12 of 12

 So I'm doing my 127th 12 of 12.

Normally it is 12 pictures taken on the 12th of the month. Since I only post once per day, you get my images the following day. All pictures taken with my iPhone. Click images to enlarge, if you choose.

Created by Chad Darnell and picked up from, what I can tell, any number of random bloggers who then link back to him and vice versa. Chad is no longer doing this, nor is successor coordinating the linking of other 12 of 12'ers anymore. Now it's just myself - of which I know.   

05:12.  Purple Haze. 

This happens a few times per year - as I found out a few years back. A hydroponic nursery has their lights going. But a cloud layer has to be just so for it to reflect off of them. One must get up early to see this. 

05:36.  Doing Dishes.

......at 5:30 in the morning. There weren't a lot, but I couldn't start my day without taking care of them. 

06:08.  Brace going on. 

New brace. Different leg. I didn't even fall or anything. But turns out I have a quad tendon injury. It was painful - and assume it's just age-related? 

06:34.  Arriving at work. 

07:57.  Glass cleaning. 

A boy has to see. 

10:11.  New business arriving. 

12:33.  Buffalo Chicken Salad. 

I didn't pack. I should have. It wasn't great, but not horrible either. 

14:47.  Water swap out. 

I find it extremely satisfying to put in the new jug o'water. 

16:42.  Isolation Mask. 

We can only wear these at work now. No more cloth masks - which aren't as effective as these. 

I don't have to wear one in my office when I'm there alone. 

17:36.  Dog walk around the lake. 

Trying to beat sun down - we lost. But lots and lots of ducks or geese. 

17:55.  Dinner.  Don't ask. 

21:12.  Schitt's Creek. 

Yes, we're late to the party, but we're watching. 

There you have it.  127 in the bag.

Dictator

I'd say IF I were a conspiracy theorist - but I'm beginning to think I might be. It might no longer be an "if". 

I never ever ever ever expected BLOTUS to concede the election. He's not the kind of person who can ever admit they failed, make a mistake or even apologize. To him, that's a weakness. 

And if you dare scroll through the last four years of my post, for at least 3.5 of them, you'll find me talking about his trek to dictatorship. 

It's possible he's about there. 

A failed re-election bid. Barr inserting himself and the DoJ looking into voting irregularities (though none have been found). A fired Secretary of Defense. The deputy chief of staff to the undersecretary of defense for policy: gone. 

“The president is taking back control of DOD. It’s a rebirth of foreign policy. This is Trump foreign policy,” said the official, who spoke anonymously and without authorization., said an anonymous DoD source. 

Control. Of the DoD. Two months before he would have zero control. 

Oh - and he installed a "temp" head (you know, so he doesn't have to get congressional approval) of a man who called Obama a "terrorist leader".   So.................this is going to go well. 

While I have been predicting this for sometime, it's kind of fucked up to watch this potentially happening in real time. 

Of course, we've seen this happen in many other countries over many different decades, but deep down, at least I thought, "well that can't happen here!",  but the reality should have had me say, "why couldn't it?"

I think we just might see some attempts.  Let's see how silent the GOP remains. 

Song by: the Clash

Site of the Month

 Go ahead.   Click on it. 

LOSER.COM

I triple dog dare you. 

Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps

Dr. Spo said in a comment in last Sunday's post about the election results:  "One of your happiest entries in a long while. :-) "

He's not wrong.  

Still it was kind of like turning a mirror my way, and I wasn't happy with what I saw. I knew it was there, for sure, but you kind of kid yourself that others don't see it AS doom and gloomy. 

2020 has played havoc with so many things, including this blog. While subtitled: 'stuff & nonsense', there has been little of that this year. 

I had seriously contemplated just stopping blogging at the end of this year had BLOTUS won the election. Spo was not wrong the lack of happy entries - and four more years of BLOTUS bullshit would have done me in, so I was going to opt out first. 

