NEW—> Former congressmen Joe Walsh and Mark Sanford preparing to launch primary challenges to Trump, while Jeff Flake fields a flurry of recruiting calls and John Kasich heads back to New Hampshire.
My latest with @costareports https://t.co/hIKI5NBfNh
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) August 21, 2019
That would be Joe ‘You Lie‘ Walsh, Mark ‘Hiking the Appalachian Trail‘ Sanford, and John ‘My Only Loyalty Is To My Own Self-Interest’ Kasich. None of them are fit to hold Weld’s glass of amber-colored liquid:
… The anti-Trump movement inside the Republican Party — long a political wasteland — is feeling new urgency to mount a credible opposition to Trump before it’s too late. With state deadlines for nominating contests rapidly approaching in the fall, potential candidates face pressure to decide on running within the next few weeks. So far, only former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld has declared that he is running, but he has struggled to gain traction.
Republicans considering bids, as well as those trying to draft other candidates, acknowledge that defeating Trump appears to be nearly impossible but argue that a recession or an unforeseen change in the political climate could weaken him enough to make a primary challenge more than a Never Trump fantasy…
Inside the White House, neither Trump nor his team consider Weld or the prospective candidates to be serious threats because there has been no evidence of a groundswell of grass-roots support behind them.
“There’s no discussion of any of them or any of that,” said Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president. “None of them even has risen to the level of a nickname.”
The Republican National Committee is using aggressive measures to stave off any possible primary tussle. RNC members passed a resolution this year giving Trump the party’s “undivided support” and effectively merged with Trump’s campaign. “Republicans are firmly behind the president and any effort to challenge him in a primary is bound to go absolutely nowhere,” RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said in a statement…
At the center of the fledgling movement is Bill Kristol, a longtime conservative commentator, who has become a power broker for anti-Trump Republicans — and a target of scorn for Trump and his followers.
Kristol said he respects Weld, along with others who might run, but said his “dream scenario” would be for Trump to weaken this fall and a more prominent Republican decide to get in. This would have echoes of 1968, when then-President Lyndon B. Johnson’s reelection campaign was upended by Sen. Eugene McCarthy’s near upset in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, prompting Johnson to withdraw and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy to enter the race…
Spoiler alert: Bobby Kennedy was assassinated during his campaign, and McCarthy’s ‘Clean for Gene’ supporters (of whom my mom was one!) became the most maligned bunch of naifs & purity trolls until the emergence of a certain senator from Vermont.
None of these fakers are in it for anything but the publicity, and Bill ‘Always Wrong’ Kristol’s imprimatur only confirms that the best the Republican Party can hope for is a swift death before it can be further defaced by the parasites who’ve captured it.
This is an underlying theme of @TimAlberta's work (and ensuing promo tour), but it's hard to overstate how many people inadvertently boxed themselves in. And accidental victory made it that much harder to walk away, given that they knew exactly what/who he was.
— Liam Donovan (@LPDonovan) August 22, 2019
trnc
That was Joe Wilson of SC. But yes, Walsh is insane.
Bobby Thomson
Yeah, this is Joe “Deadbeat Dad” Walsh.
Baud
A list of candidates in which John Kasich is the most recent person is a list from the depths of hell.
NotMax
Hm. Paul “the reason I’m resigning is because of my insatiable longing to be in Wisconsin” Ryan recently announced he’s pulling up stakes there and moving to D.C. full time.
Heck, any wounds which all, some or one of the challengers inflict on Downhill Donald are more than welcome.
Betty Cracker
In case you missed it, Anne Laurie: Julia Ioffe’s “The Summer of Warren” in GQ.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
Anne Laurie
@Betty Cracker: Saving that for a dedicated thread later today!
rk
I think “you lie” was Joe Wilson.
?BillinGlendaleCA
I noticed that I had a notification of the Book of Faces and the young’n has returned from her quick trip to Chicagoland to find that a kitten had taken up residence in the engine compartment of her car. The text was “WTF am I going to do with this?”.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@rk: The late Joe Wilson.
OzarkHillbilly
Starting the day with a conversation about Republicans. Blech. What else is there to say?
Raven
@OzarkHillbilly: no shit, not that we ever pay any attention to the post anyway.
Betty Cracker
Mind blown.
PS: I hope the owl was freed after its skirts were hoisted.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@OzarkHillbilly: Hey, I brought a kitten story.
You want a dog story? This just happened, the cocker is in the doggie bed, the yorkiepom goes over and stares at her, the cocker gets up and moved to the runner, the yorkiepom takes over the bed.
(The 12lb yorkiepom gave the 25lb cocker the evil eye and she moved. The yorkiepom is cute, but a bit of an asshole.)
NotMax
A tale of the recent NY trip.
As in years past when I am visiting, had a dinner with a friend of Mom’s of longstanding (something on the order of 80 years). This year she brought along her oldest son, someone as it turns out who many of you might recognize from the TV. He and I, although we attended different grade schools in the same town, were bestest buds as kiddies but due to the vagaries and circumstances of life hadn’t seen or spoken with one another for 55 years. Picked up conversing as if we’d last been together yesterday, the intervening years suddenly erased. Kind of a weird experience.
Raven
@NotMax: I’m in the throes of a little guilt bomb. My step mother is turning 80 and they are having a gig for her in Phoenix this weekend and I declined using my last few days of work as an excuse. I’m glad that there are going to be a lot of my west coast family there to represent but I made my bed. .
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Phylllis
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Those of us who live in his district should be so lucky.
OzarkHillbilly
@Raven: @?BillinGlendaleCA: So now I’m going to engage in our 2nd most favorite pastime, whining: Got stung by a wasp (the small red and black)(No where near a nest!) on my wrist Monday. It’s now Thursday and it is STILL swollen and it STILL itches like crazy. The SOB got me good, a full blast of venom before I even knew she was there.
She’s probably still bragging about it.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Phylllis: Hmmm, thought he croaked a few months ago.
NotMax
@Raven
Send flowers?
Steeplejack (phone)
@rikyrah:
Good morning. ?
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: They’ve set up shop in my truck because I haven’t been driving it much. One nest was under the dash and I could see it through the cig light hole. I’m afraid there may be one inside the door too.
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
All of Waspbook is abuzz about it.
;)
OzarkHillbilly
-Daniel Dale
Heh.
