Sunday, July 30, 2023

It Must Be Wonderful...


...having friends in high places.   Especially when they're just as morally bankrupt as you are.

Mark Twain said, "Diapers and politicians should be changed often, and for the same reason."

With the Biden Crime Family and their conspirators, that's true in spades.

It will drive you crazy if you dwell on it, this constant cavalcade of illegal, immoral behavior.

The politicians and media gaslight and bluster, the DOJ and FBI aid and abet.

Even the Secret Service is in on it; they can't figure out who had cocaine in the White House?

Please.

You'd like to think there could be a happy ending here somewhere, but it's hard to see how.  The damage they've done to this country is immense.

With the current state of our electoral system it may not matter, but I can't wait for 2024.




In happier news, the Twins Report was decidedly upbeat last week:

Both boys are doing better.  Their eye exams showed improvement; first time their parents received good news on that score.

And both boys are now bottle feeding; one of them is almost ready to make the transition from the hospital to home.

Very exciting!

Thank you for your continued prayers for my co-worker, his wife and their twin boys.

It has been a long and trying road, and they're not to the end of it yet - but it seems the finish line may finally be in sight.



We've had this dead tree marring the view in our backyard for a while now...



It's actually two trees together, and worse than the view is the danger factor; if they came down in a storm they could crash into our pool area.

So we got a quote on having them removed by a reputable outfit that was doing some work in our neighborhood.

These are dedicated arborists, and when you email them, you don't get a 2 or 3 line response.

No, they reply back with a doctoral dissertation on their mission and their heart for the work:

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your recent request for an estimate for your tree work needs. We appreciate your interest in our services and are excited to provide you with a quote that meets your needs and budget.

Our team of experienced and highly trained Arborists will be in touch with you soon to discuss your project in more detail and answer any questions you may have.

They will work with you to determine the best course of action for your specific needs and provide you with a detailed estimate.

If you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact your estimator, Boris*, directly at xxx-xxx-xxxx or via email at boris@happyarborlovers.com.*

They will be more than happy to assist you with any queries you may have.

At Happy Arbor Lovers*, we take pride in providing exceptional service and quality work.

Our team is dedicated to ensuring that you have a positive and stress-free experience from start to finish.

We value your business and look forward to the opportunity to work with you.

Thank you again for your interest in our services.

We will be in touch soon with your estimate and look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Happy Arbor Lovers*

* not their real name

And good to their (many) word(s), they did send "Boris" out to have a look...young, earnest, professional, affable.

A few days later we got the news: $4,000 to take down the dead trees.

So we decided to call someone Karen had heard about - A Cut Above - and they, too, came out to have a look.

I'm embarrassed to tell you their quote, but let's just say if you subtracted it from the Happy Arbor Lovers quote, you'd have enough to finance a weekend at your favorite B&B on Lake Michigan...


...including dining out, a sunset boat tour, and shopping for souvenirs.

And with what you had left over after all that, you could probably put a pretty good dent in next month's mortgage payment.


Raul came out this week on the hottest day of the summer and took down both dead trees, solo, in about 2.5 hours.

I gave him an extra hundred bucks, just out of guilt.

Here' the view now:



Much nicer, and safer, too.

Thank you, A Cut Above!



Had a happy turn of events this weekend; #1 son and a couple of his sons came over and helped move my 1956 Philco V-handle into our bonus room:



Had to remove the bonus room door, and it's a tight angle there due to the stone turret by the doorway, but many hands made light work and we got it done.



You probably remember the big deal about these refrigerators is their unusual ability to open...



...from either side...a unique feature that's made them the holy grail of kitchen appliances for MCM aficionados.



However, this one does have a defrost problem with the freezer compartment.  It keeps things plenty cold, but the door doesn't seal tightly - you can see there's no gasket around the door - so there's melting and dripping right at the door opening.

Gotta figure a way to solve that with insulation stripping or something.



Got this from History.com in my daily "this day in history" emails:



I've mentioned this previously, how we're living Orwell's 1984 and history is being rewritten to accommodate the current societal sickness.

Don't know about you, but I actually watched the Montreal Olympics on TV 47 years ago, and could have sworn it was Bruce Jenner who won the decathlon that year.

Who knew?

It was really Caitlyn in high heels and lipstick clinching the gold with her triumphant 1500 meters.

God help us.