For the time being, it seems I have dodged that bullet - and to a lesser extent, so have you. 

Perhaps.

Song by: Cake

My Music Monday

It's been 15 years since Michael Penn has released an album. 

That is a long time for a recording artist. It's been so long that he no longer seems to own his own domain name anymore. Or owns it and took it down. 

Sure, Penn has done some soundtrack work and scoring (the HBO series, Girls comes to mind), but as a full out album - no. 

And that trend seems to keep continuing, as it seems his new song, "Revival" is a one-off, as it doesn't seem he has any other songs on deck to record to make an album. 

It is no accident the song came out a week before the election, as it is veiled about BLOTUS, but not so veiled. The name never comes up. 

Penn can be an interesting songwriter and has some good performances, but this is a 15 year wait for a song it seems he has already sung - music the same (or very similar), different words, eerily familiar arrangement. 

And I'm ok with that, while it's familiar, the music kind of make the lyrics sound "down", but if you listen, they are not - at least not always: 

"Can you hear it comin' / A revival / Oh there's good news comin' 

"Soon you'll be gone / you'll be gone / gone / you'll be gone / you'll be long long gone"

"So you better get ready / better tear down those gods / they were heretics, traitors and dunces  / well, who’d of guessed? / What were the odds? 

....and possibly my second fave of the lyrics:   "When they said you were special / always right, never wrong / and so, clearly it is destiny / that the world is all yours / not for long.

It's good to have Penn semi-back. It's good to have a song about looking forward while still semi-skewering BLOTUS & Co, even if not by name. 

Defeated

 

Four years ago (+ a few days), upon waking up and hearing the new of BLOTUS' win, 710 rolled over and said: "Ride out the Apocalypse with me?"

I'm not quite sure truer words had been spoken in our decades together. We didn't need any of Dionne Warwick's friends to be that prophetic. 

Apocalypse. Indeed. 

MSNBC called the win first.  Who knew?   CNN was close behind.  It took the above NYT to jump on the bandwagon, and even long for the Washington Post. 

Of course, I had to go over to see if Fox had anything to say.  Of course, you know the answer. 

{insert eye roll emoji}

So yes, the last four years have been into the depths of hell. I am not even sure I can comprehend the crazy that is about to come our way, because I don't believe this is over. 

Oh. I believe the election is over and unless the Electoral College thing is a huge fuck-up (and it is 2020, after - the year of the continual fuck-up), I don't worry too much about Pappy Joe not being 46. 

And yes, yesterday I started looking at news. It seemed to be safer, as a win seemed a more 'when' than 'if'. 

Also, I think the 4-5 days of not knowing helped me decompress a bit into whatever the news would be. I think that is why I was peaceful with the news, but not ecstatic. Of course I was happy, but I also know how much work is to be done once the transition has happened.  

So, I think it's really more a sigh of relief than it was of happiness. It's like we can all take a collective breath finally. 

I am also hoping (I know........I know) that this 4-5 decompression time is a thing for the nut-bag GOPers. Maybe it's like the 'cat is stuck on the roof' scenario, so when they get to the 'news', it won't be rootin' tootin' gun shootin' everywhere. 

Wishful thinking? 

My nephew, who lives in Chicago, went downtown to the gathering. He said the streets were impromtu dance floors.  They had raised the bridge over the river making it hard to get to the BLOTUS hotel. 

We looked for a celebration in Cleveburgh, but we came upon none. Sure, there were a few honking horns, but nothing like the parades in DC, Columbus or even P-Town.  I mean, Ohio is solidly in the red, but Cleveland is not. Where was the love?   (I semi take it back........we are just now getting fireworks!)

Like Pappy Joe's record number of votes (~75,000,000) I think it might have been a record day for received texts to my phone.:  family (well some), friends, co-workers, etc. It was nice. 