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
A poultice of dampened tobacco works wonders on stings for me. Old school remedy.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Ugh. Good thing that truck is pre electric locks, otherwise they might have tripped them and trapped you inside the truck w/ them.
@NotMax: I refuse to get on Waspbook.
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: Back when I smoked I used that. I don’t smoke anymore and I am not about to risk the wrath of the Gods of Temptation by buying a pack just for a sting. Besides, it works best (only?) right after the sting.
rikyrah
In case you didn’t know… there’s a Twitter war going on between Popeye’s and Chick Fil Et. Popeye’s has a new chicken sandwich, and folks have been posting about it:.
Popeye’s:
This man should do a commercial for you ?? ?
https://twitter.com/naima/status/1164369468329512960
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
Keep a well-wrapped pack of ciggies (or bum a couple from someone who smokes and wrap those) in the back of the freezer for just such occasions. Granted, nowadays a pack costs more than a jug of calamine lotion.
Baud
@rikyrah: You think the Russians are behind it?
satby
@?BillinGlendaleCA: so lucky she didn’t start the car! What did she do?
@rikyrah: Good morning ?!
debbie
If their challenges piss off Trump, they are well worth it. Long may they irritate the GOP!
satby
@NotMax:
True mark of a deep friendship.
Barbara
@?BillinGlendaleCA: That happens every day in my little world, except there is a lot of harumphing when the beds get redistributed.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
Happy ending to your anecdote. I thought it was going to be another “complete Repub asshole” story.
Steeplejack
@Raven:
That’s legit.
mrmoshpotato
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Ummmm…..does the kitty love the smell of motor oil in the morning? Does a particular make and model have an especially comfy engine compartment?
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
I don’t suppose anyone called him on the time of day lie?
Steeplejack
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Not according to his Wikipedia page.
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: I will know they are there, I will here them calling my name, “Tom… Just one won’t hurt… You’ll feel so much better… Don’t you want a cigarette with your morning coffee? Just one…”
BEGONE YE EVIL TEMPTRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Steeplejack
@OzarkHillbilly:
Yes, Bchan is much better. Not so many crazies.
MagdaInBlack
@OzarkHillbilly:
Try running VERY hot water on the itchy area.
It works for me on most bites/stings.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: have you tried Caladryl or Cortaid10 (the generics are just as good).? Even a poultice of baking soda with a crushed up antihistamine pill would help, and you wouldn’t feel the urge to smoke it. Even better if you have gel cap antihistamines to mix with the baking soda.
satby
@mrmoshpotato: that’s a danger when kittens are near cars on chilly mornings, or if bigger animals are around to scare them into hiding. A lot of outdoor kittens get killed that way.
Raven
@NotMax: in the mail
Immanentize
I just looked out my kitchen window and saw the resident woodchuck chowing down on a nice green tomato.
J R in WV
@satby:
I had a terrible outbreak of weeping rash after exposure to emitted poisonous chemicals very near out office back in the 90s, and so have kick-ass steroid cream, which works nearly as well in stings and bites as it did on the chemical caused skin eruptions.
At the time of the original exposures I had injections and prednisone pills for weeks, which also worked as hoped. I still have rough scaly patches, though, which sometimes weep a little bit until I get the ointment on it.
OzarkHillbilly
@MagdaInBlack: Ice is what I use, we have ice packs big enough I can wrap around my hand and arm covering most of the area.
@satby: Cortaid yes (works for about 15 mins), don’t have any caladryl as I have very little use for it and it would be very lonely and forgotten in the back of the medicine drawer. The baking soda/antihistamines is a good idea. Now if I only could find those antihistamines I bought and never used more than 2 of 10 years ago….
You guys just don’t get it. I don’t come here for cures, I come here to whine! ;-)
But now that I think about it, I’ll bet an epsom salt soak would help, and I do keep some of that around…. Somewhere….
Where did I see it?
satby
@Immanentize: slugs have been getting mine, along with probably bunnies. I pick mine now as soon as they show the slightest sign of ripening. Only way for me to get any.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: KILL THE HERETIC! KILL THE HERETIC!
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: we’re all about the helpfulness. And I think Caladryl works forever. But I always have antihistamines, and it puts a stronger dose on it topically than the Caladryl would.
@J R in WV: I have that steroid cream too, for my eczema when I get it. I stock up on it when I go outside the country because it’s not an Rx item in the third world and is consequently drastically cheaper. I use it on bug bites that bother me more than a day too.
Bobby Thomson
@?BillinGlendaleCA: you’re thinking of Walter Jones.
Immanentize
@satby: yes, a squirrel got one of the ripening ones two days ago…. At least the woodchuck eats the whole thing. Squirrels just take a couple bites and leave the rest for me to cry over.
@OzarkHillbilly: I have had such thoughts, but they are so damn chubby and cute. And mostly just graze on the clover. I’m going to have to put up another barrier of wire. Or just let the not-little fellow eat off the one side near his burrow?
mrmoshpotato
@Immanentize: Chuck some wood at it!
mrmoshpotato
@Immanentize: Those bastardly squirrels. They could have the decency to steal one and share it. What a waste.
Ken
@OzarkHillbilly: Oh great, now you’ve reminded me that I hid some Thin Mints in the back of the freezer.
Immanentize
@mrmoshpotato:
But how much wood?
ixnay
@Immanentize: We have had good luck so far with a low, solar powered electric mesh fence (previously used for chickens). Does not work for tomato hornworms, however.
Immanentize
@ixnay: hmmm. I can get one of those cheap at Harbor Freight Tools, I think. Thanks!
Spanky
@OzarkHillbilly: Skip the cigs and get a pouch of Redman, or a tin of snuff. Less (?) temptation that way.
Kay
It is bad for Trump though. Not because any of them will win the primary, but because there will be more people attacking him. He’s really unpopular. He needs every voter he can get and there are sporadic, lower turnout Republican voters just like there are sporadic, lower turnout Democratic voters.
Steeplejack
Okay, check-in with a side of rant.
My arm is doing fine. Today is three weeks since the operation. Skin feels very tight, but there’s no pain unless I do something unusual like touch it. And even then it’s not screaming Ned Flanders pain. I’ve been keeping it lightly slathered with Aquaphor, per doctor’s orders, and Tuesday I started leaving it uncovered when I go out. Appearance upgraded from fugly to merely ugly.
Shoulder is doing fine. Barely rates a mention because it was such a clean, simple cut in the first place.
