All my Angeleno friends are trying to explain the protests are confined to very local areas and not LA at large. He's actively attempting to provoke a strong and publicly evident protest so he can call martial law before the midterms, and call them off. Right out of the Nazi playbook."We'll vote them out at midterms," not so much. We may have already enjoyed the last free election in this country.

He also wants to scare his followers about those horrible immigrants flouting his sensible deportations. And scare the people who are planning to protest next week to stay home.

All my Angeleno friends are trying to explain the protests are confined to very local areas and not LA at large.

Like Portland in 2020, where the protests basically involved one city block.

Where would I have put my safety goggles? They're not in the big tool box where I thought they'd be.

Or Seattle in 2020–it was about two blocks worth. I could drive down the street one block parallel to it and not realize anything was happening. It SOUNDED scary to say “I live six blocks away from the police station that got taken over!” But seriously other than a few times when there was helicopters low flying for too long, you wouldn’t know.

There are people who seriously still believe that Seattle and Minneapolis were burned to the ground.

Working out the details of my return to NY for the summer. Brendon is going to fly up with the cat on the 18th and fly back here on the 25th. He likes to go up before me to get the water turned on and do whatever prep is needed for me. We are assuming that a 3-hour flight under the seat will be easier on her than three full days in the car. My sister is flying to Florida on the 21st, and we will road trip starting on the west coast of Florida, stopping in Enon, Ohio, to visit family for a couple of days. Skinner will ride with us because he loves riding in the car and wouldn't fit under a plane seat anyway.

The route is a new one for me, going through Atlanta, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Lexington, and Cincinnati before we get to Enon to visit with the cousins. Then, through Cleveland and Buffalo, before landing in Otter Lake. I like a road trip, and my sister, so this should be fun.

Sisterly road trip sounds fun!

I am so bad at getting work done when I don’t have as much to do. If I’ve got tons to do I’m powering through it but if there’s nothing urgent it’s hard to make myself do any of it.

Plumber is supposed to be here between noon and 2–hoping it is what I think, and not anything more complicated/expensive. Though I do need a new hot water heater any day now.

If a tankless water heater is an option, I love ours.

Laura - Have you flown with a cat before? TSA may ask you to take the cat out of the carrier which can be "interesting" in a crowded, noisy airport.