I do hope the Electoral number goes up past BLOTUS' 2016 count. As he wrongfully said he had the highest electoral count EVER!, it would be HI-larious if Pappy Joe got more. 

I see more tantrums and pardons on the way over the next 73-ish days.  I think I'd spend a year's salary just to watch BLOTUS get dragged out of the White House. 

Bet Pay Per View Event ever!

Song by: Roy Orbison

Comfort

 Pets are a great distraction to the world. 

710 "let" Shep play hooky from daycare TWICE this week. In actuality, he needed Shep near him more than Shep wanted to stay home. I get it. While Shep will never be well behaved enough to be A therapy dog - he's our therapy dog. 

the epitome of comfort. 

Penned in.........and loving it. 

Shep's Halloween photo up at Lake Erie. 

Those back legs and the way he has to sit kills me. 

I could watch Sophie sleep all day long. 

November 6th.  68 degrees.  17:00. 

Song by: Alanis Morissette

Nevada

I haven't quite caved to listening to the news. ....but one hears things. I mean, I am out in the real world during the day. 

For all the ins and outs of what is happening (no worries, the Postmaster General is going to a BLOTUS pardon soon enough), I did have to laugh when it came to a recount in Nevada. 

If any of you have watched Veep, you'll know what I mean. 

Oddly, a few weeks back when friends Becky and Anita and I grabbed two socially distanced beers, we referenced this very scene - though there are actually a number of them regarding the pronunciation. 

Song by: Duke Ellington

Who We Are

I'd like to say "I don't know what to think", but in reality, I've made the conscious decision not to know. 

Here it is, 24 hours since I drafted my last post and I know very little more than I did the prior evening. 

News has not been turned on, at least while I've been home. NPR doesn't play on my XM radio. I've avoided Facebook, the newspaper and people in general. Even yesterday, I went to my secondary office where there are very few people in the building - and I shut and locked my door. 

I have gotten texts here and there, so I know - or think I know - things. 

I have nothing to base this on, but I think - think! - my lack of knowledge and my angst is less stressful than my reading / watching everything and my angst. 

I think these last four years has proved that ignorance is bliss.  All those dumb fucks seems ok with their choices. 

Should, by some weird miracle, Pappy Joe pull out the presidency, it will be by the hair of our chinny chin chins. And without the Senate, he'll be forced to be a do-nothing president, though I firmly approve him doing nothing by writing 2,091 Executive Orders to by-pass those motherfuckers. 

....but I'm getting ahead of myself.......and doing some wishful thinking, which I can't / shouldn't. 

But IF he should win, that hair / chin situation has shown us that roughly 50% of this country is absolutely fine with being and supporting a racist, homophobic, anti-semitic, misogynistic, science-denying liar and thief. 

I would kind of - but just kind of - give it to the voting public that they might not have known ALL of that in 2016, but they do now...........and it didn't matter in the slightest. 

So we, can no longer say, "we're not like that as a country".............because clearly, we are. 

Sure it's a blanket statement, but this is now what our country represents and how it is represented. 

With or without BLOTUS at the helm, this is who we are. We've been unveiled as a country of hate. And to be fair, the haters have made me hate. It's not pretty and I'm not proud of it - but it just is. 

How, or if, we come back from this perception and reality is well beyond me. If it can be rectified, it won't be in my lifetime. I don't think it can be in that amount of time. If ever. 

Song by: Imagine Dragons

Boy in the Bubble

So, I got my assignment - FINALLY - less than 11 hours before I was to report for duty. 

My music post on Monday might have had you believing I had worked the night before the election to set up. I should have edited all of that. I crafted that post a week ago. Ditto with yesterday's. 

But at 05:30 I arrived and Lady of the Lake church basement to help final set up.  Or a lot more, since they didn't do what they were supposed to the night before.  People were lined down the block before 06:00 - polls opening a half hour later - and the manager was calling because the memory sticks weren't there. So we started a few minutes late. 