The housecat has been getting subcutaneous hydration treatments at the vet a few times a week to address a kidney imbalance that showed up in her blood tests a few weeks ago. She’s getting one this afternoon, and they’re going to run blood tests again to see how her kidneys are doing. No cause for alarm, but monitoring the situation.
Okay, rant time: For months I have been planning to go out to Las Vegas at the end of next week to house-, dog- and mom-sit while my RWNY brother goes on another motorcycle expedition. At the first of the month my mother fell down in front of her house and, as it turned out, cracked her pelvis. She is in a rehab/“post-acute” facility and seems to be doing all right (adjusted for bad-patient bitching and moaning).
This has triggered a huge amount of family drama, and I have moved up my departure to Monday so I can have a few days’ overlap with RWNJ brother before he leaves and I’m left “in charge of”—i.e., contending with—Mom by myself. RWNJ brother has been wanting her to move permanently into assisted living for a while, and I think he sees this as a golden opportunity. But Mom has been adamant that she doesn’t want to do that.
She is 89, fiercely independent and, until this accident, in pretty good health. She wants to go back to her house, which I think she could do, if she would get some help—how much to be determined—and do some basic things like get one of those Life Alert gizmos and, I dunno, keep her cell phone charged up and turned on. ? But she just doesn’t want to deal with it. Lots of talk about “letting God sort it out.” ? I think her ideal scenario would be that she keels over one day and is dead before she hits the ground. So I’ll be having a frank and open discussion with her along the lines of: “No, you’ll keel over, break your hip and end up back in a place like this, but permanently and bedridden. So now how does some home help sound?” Good times.
Usually when I go out to Las Vegas it’s a bit of a vacation. Mom-sitting is normally just a “proof of life” phone call every day and getting together when mutually agreed. My brother’s house is nice, I get along with the dog, and there are many great restaurants. The only downside this time of year is the blistering heat—108° next Monday, I see. But that’s why they invented air conditioning, right?
Anyway, I’m not looking forward to this in my current puny state. Even three weeks out from the operation seemingly mundane things can wear me out. I’m not used to that. But I’ll have a better handle on things once I get out there. RWNJ brother is amazingly uncommunicative under the best of circumstances, so I’m sure there are a lot of details I don’t know.
Thanks for letting me do the early morning brain dump. No offense taken for tl;dr.
ETA: A friend is going to take the housecat to live with her while I’m gone, which is a huge load off my mind. The usual cat wrangler is great, but I’ll be happier with the little beast getting more than a visit once or twice a day.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: Just wait, he won’t look so cute when he undermines your storm shelter. Wait a minute, that was my storm shelter the little bastard undermined. I presently have one who appears to live somewhere out in the woods. S/He has a taste for straw flowers. The days of it’s continued residence here are numbered, one way or the other..
Ken
@OzarkHillbilly: I saw this in a Bill Murray movie once.
OzarkHillbilly
@Ken: Ken…. Ken…. we’re over here…. you know you want some of our minty chocolaty goodness… you can’t resist forever…. Surrender is good, you’ll feel so much better….
rikyrah
✡️ Never Again Action ✡️ (@NeverAgainActn) Tweeted:
Anne Frank did not die from gas chambers. She died from typhus, contracted in the overcrowded Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
The denial of flu vaccines will kill immigrants, especially the most vulnerable- children, the elderly, the immunocompromised. https://t.co/wp8sfyBj4A https://twitter.com/NeverAgainActn/status/1163913171645685761?s=17
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: As much wood as a wood chuck could chuck.
rikyrah
Scoot (@ImpeachmentHour) Tweeted:
TRUMP’S AMERICA: BREAKING FROM NYT: “A New Jersey man was arrested with a grenade launcher, assault weapons, brass knuckles, meth, hollow-point bullets, a baseball bat, marijuana and Nazi paraphernalia.”
https://t.co/C1G5s2hoUY https://twitter.com/ImpeachmentHour/status/1164172677231329281?s=17
OzarkHillbilly
@Spanky: I am an addict. I will find a way to smoke it. Trust me on this.
rikyrah
Julie Laumann? (@Otpor17) Tweeted:
“The agency’s withdrawal from the crop tour comes about two weeks after farmers leveled criticism at Ag Secretary Perdue at a fair in Minnesota over Trump’s yearlong trade war with China.”
USDA pulls staff from Midwest crop tour as farmer tensions mount https://t.co/Tm3nWV90fl https://twitter.com/Otpor17/status/1164315230538743808?s=17
rikyrah
Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) Tweeted:
BREAKING: I’ve learned that the Trump administration is suspending virtually all asylum claims processing for the regions served by the Newark and Boston offices. There are over 40,000 cases pending in those offices. https://twitter.com/SenJeffMerkley/status/1164335969300037635?s=17
Baud
@rikyrah:
I can’t believe that they needed all that to arrest the guy. #AmbiguousPhrasing.
Oh, and the marijuana probably saved us all from the rest of the stuff.
Uncle Jeffy
Joe Walsh and his musket – an 18th Century weapon for a 12th Century mind.
Baud
@rikyrah:
I have a feeling they’re going to have to hold their nose when voting for Trump next year.
OzarkHillbilly
@Steeplejack: Good luck. Those aren’t easy discussions to have.
JPL
@Steeplejack: You’re a good son and a good brother.
Kay
@rikyrah:
This seems like the more important part of that story, though:
They have Trump people in charge. It’s not unimaginable this process is corrupted and politicized. Eventually the lying at the top trickles down and this is an area they might want to lie about. It’s not a huge step from Our Great Patriot Farmers to lying about what they’re projected to produce.
Immanentize
@Steeplejack:
Where I grew up in upstate NY, my neighbor was in a similar situation. His mother-in-law just didn’t want to go into assisted living. It was a largish Irish family, so one day, all the daughters and daughter in laws took Mother Mary to a wonderful lunch celebrating, they told her, one of their birthdays. “Just the girls.”. Meanwhile all the boys in the family quickly moved all of her stuff to a local assisted living facility. My neighbor, Pat, said she was pretty pissed for about six months, but she got over it.
Not recommending such a move, just sharing an option!
PS. So glad to hear you are on the mend.
Immanentize
@Kay: Messing with data really never ends well.
satby
@Steeplejack: Good luck with all of that. Be certain to assess whether your mom really is cognitively able to live independently, my mother was able to disguise her increased cognitive decline until it was pretty severe, partially because hers was cardiac related, so if she remembered to take her meds her brain got the blood flow to function.
My mother adamantly refused household help for years, we finally convinced her her doctor had ordered it so that a home health aide could at least oversee her medication schedule and immediately notify us of she was skipping doses. But it helped to have someone checking in physically every day. The light housekeeping those saintly women did was a godsend too.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Any jackals have any experience with the CFPB? Under Trump, it’s no doubt staffed with bankers whose job is to make sure that consumers lose any disputes. But anyway, I’m trying them.
Short version of the story: My wallet was stolen in Paris. An hour after I reported the theft, Citibank for inexplicable reasons allowed $3K in charges. Many hours on hold later, they finally canceled the card and reversed the charges.
But two months later they decided that $1000 of the charges were actually me, an hour after I first reported the theft, and took that much back out of my account.
So now I’m trying the CFPB. Filed a case last night. We’ll see what happens.
Betty Cracker
@Steeplejack: Ugh, that’s a lot to deal with. Best of luck in your conversations with your mom. FWIW, the way you’ve phrased the proposed help sounds super-reasonable.
Raven
@Steeplejack: It makes my issue seem puny!
Ken
@Kay: Miniplenty announces that the chocolate ration will be increased to ten grammes.
Steeplejack
@Raven:
Eh, it’s like “minor surgery” or, in sports, a “minor groin injury.” It’s never minor if it’s happening to you!
Kay
@Immanentize:
Please. With these people the presumption should always be they’re lying. They lie constantly about things big and small, every single day. They’re not credible. Anything hinky has to be checked out. That’s the price of lying all the time- you no longer get the benefit of the doubt.
martha
@Steeplejack: Oh, I’ve been in your shoes. I live states away from my dad. After my mom died, I asked him every 6 months if he wanted to move out of the house and he said no, of course. Meanwhile, it was clear he wasn’t taking care of it or himself (he’s now 85). Finally, two years ago, he just snapped, and realized he had to make a change. We moved him to a great apartment in the independent living wing of one of those “continuum of care” facilities. He’s got HIS place with his things and he can be as social or antisocial as he wants on any given day.
I don’t know how to encourage your mom to even consider such a change. Are there any facilities like that close to her? Would she visit one just to see it?
I am the only kid out of town, and it took me to push the issue and make it happen…my brother and sister wouldn’t do it.
satby
@Immanentize: my sister, who is only 62, just was put into assisted living in just about the same way. She has MS, and is now in a wheelchair and was just too much for her kids to care for. Especially since one caregiver daughter was in rehab, and her youngest son had some depressive episode that landed him in the hospital, leaving the 23 year old other daughter to cope all by herself while trying to hold down a job. My sister texted me night before last to let me know, I had no idea all this was going on back in Chicago.
JPL
@Kay: We know that labor misrepresented the size of the labor force in 2018 and 2019 by a half of million. It’s not surprising that other agencies fudge their numbers also.
OzarkHillbilly
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Good luck. I’ll be sure to avoid Citibank.
Raven
@Steeplejack: Well the real reason I didn’t want to go is that I haven’t talked to my rwnj half brother and his nazi wife in years and I don’t want to ruin this event.
satby
@Raven: wise move. I would do the same in your shoes. Especially since the rwnj types always have to belligerently start a “conversation” just so they can spout their bullshit.
Kay
@Ken:
Remember when he said “Mexico” was going to buy our crops? And then everyone had to pretend that was a rational thing to say and do elaborate, 800 word explanations explaining that “Mexico” doesn’t buy agricultural products, that Mexican companies do and Donald Trump can’t order them to do so?
Mexico was going to buy the corn, store the corn in their state silos and distribute it to The People. That was Donald Trump’s imaginary deal.
OzarkHillbilly
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Ken: Frozen thin mints are the best!
@BillinGlendaleCA: Mice once nested in my car. One of them died in the vent system. I know this because when I turned the AC on, a stench jumped out and punched me in the nose.
Anne Laurie
Small gods, how far we’ve fallen.
Baud
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I doubt the people handing consumer complaints have been too affected by the new administration. Yours sounds like an easy case.
Lapassionara
@OzarkHillbilly: speaking of whining, we had a big storm last night that rendered the electricity in our den where the WiFi router sits non-functional. Electrician visiting today, as circuit breaker won’t reset. Did you have a storm in your neck of the woods?
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@OzarkHillbilly: That is definitely one lesson I want people to take away from my experience
O. Felix Culpa
@rikyrah: My dad sent that article to me yesterday. That’s where I grew up…and none of us were surprised that there are nazis in those woods.
Steeplejack
@Raven:
I figured that, based on things you have said in the past.
My usual strategy when I go to Las Vegas is to arrive the day before my RWNJ brother goes on his trip and then leave the day after he gets back (allowing enough time for travel delays and a “family dinner” or two with Mom). He can keep it together for short periods, and it minimizes the exposure to the RWNJ-ness.
This overlap is going to be tough, especially since after El Paso and Dayton he has upped his bullshit Second Amendment posts on Facebook. The latest one was a picture of the Chinese troops massing outside Hong Kong: “This is why we have the 2nd Amendment!”
Yeah, right, bro’. Your average right-wing shooter can’t handle a no-frills, trigger-happy police department. I’m sure you’ll do great against tanks and 50-cals. ? (Man, this emoji is really going to get a workout. Along with ?? = just shoot me.)
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Steeplejack: Mr DAW’s mother was like yours. She insisted on living in her split level house well into her 90s, refused to wear the alert thingie, and did her best to thwart her kids’ efforts to help (frex, she fired the guy they hired to shovel the snow). Eventually, the managed to get her to go to senior day care at the JCC several days a week, have meals on wheels, and have help for a couple hours a day when she was home. Then they had to trick her into going into assisted living by telling her she could go for two weeks and the leave if she wanted, which was not going to happen unless she realized she could call a taxi. (She lost her license after she hit a parked car, totaling her own.) Her example is one big reason we moved into a senior community with different levels of care. We wanted things to be easier for our son.
Anyway, sympathy.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@rikyrah: I wonder if this will affect the Iowa caucuses. You can change party registration at the door, so it’s easy to vote in whichever party’s caucus you want.
Steeplejack
@satby:
Inorite. I have sort of whipped my RWNJ brother into shape because a couple of times I have shown him that I can go all LWNJ on his ass—plus with actual facts!—but, as I said, he can only restrain himself for a limited amount of time.
And, of course, the whole Mom situation is going to be like spritzing a light mist of gasoline on the fire.
Raven
@satby: I’d kick his fucking ass at the drop of a hat.I’ve had a grude for 20 years over the way he talked to my old man. Should done it then but didn’t out of respect.
Zinsky
Weld is an elitist snob in the William F. Buckley pasty-faced conservative tradition. We need effete, tax-dodging, bandy-legged bleeders like him like an Eskimo needs a deep freeze. How about intelligent, responsible governance where people shut up and pay their taxes and the military is trimmed way back to be the “common defense “ force it was intended to be? Can you imagine that??
OzarkHillbilly
@Raven: When my oldest son got married I told him I wanted nothing to do with my ex. I wanted a table as far as possible from her, that I didn’t want to be in any pictures with her, etc etc etc. A number of people thought that was totally, unforgivably selfish on my part, that I should do whatever they wanted on this their very special day to make them happy. I replied that that was in fact my intent, that I was doing everything I could to avoid killing my ex at their wedding. They just didn’t understand.
Funny how my son who lived through it all understood perfectly and thought I was being more than reasonable.
Baud
@Raven:
That has been my problem in the past too. It’s hard to find the right balance between staying strong and not escalating, especially when the right views shows of strength as escalation.
Raven
@Baud: I gave him every chance to avoid politics, I even downloaded all ur FB communication and found the note where I asked him to back off. Fucking little punk couldn’t do and then attacked me. (It was probably his wife but I don’t care.) I feel better now. . .again.
Steeplejack
@OzarkHillbilly, @JPL: Thanks.
@Immanentize: Not sure we could pull off an extreme maneuver like that. Tempting thought, though!
Raven
@OzarkHillbilly: Tricky shit
OzarkHillbilly
@Lapassionara: Lots and lots of rain, have yet to check the rain gauge, but not much in the way of lightning and thunder. It was nice to sit on the porch and listen to it come down. I’m looking forward to the cooler weather we will have thru the wkend.
Chances are it’s just the breaker. You probably had a voltage surge and this breaker was weaker than the rest. Hope it’s reasonable.
Sab
@Steeplejack: Don’t turn Mom into assisted living as test of wills between you and your brother.
Also don’t commit entirely to what Mom wants. She wants to not be being old. That’s not an option anymore.Think only about what is best for her now and later, and what is the best way to transition from now to later, because that transition is inevitable.
My Dad is 95 and in a memory (dementia) unit. The whole transition would have been a hell of a lot easier on him if he and Mom would have admitted the inevitable and gone into assisted living when they were younger. Injuring falls are an important indicator that their current living situation isn’t sustainable.
Gin & Tonic
I feel for you people with your nutjob relatives. Everybody in my extended family is intelligent and somewhere from center-left to left-left, with the exception of one SIL’s father (ex-Navy, retired, living in Florida) and he’s at least polite and perceptive enough to not be a dick. Had dinner with him and his wife last week, at least two hours of conversation without a single word about domestic politics.
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
There’s a tiny crack there, though. The beneficiaries under the prior will (if they no longer take with the will passing the trust) may be able to challenge the new will that passes the trust. So the victims will be relying on Epstein’s former beneficiaries, if they exist. If the new will is invalid then we go back to the old one. Unless the beneficiaries of the trust are the same people and entities who took under the prior will, then they have no reason to attack the will passing the trust. Right now, and given what we’ve been told, in Ohio- this is state law- the only person who can challenge the will is his brother, because HE would have taken had Epstein died without a will. But there might be others.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: I’m kinda wondering what USVI law is on all this.
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
Just to be clear- they wouldn’t be relying on the decency of Epstein’s former beneficiaries- if indeed “former” exist- they would be relying on those people and entities wanting the money they would have gotten under the prior will and then succeeding in challenging the will passing the trust.
Steeplejack
@Sab:
Point taken. I’ve given the “I need to rant a bit” version here, but I’m aware of the nuances, and I’ll try to emulate the wisdom and tact that Steve in the ATL brings to his labor negotiations.
A Ghost To Most
@Gin & Tonic:
I’m entertaining two right now. I considered my sisters the sanest of the bunch, but they are goners as well.
On a better note, any of you who have driven or plan to drive Trail Ridge Rd through Rocky Mtn NP will be interested to know that they are building stone guardrails on the most exposed portions. This has resulted in long stretches of one way road, with commensurate delays.
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
Huh. Moderation. Must have been the reference to Steve in the ATL.
MomSense
@Steeplejack:
Glad the arm is healing.
Sorry to hear about mom and brother. Family dynamics can be overwhelming whenever here is a crisis or life change. Sending you a hug.
BC in Illinois
In regard to RWNJ relatives, my BIL and SIL visited earlier this week. I think he is a standard-issue midwest Republican, but his two youngest sons are flaming RWNJs (the only family members that I have quietly un-friended). Anyway, we cleaned up the house, and I didn’t totally hide my three Elizabeth Warren books (two by her and one biography) or the Nancy Pelosi and Kamala Harris books . . . but I moved them and turned them so that the cover pictures and titles wouldn’t be so prominent.
I was sent to Aldi’s to pick up some ice cream and bananas, and when I came back, my BIL was looking at This Fight is Our Fight by Elizabeth Warren. He didn’t say anything (he was looking at the table of contents or opening pages), so I played with the grandkids until dinner was ready.
It was never mentioned, but I wonder what the conversation in the car was like on the way back.
ETA – – Now that I think of it, there is one cousin on the other side of the family that I un-friended, but she isn’t in touch with ANYONE in the family. Doesn’t even come to funerals.
OzarkHillbilly
@OzarkHillbilly: In moderation, for what I can not imagine, I guess noting curiosity about territorial law on trusts is beyond the pale.
rikyrah
@Kay:
I don’t doubt that it’s completely phucked up, Kay. But, they voted for him, and are now being paid off with more welfare.
Steeplejack
@Gin & Tonic:
I’ve got just the one, thankfully. He has been under treatment for depression for years, and I think the RWNJ-itude is at least partially an outlet for that—the way depression can metastasize into rage in men.
My mother is mostly apolitical, although I suspect she voted for Trump under the “shake up the place” theory. She did have a major antipathy to Harry Reid, for some reason. Probably some weird local Nevada angle.
