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D-League

Back in the office for first time since minor COVID bout. I forgot how terrible the subway ride can be.

For those unfamiliar with DC, the Metro system is the most screwed up quasi-government system known to man. It's most a make-work jobs program to hire local incompetents to stand around looking lost. The symbol of the whole system is the escalator -- they almost never work and when they go down they not only are out of work for multiple weeks but up and down foot traffic has to cram into the other side while work crews stand around scratching their asses. Can you imagine if the main escalator in Macy's in NYC stopped during Christmas shopping season? They'd have it running in eight minutes. Metro -- eight weeks.

Right now we are riding on trains cobbled together with cars that date back to the 1990s. Why? Because the new, sleek, roomier hugely expensive 7000 cars (paid for by federal taxpayers) have some safety flaw that they haven't been able to fix for TEN months or more. So, the older,smaller cars are packed, the trains break down which backs up the entire line of the system, and so on.

Ah well, no more bitching from me today. Still psyched over the Cats signing Edwards. PRobably the best pure wing of Cal's tenure.

Have a good day folks.


As a "used to be" commuter in this same system explained above for about four years, I will borrow a line from George Foreman (Not that MdW55 needs the input.)........"That's about it!"
 
As a "used to be" commuter in this same system explained above for about four years, I will borrow a line from George Foreman (Not that MdW55 needs the input.)........"That's about it!"
Haha. Thanks BBUK.

Beginning in 1990 or so, I would ride the subway during days I worked in DC, alternating with trips overseas or some national reporting on crime, drugs, scandals, etc.

Any wonder I always preferred to be on the road, even if the "road" led me to Somalia or Bosnia or Colombia or some other tourist attraction? It beat the DC desk job and commute.
 
It is a cloudy 78.1°F on our way to a reasonable 82°. We were bless with a total of .46" of rain yesterday. My lawn has not been mowed for 11 days. I guess by the time I get it mowed I may need a roller!

We are supposed to get some big rain possibly today and tomorrow. I can handle 4" but I hope not to get a frog drowner like this one last year.
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It started raining at 4:00 and is coming down hard with a nice breeze. This is typical for today
 
Back in the office for first time since minor COVID bout. I forgot how terrible the subway ride can be.

For those unfamiliar with DC, the Metro system is the most screwed up quasi-government system known to man. It's most a make-work jobs program to hire local incompetents to stand around looking lost. The symbol of the whole system is the escalator -- they almost never work and when they go down they not only are out of work for multiple weeks but up and down foot traffic has to cram into the other side while work crews stand around scratching their asses. Can you imagine if the main escalator in Macy's in NYC stopped during Christmas shopping season? They'd have it running in eight minutes. Metro -- eight weeks.

Right now we are riding on trains cobbled together with cars that date back to the 1990s. Why? Because the new, sleek, roomier hugely expensive 7000 cars (paid for by federal taxpayers) have some safety flaw that they haven't been able to fix for TEN months or more. So, the older,smaller cars are packed, the trains break down which backs up the entire line of the system, and so on.

Ah well, no more bitching from me today. Still psyched over the Cats signing Edwards. PRobably the best pure wing of Cal's tenure.

Have a good day folks.
I'm laughing but if you're a tourist and you PAY ATTENTION to the subway lines on the MAP provided at each stop, the Metro is a great way to get into DC to do tourist stuff. Just pay attention to the areas the subway goes!!!

With that said, when I lived in DC and people would come in to visit, I would show them how the Metro worked...then I told them, you're on your own because I'm not driving your butt into DC each day.
 
I'm laughing but if you're a tourist and you PAY ATTENTION to the subway lines on the MAP provided at each stop, the Metro is a great way to get into DC to do tourist stuff. Just pay attention to the areas the subway goes!!!
In fairness, that is true CatinIl. It's a cheap, efficient way for people who can ride outside rush hour to get in and out of the city from anywhere in the region, with stops near all the major sites from the Smithsonian to the WH to Arlington Cemetery to the National Archives to the Mall to Capitol Hill and on and on.

I guess in my case it is too much of a good thing - say, an average of 500 rides a year for 30 years, make it 15,000 trips.

I've seen it all on Metro - I've been on two trains where someone leaped in front to commit suicide - once on Halloween. I was on a train where a guy had a heart attack (luckily we were pulling into a station and they actually got him help pretty quick. Don't know if he made it.) I Saw a couple on a train late at night doing a bad job of concealing an oral sex act. My wife was flashed by a pervert one night when she was still a journalist on an otherwise empty train. I've witnessed every sort of weird dress and behavior. Was on a train that got stuck under the Potomac River for about an hour and some claustrophobics were freaking out, I even personally discovered a body of a jumper near a Metro garage late one night. Reported it, waited and gave a statement to cops, then had detectives show up at my house I guess to just be thorough. That was freaky.
 
In fairness, that is true CatinIl. It's a cheap, efficient way for people who can ride outside rush hour to get in and out of the city from anywhere in the region, with stops near all the major sites from the Smithsonian to the WH to Arlington Cemetery to the National Archives to the Mall to Capitol Hill and on and on.

I guess in my case it is too much of a good thing - say, an average of 500 rides a year for 30 years, make it 15,000 trips.

I've seen it all on Metro - I've been on two trains where someone leaped in front to commit suicide - once on Halloween. I was on a train where a guy had a heart attack (luckily we were pulling into a station and they actually got him help pretty quick. Don't know if he made it.) I Saw a couple on a train late at night doing a bad job of concealing an oral sex act. My wife was flashed by a pervert one night when she was still a journalist on an otherwise empty train. I've witnessed every sort of weird dress and behavior. Was on a train that got stuck under the Potomac River for about an hour and some claustrophobics were freaking out, I even personally discovered a body of a jumper near a Metro garage late one night. Reported it, waited and gave a statement to cops, then had detectives show up at my house I guess to just be thorough. That was freaky.
Hey, no kidding. I never took the Metro in or out for work, it was just a tourist line for family that came into visit. That's what I was pointing out. It's great for tourist if they know what they're doing and where they wanted to go.
 
In fairness, that is true CatinIl. It's a cheap, efficient way for people who can ride outside rush hour to get in and out of the city from anywhere in the region, with stops near all the major sites from the Smithsonian to the WH to Arlington Cemetery to the National Archives to the Mall to Capitol Hill and on and on.

I guess in my case it is too much of a good thing - say, an average of 500 rides a year for 30 years, make it 15,000 trips.

I've seen it all on Metro - I've been on two trains where someone leaped in front to commit suicide - once on Halloween. I was on a train where a guy had a heart attack (luckily we were pulling into a station and they actually got him help pretty quick. Don't know if he made it.) I Saw a couple on a train late at night doing a bad job of concealing an oral sex act. My wife was flashed by a pervert one night when she was still a journalist on an otherwise empty train. I've witnessed every sort of weird dress and behavior. Was on a train that got stuck under the Potomac River for about an hour and some claustrophobics were freaking out, I even personally discovered a body of a jumper near a Metro garage late one night. Reported it, waited and gave a statement to cops, then had detectives show up at my house I guess to just be thorough. That was freaky.

I've still got dough on my metro card. Forgot about it. ;)
 
Good morning from ATX. Currently 79°F and clear with periodic clouds. Today's high expected at around 103°F. Sigh, dog days of Texas summer.

Washington DC: My last visit came January, 2013 for a job interview with US State Department. Rode subway from downtown to Reagan National Airport on the way out.

Teacher shortage: huge right now here in Austin area. Many leaving the profession. Apparently districts offering sign-on bonuses.

Happy Hump Day.

Wishing happiness and health for all our fellow D-League members.

EAR4y6WU8AAqXJy
 


Morning Legionnaires!

Well, the saga with my wife's family continues. SIL with her daughters came in Sunday from Florida and neither my wife nor her sister have contacted each other. Have not seen each other in a few years. She came in to help her mother clean out the house that burned and remove what they wanted to keep but, nothing has happened yet. The temp has been triple digits and will be 105° today. I don't know if they have been there yet to see it but if they did, they may have changed their minds whether to salvage anything. 1st two pictures below are of the garage which did not burn and part of the living room which shows all of the cat food bags (some still with food) that was in the house for years. She (MIL) is a hoarder and the quintessential cat lady. Next two pictures are of the burned bedroom and outside of the house. Owners did not have insurance and my MIL told them she will continue to pay rent (she is afraid they will take her to court since she let the house get so bad).

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My wife had years ago offered to have the whole house cleaned out and we would pay to have everything fixed but only if her mother would allow us to get rid of the cats. Nope. She has been paying rent there for over 10 years while not living there. NUTS!
 
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74°Good Morning D

Very little in-store for today and I may take a little time to visit my County Commissioner to discuss the primary election a few weeks away. I am interested in his opinion of certain individuals running for the School Board. He owns a very large gun shop and military surplus store and is very conservative. Since the Parental Rights law was passed the LBQTRSUVWXYXLETSGOBRANDON crowd have decided to flood the elections and attempt to put their people on the school boards. A few names have appeared I am unfamiliar with. I need to know about them.

The alphabet loonies have filed suit in four counties attempting to overthrow the law so kids K-3 can be taught transgender and gender changing and to call each other by stupid pronouns. You have to be on top of what is going on in schools.

Today's weather continues as most July days do. In mid afternoon we have a 50% chance of heavy thunderstorms that blow over and are replaced by sunshine. It is 73° and our high will get up to 88°

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Morning Legionnaires!

Well, the saga with my wife's family continues. SIL with her daughters came in Sunday from Florida and neither my wife nor her sister have contacted each other. Have not seen each other in a few years. She came in to help her mother clean out the house that burned and remove what they wanted to keep but, nothing has happened yet. The temp has been triple digits and will be 105° today. I don't know if they have been there yet to see it yet but if they did, they may have changed their minds whether to salvage anything. 1st two pictures below are of the garage which did not burn and part of the living room which shows all of the cat food bags (some still with food) that was in the house for years. She (MIL) is a hoarder and the quintessential cat lady. Next two pictures are of the burned bedroom and outside of the house. Owners did not have insurance and my MIL told them she will continue to pay rent (she is afraid they will take her to court since she let the house get so bad).

20220725-095105.jpg


20220725-095359.jpg

20220725-095225.jpg

20220725-095203.jpg


My wife had years ago offered to have the whole house cleaned out and we would pay to have everything fixed but only if her mother would allow us to get rid of the cats. Nope. She has been paying rent there for over 10 years while not living there. NUTS!
The only suggestion I would have would be take a bulldozer to it and level the place. I am surprised the fire department attempted to put out the fire. I would have been tempted to just let the whole mess go up in smoke.

I am not qualified to make this statement but to me that looks like someone with a mental illness inhabited this "dwelling".
 
Good morning D-League. Another great day to be breathing the air, feeling the sunshine, seeing the splendor of America, whichever part you are in.

My walk from the subway to my office takes me past some of the Smithsonian Museums and the National Archives. I'm basically walking down Pennsylvania Avenue, looking at the Capitol Building. I don't always appreciate what I'm seeing, but today I did, thinking about the people all the way back to the days of Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, both Roosevelts and so on who have walked the same path.

I hope all you have a good day and stay out of the heat.
 
I'm laughing but if you're a tourist and you PAY ATTENTION to the subway lines on the MAP provided at each stop, the Metro is a great way to get into DC to do tourist stuff. Just pay attention to the areas the subway goes!!!

With that said, when I lived in DC and people would come in to visit, I would show them how the Metro worked...then I told them, you're on your own because I'm not driving your butt into DC each day.
What's for a tourist to see in DC that you can't walk to in 10-15 minutes once you're at the mall area? I mean the idea of going anywhere else there never entered my mind.
 
