the hands of individuals who have had sufficient medical training and certification to review the situation and determine the cause based on evidence, rather than heresay and wishful thinking.  But then again, I am in the habit of bloviating all over the internet on things that I know next to not...

I'm not naive, but I do think that the Supreme Court's decision to remove any controls over where the money comes from in political campaigns was definitely a mistake.  Granted, so many of those on that Court right now are there thanks to downright dishonesty, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. But one wonders if the flow of money into the various campaign arms of the Republican Party include some from old Vladie Putin, that party animal who doesn't know history or seem to understand global politics.  Because I mean invading a smaller country based on a bald-faced lie because he needs the space, well, let's see.  Didn't work so well for Hitler, so I would think someone who was aware of fairly recent history would be ... well, a little smarter. Putin isn't.  Mostly, I suppose my biggest clue was in his suggesting that the Jewish leader of this other country was a Nazi.  I do believe there is an internet rule which is pretty clear about "invoke 'N...

 Well, there's one I didn't see coming on a Friday afternoon. I am fairly insulated these days when it comes to news.  I check the CNN web site several times a day for news.  It is not my only source.  I check two local television stations, the local newspaper, and keep my eyes open.  I look at television news occasionally.  Most of the time I try to catch the local news, but overall, I expect I'm at least reasonably well informed.   I'm not plugged in all day.  During my working hours, I do have a television going.  It's behind me, and tuned to one of the all-music channels offered by my cable system.  It provides light background noise, covering the creaks and cracks of the house around me (and me, moreso, these days), but it is not distracting.  I don't need it.  I have enough to focus on, I need to pay attention. But today, reviewing the CNN site, I found this article .  And there are a few concerns which I have....

Well, that's me, I suppose.   I've been puttering about in the garage recently due to a number of ... upcoming events. Let's see.  Might as well start at the beginning.  Not that far back, which my kids would insist is just prior to the invention of "sand" which preceded dirt, because, ya know, before you have dirt, which includes organic compounds, first we had to turn large rocks into small rocks.  By the usual human-powered method, that is, you smack things that annoy you with rocks.  And while, back in the dark ages, that was typically another person, these days we're a bit more advanced, and rely on medication to reduce the overall annoyed gene. But moving forward a few dozen steps, I was enjoying the possibility of coming into four years of employment history with my current employer this past spring when the freight train of "whoops, layoffs" came roaring through.  The division I work for in a rather large (as in Fortune 100, give or take a ze...

Yup, that's what he said.   Today, my son and I hauled our good outdoor furniture down to the storage locker, where we swapped some of our Indoor and outdoor Christmas decorations for the furniture.  The giant box I built last spring to store the tree - out of 1/4" plywood and 2x2s, there, Dad, I didn't overbuild, so we got that part done.  The hoses were drained and reeled up, I need to get another hose next spring, and make it a good one, but that's pretty much that.  I will most likely get a couple more tanks of propane and use the grill over the winter a few times, for fun, but that's the end of the summer fun. And as I fully expect the full-throat whiners to whip up shortly, I'm always amused by the folks in southern states wailing on about how cruel daylight savings time is every year.  Oh, grow up, you feeble children. Yeah, I mean to be that dismissive, but here we go.  Cities June 21 Sunrise June 21 Sunset Light Hours Dec 21...

Over the past few weeks/weekends, I've been spending time in the garage making things with my hands.  Yeah, I know, how boring for you.  \ But I keep a radio going.  I guess it's a family tradition.  I remember playing in the front yard of the first house I remember, with Dad in the Garage.  I was playing in the driveway, in the yard, or anywhere nearby, Dad was working in the garage on things, and the radio - tuned to an AM station playing Minnesota Twins games, was usually going.   So I've kept my garage radio tuned to the local "Adult Classic Rock" station.  Before you start on me about a lack of changing my music, I like what I like.  I really haven't heard any decent music on the radio since the mid 90s, I would guess, and while I'm sure there are some few groups still turning out good old rock and roll, I have to admit that I am not much of a fan of Rap, Hip-Hop, or whatever it is they're playing now when the cars go past.  Due to ...

Yeah, there are those days where you find yourself wishing you could stay on vacation for a few more years.  The nice part would be not having to follow a schedule, just the ability to do what you want.  The down side to that would be, short of a winning lottery ticket, the down side of wishing to live indoors, eat food which you haven't had to raise and kill whether or not it's in-season, and the desire to remain part of the 21st Century, such as it is.  You know, wonderful modern conveniences such as the internet, electricity, heating and cooling, running water, indoor plumbing, etc. So there's that.  And then there's the "I return from vacation to my new job" day. Which wasn't what I expected.  Yeah, you know.  I did not see this one coming, either. But there I was, looking at the previously defined schedule, and noticing they wanted me to start at 8 am.  Was that 8 am my time zone, 8 am Pacific Time, or 8 am Eastern?  Gulp.  Brain kicked ...

 Okay, it's over, but just in case this is useful, here goes. First up, on getting to the grounds, I will say that, short of the discovery of the "back entrance" some 25 years ago, I discovered, last weekend, the very best way to get to the grounds.  MVTA - AKA The Metro Bus. The main reason we chose to take the bus was time - though there were a number of warnings that other entrance methods for the Renaissance Festival Grounds, INCLUDING the country roads, would be closed.  I didn't want to push it and experience what they meant, so we hit the bus. First up, they have one pickup spot.  It's south of 169 on the Marschall Road exit.  Get off 169, head south on Marschall road to the first stop light.  Take a right, follow the road down to the first street, another right, then follow the road to the very end.  It's a Park-and-Ride lot.   On this last weekend, we determined we would be best off taking that route.  However, the stupid move was ta...