Matt McIrvin
@Steeplejack: If it happened here these Second Amendment fans would be complaining about lawless rioters and urging the troops to shoot them.
Steeplejack
@MomSense:
Thanks. I hope it will go okay. Just needed to clean out the mental pipes a little.
Betty
@satby: So it isn’t just my RW brother who does that. Good to know. I simply refuse to engage. Will leave the room if necessary.
Matt McIrvin
Got a Tulsi Gabbard ad saying “I WILL BRING A SOLDIER’S HEART TO THE WHITE HOUSE.” Automatically thought of “Snow White.”
mrmoshpotato
@Immanentize: I don’t know. How much wood can you chuck chuck at woodchuck chomping your tomatoes?
Steeplejack
@Matt McIrvin:
Exactly! On one hand, they’re all “I need muh guns to resist the Deep State gubmint!” But on the other hand they’re all “Blue lives matter! The police should shoot more [of those] people!”
Steeplejack
@Betty:
Gotta say I have had some success with returning fire, but it might not work for everyone. I think you have to portray that you could be the mean, crazy uncle that everybody should avoid triggering. And, er, that’s not a big stretch for me. ?
Steeplejack
Thanks to everyone for your comments. I haven’t replied to everyone individually, but I read and appreciate the good advice.
Gin & Tonic
@Matt McIrvin: Huh. I thought of Edgar Allan Poe.
Baud
@Steeplejack:
I think one problem some people have is that their society (friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, etc.) tends to defend/fear/accommodate the right winger in the face of a conflict, even if most of the people in the society are not themselves right wingers. It’s a kind of Stockholm syndrome in a large part of the country.
OzarkHillbilly
@Steeplejack:
Maybe that’s why nobody ever wants to talk politics with me.
Steeplejack
@OzarkHillbilly:
See, it works!
zhena gogolia
@Steeplejack:
I assume all is well is the things they took out of you?
This is difficult, I’m sorry. This is what breaks families up, I’m afraid. I worry about her trying to live at home now. Getting home health aides, etc., is not ideal.
OzarkHillbilly
@Steeplejack: Indeed it does. Unlike chump, there is a method behind my madness.
Gelfling 545
@OzarkHillbilly: Try cooled wet tea bags. (Black tea)
satby
@Matt McIrvin: fortunately, there’s a non insane veteran also running.
Sab
@Steeplejack: I was so glad to see your comment. I am not a competent commenter on family dynamics, but I sort of know my own, and I don’t want other families to do what we did.
satby
@Baud: people are bizarrely conflict averse. Look at the gun control debate. If the 90% of Americans really got loud and angry about how the will of the majority is thwarted, I don’t think even the NRA $$ would convince a targeted politician to vote against his angry constituents. But people don’t stay consistently riled up, and a lot don’t feel their voice matters, so why get into a fight about it.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
It’s a big problem. It pains me to read all the anecdotes here (and elsewhere) about people suffering in silence at family get-togethers when the one overbearing RWNJ blowhard gets cranked up.
I’m not going to go full “silence means consent,” but I don’t think silence is working any more. As Adam says, in the Trump era we can’t go back, we have to go through. These RWNJs live in such an airtight bubble that they either think that everybody else at the table agrees with them but is too much of a wuss to say it or that they can say it anyway and the libtards will keep quiet because they’re cowards.
And the pushback doesn’t have to be a screaming fight at the dinner table. It can be social shunning. “Sorry, Aunt Martha, we won’t be coming for Thanksgiving, because Uncle Dave can’t shut up about his RWNJ bullshit. Yes, it is too bad that you won’t get to see the kids.” Or: “No, Aunt Martha, your invitation didn’t get lost in the mail. We didn’t invite you, because Uncle Dave can’t shut up and keep his bullshit to himself.” Language tempered as appropriate for the audience, of course.
And if the holidays are ruined or “family ties” are hurt, Christ, is that worse than the country ending up in an actual civil war 10 or 20 years from now because the RWNJ-ery continues to fester unchecked?
I note that Mnemosyne and others have pointed out less drastic tactics that you can use, such as the reverse Socratic dialogue, where you ask Uncle Dave to explain exactly how the Illuminati are controlling everything and then get him bogged down in increasingly specific questions until his bullshit talking points collapse.
You can’t convince them of anything. Let them convince you, if their ideas are so great. [Narrator: They’re not.]
JPL
@Steeplejack: The reason that I appreciated your post is to remind me to plan for my future so I don’t need the sit down talk.
Hopefully you can still take time to enjoy yourself in Las Vegas.
Chyron HR
@Matt McIrvin:
I can think of no greater indictment of the Sunshine Justice Squad than the fact that the heir apparent to Bernie “My foreign policy credentials are I stayed home sick the day they voted on the AUMF” Sanders is Tulsi “My foreign policy credentials are I signed up to kill ragheads” Gabbard.
Steeplejack
@zhena gogolia:
“Clean margins.” The magic phrase you always want to hear!
Well, my commitment is to my mother and allowing her the dignity to control the last stage of her life, consistent with not doing anything completely crazy and ignoring reality.
Okay, that doesn’t look great in the mission statement—might need a little work—but you get the idea. I think my RWNJ brother is leaning too hard on getting her into “assisted living,” and the only place he has talked about is a “one size fits all” place that Mom didn’t like. She might be more open to one of those “continuum” places where she could start off with a “loner suite” and get integrated as she needs more help and as she realizes that “I still hate this place, but the afternoon drinks and snacks are pretty damn good.”
Like I said, I’ll get much more information when I get out there.
Steeplejack
@Sab:
Believe me, I know crazy family dynamics. A running joke with one of my oldest friends—who lives in Las Vegas, knows the whole family and whom I look forward to seeing while I’m out there—is that one time I thanked her for saying that I was the only sane person in my family, and she replied, “No, I said you’re the sanest person in your family. Big difference.” So I try to tread lightly through the minefield.
Miss Bianca
@OzarkHillbilly: Even when I smoked, I could never stand to smoke in the morning with coffee. Even the thought of it makes me gag.
Now, after dinner, with or without coffee, that was another story!
Miss Bianca
@rikyrah: You seem to be missing the point. Letting them die from influenza *is* the point.
Frankensteinbeck
@satby:
45% of Americans will vote against any politician who votes for gun control, in exactly the way they will vote against any politician who gives them the health care they tell pollsters they want.