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Good morning D-League. Another great day to be breathing the air, feeling the sunshine, seeing the splendor of America, whichever part you are in.

My walk from the subway to my office takes me past some of the Smithsonian Museums and the National Archives. I'm basically walking down Pennsylvania Avenue, looking at the Capitol Building. I don't always appreciate what I'm seeing, but today I did, thinking about the people all the way back to the days of Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, both Roosevelts and so on who have walked the same path.

I hope all you have a good day and stay out of the heat.

MdW55,

I was always in awe of that place. (Not the people there but the place and the people who carved out what is this country.) My wish is to never lose the reverent feeling that comes over me when I am there or even think about what it took to start and build on what we have. Founding fathers and then some. It took God's hand to create what was created.🙏 I will stop but I could go on and on and ...


Just a small start of what there is to revere in DC...

Small sampling of sites to see
 
The breakfast of Champions....

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Use this in my coffee along with a crystal or three of sea salt (Thanks again for the tip of the sea salt from a poster in this thread.)

The coffee, made this way, to me is pleasing to drink. (I liked my coffee previously but this way is the best version yet...to me..)

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(Oh, the above version of coconut milk is the only pure version I could find. The rest of the milks I saw that had coconut were blended with something else, like almond milk or oat milk. I am not an organic buyer unless that is all there is.)

My Darling and I did not have a Little Caesar's Pizza last night... A large carryout cheese pizza with light sauce..... We did not............. well....
 
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74°Good Morning D

Very little in-store for today and I may take a little time to visit my County Commissioner to discuss the primary election a few weeks away. I am interested in his opinion of certain individuals running for the School Board. He owns a very large gun shop and military surplus store and is very conservative. Since the Parental Rights law was passed the LBQTRSUVWXYXLETSGOBRANDON crowd have decided to flood the elections and attempt to put their people on the school boards. A few names have appeared I am unfamiliar with. I need to know about them.

The alphabet loonies have filed suit in four counties attempting to overthrow the law so kids K-3 can be taught transgender and gender changing and to call each other by stupid pronouns. You have to be on top of what is going on in schools.

Today's weather continues as most July days do. In mid afternoon we have a 50% chance of heavy thunderstorms that blow over and are replaced by sunshine. It is 73° and our high will get up to 88°

294650012_5572047266152239_7963895077758981528_n.jpg
In the summer in Jacksonville it was 5:00 pm so I could get soaked! Or whenever I was going to leave it would dump.

Then on the days that I planed on mowing my yard it would rain, then the sun would come out and it would be a sauna.
 
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It is 81.0°F now and is overcast and we are to go to 90° with only a 60% chance of rain. We did not get a drop yesterday.

Yesterday I paid to have my yard mowed for the first time. I am glad I did not die young but it sure hurts not doing your own chores. I got rid of the walker yesterday and graduated up to my cane. My movement is not as curtailed as it has been the last three weeks since the fall.

I get my hair cut today as I was supposed to have it cut the day after I fell. So I will loose some weight today!

On taking the Metro in DC: I only took the metro to go to the Smithsonian and other historical places. A few times I went to a lawyer that specialized in intellectual properties for a computer program we were developing at the railroad. I never had a problem, but DC in the late 1980's and early 1990's was a different place.

One of my favored places is the Smithsonian. I spent a lot of time there, but never got to spend enough. Days at the Smithsonian pass so fast you don't know what is going on. The Lincoln memorial gave me goose bumps. There is history everywhere.


I had to edit the post. Geeze coffee is bad.
 
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The only suggestion I would have would be take a bulldozer to it and level the place. I am surprised the fire department attempted to put out the fire. I would have been tempted to just let the whole mess go up in smoke.

I am not qualified to make this statement but to me that looks like someone with a mental illness inhabited this "dwelling".
Yeah, I too would have like to see it burn down but, other houses are too close.