Time for some Parting Shots...

apparently, there is no escape



got some much needed rain this week



you know someone like this



had 5 chances to 1 putt for par this week...



and left 2 of them like this, the others not as close...5 bogeys.



spotted a nestling hopping around, trying to fly



I miss the days when there were actual newspapers with local reporting, and not just AP retreads




Last weekend in July, folks...we're 2/3rds of the way through summer.

Don't know what's on your "summer fun" list, but I do know the runway is getting shorter by the day.



Time to get after it and make it happen.

later, mcm fans...

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Saturday, July 22, 2023

Happy Moon Landing Week...


...mankind's greatest accomplishment.   

At least it was when it happened back on July 20th of 1969, achieved with less computing power than you carry in your pocket today.

And it was done by brave men of great skill and strong character...

Armstrong, Collins, Aldrin

...gifted individuals who dedicated their lives to a worthy goal larger than themselves, and who worked tirelessly to accomplish what, just a few short years before, had seemed impossible.

When they succeeded, the world rejoiced with them in amazement and admiration.

Without question or dispute, America was the greatest nation on earth.

Of course, that was more than 50 years ago, long before we'd reached our current state of enlightenment.

Now we realize America is more racist than ever, more xenophobic than ever, more misogynistic than ever.

In our current state of self-loathing, it's unfashionable to honor our past, tainted as it is by our innate and unrepented evil.

No problem...we can focus on our many modern day achievements, ones that rival and surpass those from our shameful past.

Some great accomplishment during the Biden administration, perhaps?


I mean other than remembering which day of the week it is or not falling down in public for no apparent reason.

No rush...have a little think on it; we can wait...


Nothing?

Well, let us know if you come up with anything.

Meanwhile...




...Speaking of Moon Landing week...it was also Chappaquiddick week...

Mary Jo Kopechne, Kennedy's victim

...when then senator Ted Kennedy was given a free pass for the crimes of vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident, failing to report an accident, DUI...you name it.



And like the moon landing, this, too, was followed with great interest by the international press...


...whose admiration for America was no doubt tempered by our kid glove treatment of the (morally bankrupt) rich and powerful.

Watch the movie Chappaquiddick for an accurate and realistic rendering of those shameful events.



The Twins Report from my co-worker:

After a very tough week, the boys are making some progress.

Follow up eye exams showed some improvement, but they have another exam scheduled for next week.

One of them started bottle feeding, but the other is still breathing too fast for that to be practical.

As always, it's a mixed bag of some progress and some setbacks.

Your continued prayers are both needed and appreciated!




Enjoyed a decent round of hickory golf this week, and finished at 1 under par.


Don’t look at me like that; it’s true.

Was actually 2 under after 4, but got in trouble on 5 when I hit into the trees and ended up with a double bogey.

Then I bogeyed 6 with some inept putting, but righted the ship and got up and down for par on 7.

That left me sitting at 1 over, but I finished in a blaze of glory with 2 birdies in a row on 8 and 9.

In the clubhouse at 1 under par!

I know; amazing turnaround compared to my usual weekly outing, hey?

This might be a good time to mention...


...this was on Ryan's Hickory Golf Course in my backyard.

It wasn't supposed to be.

Tried to golf at my usual haunt - signed up for my normal 7 am tee time - but when I arrived I was informed the course was "closed for maintenance", whatever that means.

The young girl behind the counter said I could golf on one of the other 2 courses, but I explained I use hickory clubs from the 1920's...


...and gutta percha golf balls with a max distance of 160 yards.

The blank stare I got in return told me I might as well be speaking in tongues, so I didn't bother trying to elaborate.

But just to be clear, hoping for a good round using hickories and gutty's on the equivalent of a 6,100 yard course is kind of like hoping to douse an inferno with a squirt gun.

Came home and walked 9 on my backyard course, but hopefully I'll be able to tee it up on the real one next week.



Ok, line up by IQ points for a quick Cha Cha...


...through Parting Shots...

our future leaders



why some people remain childless



daisy's flying solo...


...after she got separated from the pack




Halloween in July?  Even I think it's too early.



the end of another tough day at the home for wayward felines



first Monarch




As always we here at the AMC appreciate your faithful if somewhat mystifying patronage.

And now -

having recharged your intellectual batteries from our unique selection of epistemic essentials, harvested from elite institutions of higher learning where they were organically grown using only the finest guano de toro spewed by the wokest professors this side of the Pecos

- it's time to get up off your keister and get after it.



later, mcm fans...

* Crass Commercialism Corner *

In the "so convenient you can't stand it" department, you can purchase my books on Amazon.com.

Get your paperback books here:



Get your ebooks here: