Category: Uncategorized

Thompson Twins: Into The Gap (1984)

…and others I simply do not. Buck and Eddie from 9-1-1, yes. The attraction and the chemistry is obviously there even if the writers never go in that direction. But Robbie and Whitaker? I don’t see that at all; just a lot of wishful thinking on the part of fangirls. But I do enjoy the fangirl artwork…

BTW, if you aren’t watching The Pitt, you should be…it’s damn good television.

The surgery went exceedingly well by all accounts. Thank you all for your well wishes; they are appreciated! No, I will not be posting pictures of the aftermath. (It’s gnarly.) But hey, I came through it and quite surprisingly, there’s been no pain that plain old Tylenol hasn’t knocked down completely.

That was the first surprise considering what they had to do to access the tumor. The second surprise was that they were planning on discharging me nearly five days ahead of what I’d been planning for.  So now, instead of going home next Saturday, I’ll be out on Tuesday—assuming there are no complications within the next 48 hours. The final surprise—one that brought tears to my eyes—came after they transferred me out of the ICU and gave me a speaking valve for my trachestomy tube: I could still talk! Yeah, I sound like I have a mouth full of marbles, but I’m still quite legible! Once all the swelling goes down I’m expecting a full recovery to the voice I was left with after my first match with cancer 22 years ago.

My care team at every stage has been exemplary; the only regret I have is that when I get the eventual survey in the mail regarding my care I won’t have their names to call out specifically for the outstanding service that was provided.

So that’s where we stand this early Sunday morning. I still have more tubes and wires attached to me than I care to document, so typing is slow and getting out of bed requires a small army for assistance, but as I told my hunky bearish nurse (thanks, Myrtle Mary!) this morning, “It’s still better than the alternative.” Most everything is supposed to be disconnected tomorrow, and that will make my last day in the hospital so much easier.

Ben has been visiting every day—despite suffering a detached retina after I went into surgery on Tuesday and his subsequent surgery/followup. It doesn’t rain but it pours. WTF is going on in our reality anyway?

I have to say the thing that has hurt the most over the past week is being away from the dogs. I’m still surprised how quickly Sophie and I bonded, and I’m thankful we have doggie cams set up at the house so I can at least see her. Ben said she and Raffi are still faithfully watching for my return—and I expect Sophie especially to jump out of her skin when i walk through the front doorl

Giorgio Moroder: From Here To Eternity (1977)

The moment I get out of the shower, Raffi is there, tail wagging because the first thing we do is go get coffee (or in his case, a pup cup). BUT HE’S NOT SPOILED!

Donna Summer: Bad Girls (1979)

(Stolen from Blobby)

 

The Economist:

On economics Mr Trump’s assertions are flat-out nonsense. The president says tariffs are needed to close America’s trade deficit, which he sees as a transfer of wealth to foreigners. Yet as any of the president’s economists could have told him, this overall deficit arises because Americans choose to save less than their country invests — and, crucially, this long-running reality has not stopped its economy from outpacing the rest of the g7 for over three decades. There is no reason why his extra tariffs should eliminate the deficit. Insisting on balanced trade with every trading partner individually is bonkers — like suggesting that Texas would be richer if it insisted on balanced trade with each of the other 49 states, or asking a company to ensure that each of its suppliers is also a customer.

And Mr Trump’s grasp of the technicalities was pathetic. He suggested that the new tariffs were based on an assessment of a country’s tariffs against America, plus currency manipulation and other supposed distortions, such as value-added tax. But it looks as if officials set the tariffs using a formula that takes America’s bilateral trade deficit as a share of goods imported from each country and halves it — which is almost as random as taxing you on the number of vowels in your name.

There is no way to report on these tariffs in a way that is honest and accurate without describing them as bonkers and nonsensical. News publications that are trying to present them as rational, or describing them as “reciprocal” just because that’s the word the White House is using, are beclowning themselves.

Der Füher Cry Baby is so unhappy with this portrait in the Colorado State Capitol Building, that he whined about it. Let’s hope the image doesn’t get re-posted everywhere…

[Thanks, Rick!]