As far as a mental problem? That's what I told my wife and she agrees. We have tried to get her help, but she refuses and says she knows what she wants, and no one will tell her what to do. She had been living there for about 30 years but moved out 10 to 15 years ago because it was unlivable but, the cats needed a home. Her mother lived with us for a while but, she tried controlling everything and I put a stop to it so, she moved out. It's frustrating for both me and my wife but, more on her.
 
Yeah, I too would have like to see it burn down but, other houses are too close.

As far as a mental problem? That's what I told my wife and she agrees. We have tried to get her help, but she refuses and says she knows what she wants, and no one will tell her what to do. She had been living there for about 30 years but moved out 10 to 15 years ago because it was unlivable but, the cats needed a home. Her mother lived with us for a while but, she tried controlling everything and I put a stop to it so, she moved out. It's frustrating for both me and my wife but, more on her.

Just curious, I take it the cats are gone now? (I had issues similar with my Mom later in her life but the money was not available to the extent my Mom could do too much in the hoarding department. She did do what she could.) My Brother and Sister assisted much more as I was in the Army at the time. My Mom was put in a nursing home due to several issues. In any event, I feel for you and your family.
 
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The BB has been taking pictures the last couple weeks. I cannot keep my phone cleared of the pictures he takes.

The boy took a picture of our open toilet seat and took My Darlings phone, got on her facebook and created a story of the toilet seat, My Darling was panicking trying to figure out how to remove the story and picture. My son's girl friend liked the story........ You had to laugh and laugh, and laugh...

How the BB took this picture I have no idea but wow...

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Also amazing was the price of these things recently at Walmart. The BB took it...

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Man O' Man, you sure eat good BBUK. Your darling is a world class cook, this looks like something out of a 5 star restaurant in New York City.

Sir,
The Lord knows my failings as I have so many. When I say I am blessed or I am thankful, I do not state that lightly. I state it in all seriousness and thankfulness.

God "looked beyond my fault(s) and saw my need!"

For "I know whom I have believed in and am persuaded that he is able, to keep that which I've committed, unto him against that day!"

Bless you Sir!
 
Sir,
The Lord knows my failings as I have so many. When I say I am blessed or I am thankful, I do not state that lightly. I state it in all seriousness and thankfulness.

God "looked beyond my fault(s) and saw my need!"

For "I know whom I have believed in and am persuaded that he is able, to keep that which I've committed, unto him against that day!"

Bless you Sir!
You can say that in three words, BBUK:

"I married well"!
 
The BB has been taking pictures the last couple weeks. I cannot keep my phone cleared of the pictures he takes.

The boy took a picture of our open toilet seat and took My Darlings phone, got on her facebook and created a story of the toilet seat, My Darling was panicking trying to figure out how to remove the story and picture. My son's girl friend liked the story........ You had to laugh and laugh, and laugh...

How the BB took this picture I have no idea but wow...

295445568_5866053533408178_5338705974920263799_n.jpg
All I can say is talent. That picture was taken by a boy with talent.
 
All I can say is talent. That picture was taken by a boy with talent.

I hope, I just bought him and my Grand daughter a harmonica. I am actually going downstairs shortly as I tracked the package and it is one stop away. I wanted to see if they have the desire or aptitude for music. I thought the harmonica was light enough for them to enjoy. (Got a good deal on amazon.)
 
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Just curious, I take it the cats are gone now? (I had issues similar with my Mom later in her life but the money was not available to the extent my Mom could do too much in the hoarding department. She did do what she could.) My Brother and Sister assisted much more as I was in the Army at the time. My Mom was put in a nursing home due to several issues. In any event, I feel for you and your family.
I have been there about 4 times since the fire and have seen no cats.

We think it would be best if she went to a home if she does not go to Florida (big house, lots of room, plenty of money). She says she is not going to Florida; she wants to live here at our house (not going to happen). My wife has suggested a home but, she says she will go back to that old house before she did that.
 
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