Did anyone really want to wake up early this morning? I might be tempted to call you a liar if you say you did. Another Monday starts another dry week. Temps today are warmer than usual—plenty of sunshine. There’s rain to our west, but there is little chance of it surviving long enough to even give us a sprinkle. Leaves on trees are about as colorful as they’re going to get this year. And you still have to work.
On the positive side of things, G made it back to Indiana last night. We’ll see him after school and I’m looking forward to his chatter, assuming he’s not completely exhausted. The animals will be happy to greet him, too. His absence has made quite a difference in how everyone behaves.
Kat’s car started throwing codes at her over the weekend and one of them is potentially bad news: The battery pack is dying. She’ll have to take it to a dealership to find out if they can replace single cells in the battery pack or if the whole thing is dead. She was planning to buy another vehicle in January. Having to do so now would be a tremendous hit to finances.
At least yesterday had some interesting football. We’re at that point in the season where injuries are causing good teams to struggle. The Colts managed to beat the hapless Dolphins, 16-10. It wasn’t a terrific game for either team and for a moment in the fourth quarter, it looked as though Miami might mount a comeback. Chiefs beat the 49ers, 28-18 in a Super Bowl rematch that, if we’re honest, was totally disappointing. Statistically, Mahomes is having his worst year ever. San Francisco is struggling to field a healthy team. That the Chiefs are now 6-0 speaks to how good the team is and how lousy the league is at the same time. A late field goal allowed the Lions to give the Vikings their first loss of the season, 31-29. Both teams are playing surprisingly well for the first time in decades. They’re going to make the playoffs interesting. After so many tight games yesterday, can tonight’s games be anything but disappointing? Ravens play the Bucs in Tampa and the Chargers travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals. Baltimore and LA are the favorites, but this could be a real snooze fest.
The exciting news comes from the WNBA where the New York Liberty won their first title over the Lynx, 67-62 in overtime. Of course, it’s the WNBA so the officiating is being blamed for affecting the outcome of the game. Still, it was one of the most exciting basketball games we’re likely to see this year. The men will have to actually work hard for once if they want to be as entertaining.
And, because we’re in that time of the year, there’s baseball news worth mentioning. It will be the Yankees versus the Dodgers in the World Series. Again. This is the 12th time the two teams have met in the World Series, going back to 1941. The rivalry is almost as old as the leagues. Jet lag plays a strong role in how the visiting teams play. If you can stand to watch baseball on television (I can’t), this could be a decent series.
The rest of this morning’s news is boring by comparison. Here are a few headlines.
- US convenience stores look abroad for the secret to decent food. They’re fast becoming an alternative to traditional fast food.
- Israel’s wars are expensive. Paying the bill could force tough choices. This is the result of win-at-all-cost thinking. No one wins.
- Musk offers voters $1 million a day to sign a PAC petition backing the Constitution. Is that legal? In an age where people can now gamble on the outcome of elections, it’s questionable.
- Lionel Richie likens touring to vacation as he announces Europe shows. WTF? Maybe the musician needs to cut back his activities at home if the chaotic schedule of touring is considered a break.
- New cases of political violence roil the U.S. ahead of a contentious election. This is sheer stupidity. You don’t get to force your views on others. Remember when people kept quiet about how they were voting? Let’s go back to that.
- These are the 21 best types of American cheese. Because everyone needs to know, don’t they?
I’d list more, but you might fall asleep reading them.
Sunrise is sneaking up on us. I suppose it’s time to start looking around for something that resembles motivation. Maybe I’ll find it under the covers.
Or in another cup of coffee.
Morning Update: 10/14/24
What a difference a day makes; twenty-four little hours. Fall break is over, but that doesn’t mean both kids are heading back to school. G will be in Florida until next Sunday. They arrived yesterday without incident. He told Kat that he didn’t see “that much” damage. That means the biggest danger he’s likely to face down there is ‘gators. I was so concerned about the storms that I didn’t think to warn him about the giant reptiles and their ability to hide in seemingly harmless bodies of water. So, now I’ll worry about getting him back in one piece.