After moving the heavy stuff - as I was the ONLY male there - I kind of decided to help at the scanners, since no one had given me a job. There was one other woman there.........who almost promptly left to sit down somewhere, leaving me to run / direct all three machines. 

At first I was annoyed - and then I figured she would have gotten in my way, as I early on found a system to keep things moving. 

I would say things were busy up until 1l:00. Then it just kind of petered out. I was surprised. I thought lunch hour would bring a lot.  Nope.  I thought after work would have them out the doors.  Nope. 

We had 2,596 registered voters at this polling station in the system. Only about 1,000-1,100 came through. All but 200 came my way - those other were provisional ballots. So, if you did the math, we had around 40% show rate. I don't know what that means - in terms of good or bad.  It seems bad - especially THIS year. 

I'd say the populations were semi-equally split. Maybe a few percentage points higher for people of colour. I tried not to look at ballots but when people had trouble - and they did have trouble - sometimes you had to. 

Hey - 30 something guy with the dyed absorb-all-light black hair in the Ramones t-shirt: why the fuck are you voting for BLOTUS?  Take that fucking shirt off right now.  NOW!

I kind of / might of got that one person accidentally voted for both Pappy Joe and BLOTUS on the same ballot, but 19?  WTF people?   I finally told one of them, 'when they told you to vote twice they meant two different ballots'. 

The Russian and Ukranian women were voting for BLOTUS. Most of the white men too - I assume. The guy in the Ruger gear (guns), I'm sure was. One of the other poll workers said the local gun store is sold out of bullets, so............yay! We're doomed if BLOTUS wins or loses.  

Over the course of the day I was called Chief, Pal, Sport and the Guy in the White Shirt. 

We only ad one non-masker, which wasn't bad for 1,100-ish people. Ironically (?) she had some semi-bogus Freedom of Speech organization lanyard and t-shirt. This all surprised me, as I assumed it would be contentious with some folks about masks. 

I have to say, the best part of the day was a young mother telling her 2-3 year old son to stop playing his video game and take in what she was doing. She was showing him the importance of her vote. I made sure he got an "I Voted" sticker too. 

It was a fuck of a long day. I barely left the building - barely left my 18 linear feet of space and still clocked more than 16,000 steps. That's kind of fucked up, but I paced.......a lot. 

I opted not to turn on or read the news after my shift. Or anything like it. It will give me angst and I won't sleep. So I but this post to bed not knowing a thing about 'how it's going'.  

Maybe I can make that last a few more hours. 

Song by: Patti Smith

As If Your Life Depends On It

That is plan and simple as I can get this post. 

Today is THE day*. 

I would venture to say that today could be the most important day of our lives. This might surpass burying my parents, buying a house or getting married. 

If you haven't voted yet, and are registered, I cannot urge you enough to go out - regardless of the crowds or the weather. 

Prepare. Take the appropriate clothes, jackets, gloves, umbrella-ella-ellas, what have you.  Bring snacks, apples, cookies, protein bars.  Go easy on the liquids in case you have to wait too long.  You don't want to have to leave just so you can pee. 

I will be working at my assigned polling place, starting at 05:30 (see JP, all this training of getting up early is paying off!) and will be there at least 15 hours - which doesn't include if they opt to keep polling places open later than 19:30.  But still must be here to gather the ballots, shut down the machines - and depending on my role, transport the ballots (along with a republican counterpart) to a tabulating center. 

This will keep me busy the entire day to not wring my hands on how things are going nationwide. 

But seriously........................

..............because it does.  

*with a probable unprecedented number of mail-in / absentee ballots and certain states laws on how they count them, it might be a days before all are completed.  Then, of course, there will be the inevitable lawsuits. So.......it might be a while. 

Song by: Juliana Hatfield

My Music Monday

T-minus one day. 

Well, possibly more than one day. With so many people voting by mail, there is potential it will be a few days before there a winner is declared - at least by the popular vote. 