J R in WV
@Matt McIrvin:
What soldier is she going to steal a heart from? What is she going to carry it in to the White House?
What was Tulsi’s MOS in the National Guard? Butcher? Pathologist? Probably not that, you need an MD just to start into that specialty.
Anyway, you get my point. She isn’t a combat trooper… which is what she’s talking about in the commercial. What a bananapants loon !!!
Miss Bianca
@Kay: I thought I heard somewhere (here?) that a will signed within a certain short window before death was invalid?
Steeplejack
@JPL:
I will. Even family drama can’t go on 24/7. And I do like Las Vegas. People here seem to hate it, but it seems like they all went there under duress for a business conference on the Strip or something. I don’t gamble and don’t go to the Strip unless there is some specific restaurant I want to go to. But Vegas is such a “hospitality industry” town that there are great restaurants all over.
It’s clean—everything dries up and blows away—and the infrastructure is good. In Henderson, where my brother lives, it seems like there’s a county rec center every mile or two. The traffic is a breeze to anyone coming from the East Coast or (probably) Los Angeles. And for eight months of the year the weather is amazingly beautiful. Just don’t go between Memorial Day and late September.
And there are a lot of different microclimates in the region—mountains, alpine meadows, Lake Mead, high desert, serious desert (Death Valley), etc. Last year in late September Mom and I drove out of Las Vegas at about 95° and within an hour were having a picnic lunch on Mount Charleston at 72°, thanks to a 4,000-foot elevation change.
// End Chamber of Commerce spiel.
Yarrow
@Steeplejack: Glad your wound is healing okay. Sorry your mom is where she is and that it’s a struggle. it’s so much easier when people make the decision themselves to move like Dorothy A. Winsor and her husband did. I think it happens when people have been through it with their parents and realize how hard it can be on the kids.
Sometimes the choices are not great and also not great. You all have to decide which not great choice works best. Making sure your mom gets properly assessed for how well she can live alone is essential. Someone up above mentioned assessing her cognitive state and abilities. I don’t know if she had anesthesia with her recent fracture but it can hasten an nascent memory issues in older folks. A neuropsych eval can help if you have questions about her cognitive state.
If you think she can live alone, you can always consult with an Aging-in-Place specialist to see what can be done to make that choice work best for her. Aging in place is a big trend in senior circles and there are things that can be done to make that choice easier for older folks. Hand rails can be put in place, steps can be turned into ramps, top shelves can be emptied so stepladders aren’t needed, etc. It might be worth a consult.
All that being said, senior living places can be lots of fun for seniors who may have been tied to home and somewhat isolated. I know quite a few seniors who resisted moving but once they did they made friends, joined activities and really perked up. Isolation is a be problem in the older population and can lead to many health issues. There are independent living wings of retirement communities where the resident might get one meal a day in a nice dining room, so sort of like a restaurant, but otherwise is independent.
Steve in the ATL
@Miss Bianca: depends on the state. Don’t know what the law is in this case.
Steeplejack
@Miss Bianca:
That was Steve in the ATL yesterday; I think he said 60-90 days. But someone else claiming to be a lawyer said that was wrong.
Steeplejack
@Yarrow:
Thanks, you’ve distilled (and added) a lot of points that I’ve been amorphously shoving into a Word file for future reference and expansion.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Steeplejack: I hope I’m not in the position of your mom in 10, 15, 20 years but afraid I will be that difficult person who wants to stay in their home. My wife and I are in our early 60s and know many people who have made the decision to move to assisted living, some much older, some not so much older.
So it’s a frequent conversation in our house, me being the one whining that I want to stay in my house forevvvver, waaah, and her trying to be the voice of “be realistic” reason. We’re in good health and very mobile now, but we don’t know how the future will go. We’re both pretty adamant that we want to make any such decisions ourselves rather than leave it to the kids.
What bugs me is that some of the people who have made that decision also seemed to me to be still healthy and mobile.
I hope that if I were in the position of your Mom, alone, having already had a fall and severe hip break, that I would be persuadable. I do accept that there comes a time in life when you need nursing assistance of some sort, wherever you are.
Yarrow
@Steeplejack: I forgot to add, before she goes home the therapy folks should offer to do a home assessment to check her out in her surroundings. It may be required. If not, you can insist. That can often be eye-opening for the senior person. They think they’ll go home and be able to do everything just like when they left but often they can’t. Having the therapy people “test” her on getting in and out of the bathtub/shower, reaching the box of cereal, putting clothes in the washer, emptying the dishwasher, etc. can identify areas where the senior could benefit from support and help.
Steeplejack
@Yarrow:
Yeah, good point. I really don’t know much about the schedule or what’s going on, and won’t until next week.
Yarrow
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: My recommendation is to start downsizing now. Do a little bit every day or every few days or once a week. Whatever works for you. Read “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning” for inspiration. Just start getting rid of stuff now so when that time comes, if you are disabled in some way, you don’t have all of it to do.
Also, if there are valuable and sentimental family items label them now. Put a note on the back and indicate who gets what item. Make a list and also tell the kids what you’re doing. That way they’ll know who’s supposed to get what. Cuts down on fighting later.
gwangung
That happened to my own mom, who was very resistant to going into a home. Now she’s pretty content, in that she gets a lot more social interaction and doesn’t have to worry about shopping or making her own meals.
Not to mention, the whole thing prodded me to make my own arrangements for care; I now have options (I hope) for either a facility or in-home help.
Steeplejack
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
My mom hasn’t had a hip fracture (yet). She cracked her pelvis, which seems to be like fracturing a rib. You can’t really do anything about it except restrict movement and manage pain until it heals.
Her home is all on one floor and well set up for an elderly person living alone, I think, but, as Yarrow said, a home assessment would probably reveal some issues. The thing I worry about from a distance is her getting in and out of the shower. She could really use someone coming over a couple of times a week to help her with that and, as someone else suggested, do some light housekeeping. She might need more than that, but it would be a good start.
Yarrow
@Steeplejack: You’re welcome. I’ve got a lot of experience in the senior arena so I’ll be on the look out for your comments. If you have additional questions once you’re there be sure to let us know. Happy to chime in but every experience is different so suggestions only go so far.
