Hello, Pix and Nora!

Gud, how are you doing?

(Edited to say that if I'm missing anyone who said hi, apologies. I am, again, posting here before first coffee. My memory may vary).

Morning!

We're already seeing some stirring in the housing market -- been noticing (via Jacqueline) a bunch of houses going up in the SF market that were obviously AirBnB properties, probably because the owners have no income stream to pay the mortgage with.

The homeless 'problem' is about to get a whole stratosphere higher if the GOP has its way. If Trump had his way, we'd have homeless camps set up out in the desert, a la the Japanese internment.

Yeah, I don't know what the Nasdaq is smoking, reaching record highs when everything in the economy is on fire. The disconnect between markets and the actual situation is astonishing. And conservatives who balk at $600/week unemployment supplements sure don't seem to mind pushing trillions to prop up that clown show.

My main concern for November is that Portland, and to a lesser extent DC, are dress rehearsals for an unprecedented level of voter suppression.

supplements sure don't seem to mind pushing trillions to prop up that clown show.

And of course there are both political reasons for this (single numbers make easy The Economy Is Improving television for the financially comfortable especially) and personal (where do you think most of them get most of their income?)

Many industries just aren't coming back any time soon. Although my SIL's nail salon is open a significant percentage of her long time clients have decided to just do their nails themselves for a while. Same with hair salons. Restaurants may be open but people aren't comfortable yet, for good reason.

The biggest indicators I'm following are: (1) Trump has lost the independents that voted for him in 2016; (2) he's getting even worse in the suburbs than he was in 2018 midterm elections.

Significantly, he has also lost the seniors, and they (we!) vote. I expect massive voter suppression efforts, but they often backfire too.

I just don't want to get my hopes up. I am far from over the emotional devastation from 2016.

My grandparents had a dog - a shepherd cleverly named Shep.

Sheppy was a pup for the ages with many adventures. He was like a dog from a children's book but nobody had to kill him to come of age (that's practically a genre - why?).

Thirty some years later one of my uncles married a woman with a grown son named Shepherd quite reasonably called "Shep." You can see The Look on anyone's face whenever she mentions Shep in some way. It's pretty hilarious.

I don't think Trump would win an honest election, but I'm not confident we'll have one of those. We need to be sharp about protecting people's access to the polls.

Today is going to be a better day. I am speaking it into reality.

Got out of bed 7:15, not the 6:30 I had been doing, but not 8 like yesterday. It is before 8:30 and I am logging into work. I have had breakfast, taken care of the dog, started a load of laundry, and got last night's laundry drying. I am not in pajamas and my first cup of coffee is almost done and I have a full cup of water here to start on. IT WILL BE A BETTER DAY.

A most decidedly better day!

I don't think Trump would win an honest election, but I'm not confident we'll have one of those. We need to be sharp about protecting people's access to the polls.

My news alerts are saying Trump is floating the idea that the election needs to be delayed. Of course.

I love hearing about Matilda helping out with Peanut. Buffista sprog hanging out together makes my heart happy.

I also love seeing less frequent posters posting. Hi Pix and Nora!

The sleep thing has been a little better the past couple nights. The guided meditation before bedtime seems to be helping ltc to calm down a bit.