So, yeah, I’ve been busy. Work is insane and still sucks. My plans to get out and walk daily have been derailed by a heat index of 105 after work. (Air temp 95, but this is Florida and HUMID AF. It’s brutal.) Even for Florida, that’s extreme for mid-June. I can’t imagine what we’ll face in August.
On the plus side: Band Camp is over! I have been relieved of my side gig as The Kid’s driver. She has been dropping hints that she wants me to be her Uber to middle school, but nope, that cannot be. I can do a few days of this, not another school year. I do have a day job, and being her personal driver interrupts the day job and pays Not Jack Shit. She can take the bus with the other kids in the neighborhood.
I’m turning 65 very soon, and apparently I’m getting another bad knee for my birthday. I’ve had issues with my left knee since my thirties (I blame it on a spectacular roller skating crash when I was 9 when I swear my knee nearly turned backward for a second, but I was 9 and was told to walk it off, so that may be unrelated). Two weeks ago I really, really needed a walk, and decided to walk an unofficial 5k in my neighborhood. I wasn’t worried about time, it was just doing the walk after so long. It felt great.
I woke up the next morning with a pissed off right kneecap. Nowhere near as dramatic as the left knee issue when it gets mad and I can’t even put any weight on it. (My Bad Knee was totally fine with the long walk, WTF?) but yeah, my previously happy and well behaved right knee decided to stiffen up and hate stairs for over a week.
This morning I decided to test it, and went for a 30 minute, didn’t even look at my pace or distance walk. Both knees feel better. Now that I’m no longer the Band Camp Uber Driver I plan to get out every morning and do 30 minutes of Just Walking. I need it.
So, do you want an opinion or rant about the latest indictment of the Orange Shitbag? It will all unfold in time. The Republican Party is hopelessly broken, which is a more immediate issue. Let’s not tiptoe around the subject and say, “this Congress,” or “these MAGA Republicans,” because seriously, they’re not the fringe, they’re the leadership. If sane Republicans existed in this Congress they could shut this crazy shit down by standing up. They aren’t standing up.
So then we have to ask, “How did all of these crazy fascist Republicans get into Congress?” Republican voters voted for them.
I hope at least some of them are regretting their catastrophically bad judgment, and I’m not suggesting public shaming (though in some cases I do think it’s warranted). But let’s not pretend that these crazies weren’t voted into office, and NOT by “Both Sides.” We have a major problem with one of our two parties that has abandoned every principle they at least gave lip service to, like, oh “the Constitution,” and “small government,” and “the rule of law.” I’m old enough to remember when that was what they claimed to be. I’m also old enough to know that was bullshit even 50 years ago.
We are definitely living in interesting times.
Stay hydrated, eat right, get sleep if you can (do as I say, not as I do). Go for a walk. Read escapist books, make things. It’s hard to keep a balance between staying informed and staying sane, but we absolutely have to do this now.
Whee, that was a fun blog update! Did you miss me?
Why yes, I do indeed miss you when you are gone. I dont always comment, but I do read. Walking does keep the knees lubricated, but I sympathize with how difficult it is in heat and humidity. I dont do well in those conditions either. I hope you have a good birthday.
I did miss you! Your snark gives hope to the tired and discouraged. You keep writing, I’ll keep reading!
People not voting definitely is the problem. All the cliches are kinda true: Democrats have to fall in love, Republicans just fall in line. Here in FL in 2020 we had a competent but uninspiring candidate in Charlie Crist on the Dem side. People just went meh. Even I went meh, though I was confident he’d do a competent job and was a “fine” choice, and I of course voted for him. But the Rs would turn out for Satan himself if that was “their” candidate, and they proved it.
Hello, and yes I have indeed missed you!! Sometimes I wish you lived around the corner from me so I could visit with you in person– except I don’t want to live in FL– between the politics and the weather (not that it is always so great here in Va, mind you…) Hope you find a way to enjoy your birthday and keep up those walks!! (That is what I tell myself too… *sigh*)
I did miss you! I kept checking in. I’ll hold out hope that you’ll rant even more and show off that cute pup and scenery from the walks. Because, hey, why not??
We’ve just hit the hot weather here in NM, so it’s morning walk or not at all. You’re doing better than me. More, please? Because if you can’t live vicariously via your friends, what the hell else are you gonna do in these end times? 😉
xo.
Wait, I’ve missed something, when did you move to NM? I feel like I asked this before somehow, but I don’t remember the answer. Burnout is definitely catching up with me. Yes, it’s definitely a morning walk or none, it’s 7 pm and my phone reports that the “feels like” temp is a balmy 98. It cools off to 90 just in time for the attack mosquitoes.
I moved here in January of 2022. Fed up with red state Utah. With the passing of my mom in September 2021, there was no longer any reason to stay. I had moved her to Utah from Florida in June 2021 and was loathe to move her again.
It’s lovely here but the heat came early (normally comes at the end of July) and we have no A/C since we are off grid. We’ll have a solar-friendly mini-split (A/C & heat) unit one day but this is not that day.
It was 94 degrees inside my house at 10 pm last night. Ugh. We inherited an unfinished shipping container house and are finishing it. But who the hell wants to live in a metal box in the desert?? We’ll eventually build a straw bale/cob house on the same property but that’s in the future.
Buying shades and hardware today. Wish me luck. And sing it with me, “But it’s a DRY heat!” hah.
Glad you are walking, I’ve been doing that also. Sorry about your knees, sometimes I have problems but not all that often. I do have one comment about the GQP and Congress – I still think part of the problem is people not voting. Personally I don’t understand the not voting it makes no sense.
Hope the pets are all well, no mention of them?