@Steeplejack: The therapy home assessment is really important. Make sure to ask about it when you go. It’s really good for everyone. Even if you think you’ve done everything to make the home safe for your senior the therapy folks put them through their paces and identify problem areas. That chair at the computer has wheels? Danger! The watering can for the plants is too big and heavy? Need a smaller watering can. Didn’t know mom usually eats in front of the TV on a tray table? How’s she going to carry the plate from the kitchen to the living room Etc.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Steeplejack: Ah ok, I misunderstood. So it sounds like some simple modifications and perhaps getting someone to look in on her would be a workable intermediate solution for now.
Kelly
@Steeplejack:
That worked for me. Back in the GWB maladministration one of my RWNJ relatives forwarded about a page and half anti Muslim bigotry. Between them they forwarded one or two RWNJ missives a week. Somehow this one was the last straw. I did a change all Muslim to that N word, added reads just like that to me and reply all. About a dozen smoking hot email exchanges over the following week and none of them has bothered me with their delusions since.
Yarrow
@Steeplejack: Re: getting in and out of shower, if it’s a walk-in shower grab bars can be added nearby. What’s on the floor? A slippy bath mat? You can use double-sided carpet tape to stick it to the floor so it doesn’t move. A tub/shower combo can be more challenging but again, grab bars can be added. Those are the kinds of safety assessments therapy folks can do.
Steeplejack
@Kelly:
My RWNJ brother quit forwarding bullshit email to me years ago because I would hit “Reply all” and Snopes the shit out of it, (hopefully) embarrassing him in the process.
(I note that the RWNJs have patched that hole in the bubble. A few months ago I punctured some particularly asinine Facebook thing he forwarded, and his response was: “Snopes? Really?” Apparently Snopes has been ruled “fake news.”)
I get his Facebook notifications because I turn them on when he’s on one of his trips—often it’s the only way to know what’s going on—and then I forget to turn them off when I come home. Now I just leave them on and try mightily to ignore the dumb-ass ones.
J R in WV
@J R in WV:
OK, I looked it up… she was assigned to a medical unit, so probably was a bedpan emptier or such.
Not highly trained medical staff, like combat medic, trauma nurse, paramedic type staff, just assigned to a medical unit.
Cleaning the floor, changing the bed, serving the meal trays, etc.
Now, I have the highest regard for the actual medics in the military. The nurses in the ICU units that saved wife’s life were most all male combat trauma nurse veterans. But that wasn’t Tulsi’s MOS at all.
Yarrow
@Steeplejack: Can’t you mute certain words in notifications? Maybe you could figure out a few he uses all the time and mute those. Might cut down on some of the noise.
scribbler
@Steeplejack:
Something else to consider. In spite of your brother being a RWNJ, it can be important to listen carefully to the sibling who lives in town, and who has to do the most work-day in and day out-to make sure the elderly parent is getting all the help they need. We recently went through this with our elderly parents, and it was truly shocking to realize (on my visits from out of town) how much my sister had to do-DAILY-just organizing and checking on the in-home helping services, doctor’s visits, etc., to make sure my parents could continue to live alone.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: We’re healthy and mobile. But a friend who lived in a senior community told us you can move too early or too late, and too early is better. You’re still able to enjoy all the activities, get out in the rest of the world, make friends, build a new life. We’ve found that to be true.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Yarrow:
I am a very light Facebook user, and I’m not up on all the nuances. I joke that my Facebook page is like that house down the street with a rusted car up on blocks in the (unmown) front yard.
He doesn’t post a constant stream of stuff, but when he does occasionally post something it’s usually some boneheaded thing that sets me off. And I think I’m already not getting all of his posts, because occasionally Bro’ Man (other brother, the squire of Sighthound Hall), will mention something that I didn’t see.
Yarrow
@scribbler: This is an excellent point. Senior care is HARD WORK and the person doing it has an idea of what it takes. Listen to them and even defer to the person/people who have to do the work and make the hard decisions in the moment. It can be exhausting work.
Steeplejack (phone)
@scribbler:
Good point.
Yarrow
@Yarrow: I should add that in this case if mom ends up staying in her home the bulk of the work will fall to Steeplejack’s RWNJ brother (and family?) to make sure it works. It’s hard work. There is so much to be done to make sure mom gets to doctor’s appointments, care for her if she has more health issues, etc.
Although there is family drama, I’m a firm believer that the person or people who are local get the most say in what to do (outside of the senior, of course). The people who are there have to do the bulk of the work and it’s lumpy, comes at inconvenient times, and upends lives.
blackcatsrule
@Steeplejack (phone): You’ve gotten a lot of good advice about your mother; may I suggest something about the housecat? Is it possible for you to hydrate her at home if she needs this on a long term basis? I was surprised at how easy it was to do, even with a recalcitrant, elderly cat. My vet provided the “works” and I just replenished the solution and needles as necessary.
a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
That was my mother’s experience. It helped that the facility she chose was one where she already had acquaintances she liked living there.
The varying levels of care she could select were a big help when she had a couple of serious illnesses. And she loved never having to cook!
Steeplejack (phone)
@blackcatsrule:
Yes, I will do this when I get back from the trip, if necessary. But with all of the craziness going on and one arm out of action it was easier to take her to the vet.
blackcatsrule
@Steeplejack (phone): Best wishes to you for continued healing (of self and kitty), a good trip, and a mom outcome as satisfactory as possible.
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
I would say YGTBFKM but this is something of a family blog. Other than the built in stuff, we didn’t have that much firepower on the tin can I was on in the navy.
Ruckus
@martha:
Friend was having problems with her dad. Upper 80s, state took away his license-he drove anyway, got in an accident, cops found a loaded gun in his car, got a court order to seize his guns, did but missed one. Friend had to find it and take it. Her brother lives with dad but he has issues and is worse than no help at all. She finally got him in home and he’s happy. They just don’t want to lose that “independence,” till they do and find out it’s better.
Steeplejack
@blackcatsrule:
Thanks.
We’re just back from the vet and had a nosh. (The housecat had to fast today because she was getting blood work done.) Now she’s back to dozing at her workstation. Test results come back tomorrow, and she also has an appointment to remove some fur mats, which have been bothering her.
debbie
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
I know you’re long gone, but don’t sell the CFPB short (ha ha). It was the CFPB who (with the help of many complaints) exposed the bullshit going on at Wells Fargo.
karen marie
I still don’t understand why, when time Bill Weld’s name is mentioned, everyone doesn’t fall down laughing or leave the room in disgust given Weld’s 2016 performance as sidekick to Gary Fucking Johnson on the Libertarian Party ticket.