Yesterday involved a couple of interesting conversations with Tipper as well. Since G won’t be here to take the bus with her in the morning, we gave her a can of pepper spray to carry. That required plenty of instruction and warnings against spraying it into the wind. She has to turn it in at the school when she gets there and pick it back up before heading home. We’re hoping she never has reason to use it, but statistics say she will. There was also a conversation about mammograms that Kat fielded beautifully. A friend of Kat’s discovered last week that she has breast cancer. As we were discussing that, Tipper asked about “that thing that squishes them.” Kat was straightforward but gentle in her wording. We’ve had too many friends diagnosed with various forms of the disease this year to ignore the questions.
Then, it had to turn around and get cold. The wind was strong yesterday as the cold front moved in. By this morning, the thermometer was reading 48 degrees. No, it’s not really cold, but we’ve been accustomed to 80-degree days for so long that the contrast feels dramatic. Today’s high won’t get above 60 and by Wednesday, there’s a decent chance of frost. I’m avoiding getting the heavy coat out just yet, though. I layered a hoodie with my lightweight jacket when I took the dogs out this morning. While I’m ready for fall, I’m not ready for the added pain that comes with the cold.
I’m a little pissed that the NFL wouldn’t let me watch the Washington/Baltimore game on Prime yesterday. For some stupid reason, it was blocked here. I never have understood the NFL’s blackout policies. They don’t make a damn bit of sense. Baltimore ended up winning, 30-23. But hey, the Colts won over the Titans, 20-17! That’s more of a comment on how poorly the Titans are playing than anything special the Colts did to win. The game could have gone either way. There were a couple of absolute routs. The Lions completely crushed the Cowboys, 47-9. The folks in Dallas need to be ashamed of that performance and should probably give ticketholders their money back. Steelers whomped the Raiders in Vegas, making those overpriced tickets seem ridiculous. And what the Bucs did to the Saints was anything but holy, taking them out with a score of 51-27. The Bills take on the Jets tonight and if Buffalo doesn’t win by at least two touchdowns I’ll be shocked.
Sadly, not everything is fun and games. Reuters is reporting that the US is sending to anti-missile system and troops to Israel. You read that correctly. We’re putting boots on the ground in an escalating war that has no equitable outcome. This comes as Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen accused UNIFIL peacekeepers in south Lebanon of being a “useless” force. Why? Because they won’t brutally slaughter every person they encounter? This has seriously become the most disgusting war of our lifetime.
China’s acting like a jackass as well. China sent 125 military aircraft in exercises aimed at Taiwan in a single-day record, Taiwan says. Taiwan is holding firm to the belief that China had “no right to represent” the island. Should China get too aggressive, both Japan and the US are likely to become involved. China should stop and consider that outcome for a moment. Japan hasn’t been involved in any conflict since WWII. We wouldn’t let them. Now, China’s aggression against Taiwan is also a threat to Japan. Don’t expect Japan to play nice. They’ve been waiting.
Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson win the Nobel Prize for Economics. They studied what caused some countries to succeed while others failed. The question is whether anyone outside of the Nobel Committee will pay any attention to their findings.
Indigenous Peoples Day hits a bit differently this year as many tribes are pushing people to get out and vote. In 2020, tribal voting is what pivoted Arizona for Biden. This year, the effort to get indigenous people to vote is even stronger and there are several states in which a strong turnout could cause a decisive difference.
Meanwhile, research is now saying that Columbus was a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe. I’m not sure that has any bearing on the fact that he was a murderous SOB. I’m willing to forget he ever existed.
There’s some other stuff. Meteorologists are facing harassment and death threats amid disinformation about the recent hurricanes. Why? Because people are fucking stupid and believing GOP lies. Fisher-Price Recalls 2 Million ‘Snuga Swings’ After Five Infant Deaths. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission isn’t all that convinced that the recall will do any good. And you should Stop Carving a Hole at the Top of Your Jack-o’-lantern. Unless you have squirrels, in which case it really doesn’t matter because they’re going to eat the damn thing anyway.
If that wasn’t enough, it’s Monday. Not a damn thing we can do about that.
Perhaps, more coffee.
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