Our Mascot

This is our mascot, Roboguy. He hung out for a long while on the corner of 18th and Oak, just down the street from the Busy Bee Cafe, until he decided to come over and be my blog muse. Roboguy is not powered by AI, but instead has a genetically modified chipmunk brain installed in his stainless steel cranial cavity. The host chipmunk's name was Colin.  While Roboguy was originally designed to be an efficient, high-tech killing machine, part of Colin's psyche was apparently retained in the brain transfer, leading, ultimately, to Roboguy's problematic and ofttimes dysfunctional, people-pleasing behavior. 

The Cyclical Nature of Humans and Planetary movement

 Happy solstice, everyone!  This is the day that, despite your or anyone's religious, cultural or political affiliations, its raison d'etre remains the inevitable clockwork movements of the Cosmos. Congress cannot shut it down, or control it by moving it sooner or later, or render it irrelevant. Each and every human being on our planet can only experience it and note its passing. I find it humbling that this simple mechanism is so profound -- as life evolved, starting with the very first multi-cellular life forms, it has experienced this rhythmic day/night pulse and its variations that are punctuated by the solstices.  Enjoy the day and the season with any celebrations or traditions you deem most appropriate and satisfying, know that you are not alone, and brace yourself, those of you in the northern hemisphere, for the whiplash of winter weather yet to come. (There is hope. It will pass.) 

Now, as my neglected blog is at this point a vast, unfilled container for mundane trivia, I proceed:

I'm in Kansas City. Yesterday the Chiefs football organization posted a description and picture of Mahomes, our quarterback's clothing and accessories as he entered the stadium for the game. A white puffy jacket, black T, black pants, gold chain, whatever, with the caption, "Ice cold, QB 1."  OK, OK, I get it, but . . . just throw the ball, dude.

Don't I feel stupid. About three days ago I started thinking about an Internet friend from way back, someone with whom I've corresponded in the past, and thought I would try to re-connect with them. I did so in a casual email--a Christmas greeting and a general query about everyone's well-being. I got no response, but I'm not too upset. It's been that long ago.  But two days later in a conversation with someone about the Internet in general I said I get emails from people who never write to me with very generic messages in them like, "I thought you would recognize the people in this picture!" along with a long, weird looking link. It's phishing, I always think, and never respond. Then I thought, damn, that's what my email to my old Internet acquaintance must have looked like, because I didn't include anything specific in the body of the text. Duh. 

Then, unrelated, yesterday I got a strange text. It said, I know this is going to sound strange, but are you the XXX XXXXXX who lived in the old house on Liberty Street?  Well, I am, but that was 44 years ago. The text continued: if you are, please contact me! 

I was immediately suspicious, but curious.  I googled the phone number and saw it connected to someone with the last name the same as the buyer of the old house when I sold it back then. Further googling connected the first name the texter gave me. I pondered for awhile and figured, I gotta respond just to find out what this is about. I'll be careful!  

Turns out it was the buyer of my house, still living there after all these years, and she only wanted to ask me what I knew about the history of the house. We had a pleasant 15 minute phone call, gossiped about the neighbors (still there on either side) and the call ended with an invitation for me to come by and see the place any time. 

So, I was glad I overcame my natural paranoia, and my faith in people is somewhat restored, if only provisionally. 

And around we go. 

New Amazon Feature! (yay)

 It's something called "Rufus." Too cute, right? I found the link on the Amazon home page.  It said, simply, "Rufus." I was curious, and I clicked on it. A little window appeared with the following text in it:

Hi, I'm Rufus!

You can ask me all your shopping questions. My answers are powered by AI, so I may not always get things right. Learn more

(Emphasis mine.)

Where do I sign up?? I want to be able to ask questions knowing the answers may not be right. I'm tired of knowing stuff. This is huge!  And I want to know when Rufus will branch out into other segments of our lives. 

Sunset Over the Wide Missouri

 No pithy observations, nor acerbic commentary. This is the view out my west-facing window. We're very lucky to get to see a brand new sunset every night, even though it's the same old river. 

It's deceptive. Where you can see the river,
it's about a quarter-mile wide. 

Re-set of Sorts

I've been getting repeated reports of my blog's inability to allow visitors to comment. I SWEAR I have all the setting set to allow anybody to comment. "It's a GLITCH, a TECHNICAL MALFUNCTION!" -(Gus Grissom after the hatch blew and the capsule sank to the bottom of the ocean.)  

Having tried all sorts of things, I decided to change templates. They can be very sensitive and problematic, I know. Fingers crossed. 

Update on the weather here in Kansas City, which is in Missouri: summer heat and humidity has slacked off somewhat, and the forecast for the foreseeable future promises lower high temps and a more reasonable dew point, which is the measure of how big the puddle of water around your ice tea glass gets.

Furthermore, we are looking at cars. We have a 12-year-old car now which, while in good condition, is starting to show its age, plus it doesn't have a backup camera, and it's difficult to get in and out of, speaking of showing age. We're looking for a small SUV, just for the ease of use, ingress and egress, plus backup camera and a higher eye-point. Candidates so far: Toyota Rav4, Subaru Crosstrek, BMW X1, Ford Escape. 

Well, I drove an Escape yesterday, and what a piece of junk. A brand new car that was noisy, difficult to maneuver, and with a weak 3-cylinder engine with a quirky turbocharger. This thing would be hazardous to drive simply because of the hesitant and slow acceleration. 

The problem is that the car we have currently is a BMW 328i, which is pretty much a high-performance sports car. I've said before it's the best handling car I've ever driven, and possibly the fastest with the exception of a couple of motorcycles. I'm no hot-rodder, though you might say I used to be. I just recognize a good car when I see it, and the fact that sometimes the best escape strategy in dicey traffic situations on the Interstate is straight ahead. In fact, I kind of hate the idea of getting rid of the BMW, even though logic tells me to do so. 

The most exciting thing right now is our potential move from the Midwest to the San Francisco Bay Area. It sounds illogical, you say.  You may be right, but we have no ties here and no reason to stick around, and we are both getting tired of the crappy weather, not to mention the political and ideological strain.  How shall I put this?  No; never mind. Anyway, planning stages right now, so no hard commitments at this point. I'm excited at the prospect of returning to my old stomping grounds; we're zeroing in on a town of which I have many positive memories. I informed my son of the plan and he responded in his typical Yogi Berra fashion with, "That's great. This may be your last chance to be where you are." 

Really?

ID rejected by Facebook

1. You must send two non-government IDs.
2. Anything that you send us must include your name.
3. At least 1 of the 2 documents should include your date of birth and/or photo.
4. The name on the items that you send must be the same name that you want to show on your profile.

Two days ago I tried to reinstate my Facebook account since so many things are using it now and having an account makes it easier to get information. Got a bunch cryptic emails saying that I have to go through an appeals process. Not sure why that.  I had an account once and I deleted it. 

I have given up. The text, above, is from the FAQ. I ask again: who do they think they are? 

Campaign Strategies

 What is it with Republicans and cats? 

Discuss.