... and a large branch just came down on the patio. We're all right, but this is going to be an unnecessarily exciting evening.

Dang! Stay safe parker!

And the power is out! Is DARK here at night, and our neighbors' generator is very noisy. 324,000 other folks going to bed early, too.

And here on the other coast, we're actually hoping for a big storm tomorrow, to put out all the brush fires and wet down the fuel for others. It's been a very dry summer/fall.

I've got a couple bus trips today, which are always an effort, especially because one of them is to deliver and pickup a lunch group, literally in the middle of Harvard Square, at the Russell House Tavern. I'm literally going to have to 'park' in the middle of an intersection. SIGH

I hope you and everyone are able to stay safe . Power outage suck especially when it's cold. Although a good excuse to make some kind of blanket fort to stay warm.

I was wondering if Mike Lindell would end up with a cabinet nomination...I mean at this point it doesn't seem too out there. I looked to see what he is up to but I don't think that will happen Lindell took out what was described as a payday loan for businesses and is now suing to not pay them for being a payday loan type business (he called them a loan shark). . So like Rudy Giuliani he is left broke and desperate by Trump and I guess supporting Trump's lies.

Why can't Trump be broke and desperate...what is it about him that draws peoplele.in I don't get it. .

Oh, to have that answer, askye.

amyparker, stay safe!

Theo, all the parking and "parking" ~ma to you.

My DH seems to be slowly peeking out from the laid-off-from-tech-job-at-57 slump of depression and existential angst he's been suffering with for the last three months. It's been a rough ride -- but pretty expected, given history. Any "Keep plugging, buddy! You got this!" ~ma his way appreciated.

Laura, we continue to marvel at the wonder that is Instant Pot 'boiled' eggs. They peel so easily, even after they're fridged! Amazing.

I am seeing a friend tonight that I haven't seen in person in a couple of decades! That'll be fun. Then another friend is in town from MN, and we're seeing him and a small group for dinner tomorrow, then a game night at a friend's house on Saturday! So friending. Much social.

askye, 60 Minutes interviewed a woman who owns and runs a diner in PA. They asked her, "Do you feel like you know Donald Trump?", and she said yes, she did. Then they asked, "Do you think Donald Trump knows you?", and she said something like, "I think he knows the American worker" and I'm just like WHY. What has he done in his entire life that makes you think that? Even a cult of personality needs something to appeal to people!

In the past 8+ years, I have never heard ANYONE give a coherent answer about why they like TFG. The answers are always a) some recital of right-wing policy that literally every Republican supports, b) some vague handwaving like the answer above, or c) an attempt to change the subject and make it about Hillary or Harris or something.

Sometimes I think this whole nation is reacting to our lousy fathers.(if you're a dad reading this, I probably don't mean you) But I mean, for some of us, it makes us really cynical and skeptical of anything coming out of a dude's mouth but about half the country wants a dad that beats up other dads. And, maybe, if they get really obedient, Bad Dad will stick around...(Sorry for bastardizing Alice Miller, who did some fascinating research on both the pressures on gifted children and how Germans raised their kids...sort of primed them for Hitler.) It doesn't work, obviously. Even if it did, it wouldn't feel like what they want because they're, well, grown-assed voters now, not that little kid. "For Your Own Good" in particular is a really brilliant book, as is, "The Drama of The Gifted Child" which probably should have a thread here.) I also think they kind of get off on how much he bothers us(the fact that he would turn on them just as easily, once he dispatches us, to keep having an Enemy seems to have escaped their notice). Trying not to *act* irritated this time, though he bothers me more than ever, natch.

My DH seems to be slowly peeking out from the laid-off-from-tech-job-at-57 slump of depression and existential angst he's been suffering with for the last three months. It's been a rough ride -- but pretty expected, given history. Any "Keep plugging, buddy! You got this!" ~ma his way appreciated.

I got laid off from my tech job at 54 last year. It's rough, but it worked out.