Continued Confessions

is it really Thursday?

For some reason, I woke up this morning remembering the writer E. M. Forster and the beginning of his novel Howard’s End. “Only connect” has become synonymous with him ever since. So I thought perhaps I was supposed to discuss joining together this morning, but I started out doing some research on the phrase and found that someone here on Substack had actually used that as the title for their posts. Then I read more about Forster and another book he wrote Maurice that dealt with his love for men (published only after his death because unfortunately this sexual expression was illegal in England until the 60’s). Mostly my takeaway this morning is that the man who gave away the keys to the Treasury, Scott Bessent, would not have fared well back then. Now I’m wondering why on earth he would be under the thrall of the convicted felon tiny hand dictator. Oh well, I haven’t even caught up with the latest news this morning, so perhaps there is something even more outrageous to fry what brain cells I have remaining.

And just as a caution, COVID is still lurking and striking when you least expect it. And of course their are many who may be suffering from their last go round and be diagnosed with Long COVID. Dear President Carter was very instrumental in attempting to eradicate nasty diseases (look up guinea worm), and I’m glad he went on to that better place before he could witness the destruction of the foundation of America’s caring for itself and the world. I am particularly incensed that the weekly report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on health trends worldwide, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), seems to have been affected. If you search for it online, the CDC site has a blurb “CDC’s website is being modified to comply with President Trump’s Executive orders.” That deserves an OMG at the very least.

I got an extra-early call this morning from my lover to brighten my mood, and yesterday technology gave me virtual hugs and kisses from grandbaby. We are all hanging tough and taking things day by day. I will watch some more of the government shambles today because quite frankly it is becoming rather entertaining, while existentially terrifying. I see the youngsters corralled to invade our tech privacy, while the old connivers such as Grassley (91) keep an iron grip on the human element. We really are at a constitutional crisis here.

So I will focus on the things that I can control. And one of those is practicing my piano now that I got the top cleared off. And learning new facts about hot water bottles. I shared recently that I wanted to replace my nice rubber bottle, and I got two new ones which should last as long as I do. But I learned that when I empty it in the morning, I am supposed to leave the top unscrewed in storage. Who knew?

Finally, a big thank you to my faithful reader Don A. who has introduced me to acrostic puzzles. I’m looking forward to adding them to my repertoire, although he is doing double acrostics so it may take me a while to catch up. Anything to get a reprieve from attempting to save the world!

RESIST ALWAYS

TTFN