No idea about the Electoral one. At least, not as I draft this. 

Tonight, I will be at the polling station to which I'm assigned and set up the booths, the printers, download the latest voting records. 

Ya see......since people could vote 'early', and that closes at 18:00 tonight, we will download the newest voting roster of people who haven't yet cast a ballot. 

But while I'd like any - and yes, I mean ANY - supporter to up and die between now and when the polls open tomorrow, I still feel that everyone - and yes, I mean EVERYONE - get the legitimate opportunity to punch through their chad - and not leaving it hanging like Jeffrey Epstein.   .....or Florida circa 2000. 

If everyone truly had the chance to vote, BLOTUS would be out on his ass.  His 244 lb ass. 

But this is where my selection for My Music Monday comes in:  "Power to the People" from Patti Smith. 

The song has got to be 30 years old. I was still in Columbus. (It's 32 years old. I looked it up.). It's not the best song by Smith, but it resonates - and really does 32 years later. 

It's important that people we know have that power. I felt it after the Parkland shooting. I felt it after the death of George Floyd. We're not there yet, but I feel us getting SO MUCH CLOSER.  It's painful. It's ugly. It's soul-crushing. But I feel it's a two-steps forward and one back, especially with this administration and the festering of this country on which he's built his base. 

Yet I have to believe we can prevail. If I bitch here - it's for venting. I hope deep down I still have that flicker that we can be better. We have to be.

If you haven't yet:  VOTE.    To it tomorrow. 

People Get Ready

 Well, we are two full days away from Election Day.  g-d help us all. 

Oddly, I STILL don't have an assignment for work at the polls. WTF.  I'm READY.......oh, and it's TWO DAYS AWAY.  

So today is the final installment of the voter sign series I've been doing. There seems to be no shortage of signs out there. A lot of basic ones (including in our yard), but some more attention getting - and I'm all for that. 

We live in a fairly liberal area, so you're not seeing too much outward support for BLOTUS, but it's there. And at this point, if anyone doesn't have any signage out in and around our 'hood, I'm assuming they are BLOTUS supporters. 

Last week friends Morty and Craig sent me some of their findings. This week, others from this here blog readers have sent in a few as well.  I'm very thankful for those. 

Settle in. I have a few more than I did in the other two.............combined!

While I took this one near work, GregM sent it to me also. 

A street over from us. I loved it. 

Made a U-y when I spotted this. 

Since Pappy Joe WILL be like 78 if he is inaugurated, I'm really kind of voting for Harris anyways. 

To the point. 

Allllllmost alliteration. 

Definitely GregM sent this one. 

It is fucking perfect. 

Go Heights Tigers!

A fuck of a lot more - that's how much. 

A hanger in an alley would be too good of an end for this guy. 

Also sent from Greg M (and one from Morty too!)

A totally doctored sign / photo someone sent me, but I'm allowing it. 

Becky - this around the corner from Anita's place!

German Village - in Columbus, OH.  Thanks Becky for the submission. 

The above two from the same house - as seen on our dog walk yesterday. 

Keeping it large for ya.  Becky captured this down in Columbus and highlighted the less than obvious. 

Fuck the yard sign - they went all billboard in the 216. 

......Ladies........and everyone else. Please. 

Someone's homemade sign in Cleveland Hts. 

...and in Columbus.  via Rebecca. 

Columbus storefront (via Mort) made me laugh. 

Oh, Shaker Hts and their $20 words!

(slow clap)

Fuckin' A.   (also from Shaker Hts)

Scariest Halloween decoration yet! (Shaker Hts)

Hard to argue with this one lately. 

Morty provides this nugget from Columbus

Harder to argue this one. 

And a note for all.  Use it if needed!

Oh - and I took the below in Foggy Bottom (DC) in March of 2018. Believe it or not, I have not used it. And it's the great end for this post!

Song by: the Housemartins