Don't think that yet another war started by the "president of peace" and chairman of the "board of peace" who campaigned on a promise "no more wars" will send me into a rage so fucking deep that I can't blog... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Health is Overrated! There's a fuck-ton of idiocy in the news this week, but I'm going to focus on one. Wanting an anti-science, anti-vax, medical residency drop-out dipshit grifter social media influencer as your fucking Surgeon General. No big deal. Just the health of all Americans at stake. Jesus Christ.

   
• Classic Dutch: Expert spots vulnerability in Dutch national security, gets trolled with a souvenir t-shirt for his efforts. "So I notified the Dutch CERT that a Dutch ship was using a satellite router with a default password and that it was exposed to the internet. They notified me that the vulnerability was mitigated and asked for my address to send me a T-shirt. At first I was worried, but today I received the shirt."

This is epic. Dutch government +1000 points. No notes.

   
• Cuteness Overload! I'LL TAKE FIVE!!!

Though I'm not sure how the cats would react. Probably not well.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Denmark to tackle deepfakes by giving people copyright to their own features. And it's fucking absurd if everybody else doesn't follow suit. We are getting to a point where AI can render new realities. Do you want anybody to be able to use your likeness to have you doing whatever they can dream up and it looks convincing enough that people think it's really you? Kids in school are already taking their own lives because assholes are releasing deepfakes of them in horrific scenarios, and the sooner we start introducing severe penalties for abuse the better.

   
• No Freedom for You! This story appeared in my Facebook feed a couple days ago: "Trans man jumps in frigid lake & saves baby from drowning: 'I wasn’t going to let that baby die'" — Could have just said "man" but okay.

Then right after that, this story appeared: "Kansas is suspending the driver's licenses of trans people. Just abject cruelty. Nazis also revoked identity documents from trans people."

What the fuck is it about trans people merely existing that makes people become total assholes? They're just trying to live their life the best they can with the cards they were dealt, so why the endless persecution? Why in the so-called "land of the free" can't they be free to be who they are?

   
• Shitter! Oh God. I knew Twitter was awful... but I had no idea. The second half of this video is terrifying...

The death and destruction caused by bullshit and lies promoted on Twitter is cause to shut it the fuck down.

   
• Political Inaction! I am not wired to handle physical credit cards and ID cards. Despite trying real hard to keep them all in the same place, I keep losing them. Which is why I love my Apple Wallet and Apple Pay. But some cards don't work with it. Including my Driver's License... because the fucking assholes in Washington State government are looking for more ways to tax us instead of doing shit that will make our lives easier. Mississippi has digital licenses, but the state claiming to be a bastion of technology doesn't? A bill has been in legislative hell for THREE YEARS without movement. Fucking useless politicians. Especially stupid given that this is a bipartisan bill It was sponsored by both parties: Mark Mullet (D), Phil Fortunato (R), Chris Gildon (R), Marko Liias (D), Joe Nguyen (D), Jamie Pedersen (D), Claire Wilson (D). God how I fucking hate political idiocy. We've also voted to make Daylight Saving Time permanent... that's going nowhere too. JUST GET THIS SHIT DONE!

   
• When it absolutely, positively, has to be a pain in the ass! Remember when you could just call FedEx, tell them you had a package to pick up, and they would take care of it? Not any more. I spend 40 minutes trying to get a package picked up. Couldn't do it. The company that sent me the label tried for an additional half hour. Couldn't do it. It's insane. You can't even go online and do it because you have to have an account or some other stupid crap. Service has gone right out the window. I used to love FedEx... now I outright loathe dealing with their bullshit.

   
And now back to yet another war, already in progress. Ironic that our commander in chief is calling upon the Iranian people to rise up against the government when Americans can't even fucking protest the government (as guaranteed in our Constitution) without getting fucking shot.

"I found what you're looking for... but you're not going to like it."

I've been wanting to frame the Disney pin lanyards that my mom and I got from our Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos trip. But I've hard a really tough time finding a shadow box frame long enough to display both the lanyard and the Angkor Wat visitor permit like I wanted... WITH REAL GLASS AND NOT ACRYLIC. I fucking hate acrylic, and it's most of what's sold now. The crap attracts dust like a magnet and scratches ridiculously easily.

But then a friend called to tell me that they saw what I was looking for at fucking Hobby Lobby. A place that disgusts me because of the owner's horrific politics. So I stopped in and, sure enough, there they were. The perfect frames. Exactly what I've been looking for. After trying to find something for years, I just bit the bullet and bought them... knowing full well that I'll be making a donation to Planned Parenthood in Hobby Lobby's name to offset the damage done by giving them my money.

They do look great. Though I'd like to replace the backing velvet with a deep blue so the black lanyard can be seen (instead of blending with the black velvet that's there now)...

I wish that such an abhorrent company like Hobby Lobby hadn't run all the competition out of business. I use them as only a last resort, but I'd rather not use them at all.

I should have tried to make my own, but I've only made frames... never shadow boxes.

Next time maybe.

Today was supposed to be a boring entry on the apps that I've got installed on Docker for my NAS. I had it all ready to go yesterday. All I needed to do was proofread it. And then I saw a news article that made my blood boil, so you're getting a rant instead.

I'll post the article in the next paragraph. But first I am compelled to tell you that I fucking loathe the US Congress. And, if not for them, this rant wouldn't be necessary. Here's the article...

British Columbia adopts permanent daylight saving time; western Washington an hour behind November through March — A shitty headline, because it's all of Washington. Not just "western Washington." But the article was probably written by an AI bot which thinks that western and eastern Washington are in different time zones, so what-the-fuck-ever.

Washington State would be right there with our brothers in the Province to the North of us (back in 2019!), thanks to RCW 1.20.052. But since Congress is FUCKING USELESS, we can't actually make the change. The best we can do is ignore Daylight Saving (like Hawaii and Arizona do) which doesn't require Congressional approval. But that would suck. And so... here we are... having to hope that Congress will eventually stop wasting time protecting assholes in the Epstein Files and other crap so they can get to the stuff that's been sitting on their docket FOR OVER SIX FUCKING YEARS.

Like not dicking around with the clocks twice a year. Something stupid as hell in the Year of Our Lord 2026.

So much for "States Rights." There is absolutely no end to my seething fucking hatred of Congress. And most politicians, really.

Anyway. See you again tomorrow, when you'll get that thrilling article on Docker.

Unless I read something in the news that sets off another rant. Which, let's face it, is extremely likely.

WARNING: This entry contains technical stuff most people won't care about!

Once I had finally saved enough money to replace my aging QNAP NAS (Network Attached Storage) system with shiny new UGREEN devices, I was dismayed to find that some of the apps I relied on were not available in their app repository. "ZOMG! WHERE'S PLEX?!?!" I screamed. "HOW CAN YOU SELL A NAS THAT DOESN'T HAVE PLEX?!?" Sure QNAP was always late to the table with updates to their apps, but at least they had apps.

Enter Docker...

"Docker is an open platform for developing, shipping, and running applications. Docker enables you to separate your applications from your infrastructure so you can deliver software quickly. Docker provides the ability to package and run an application in a loosely isolated environment called a container. The isolation and security let you run many containers simultaneously on a given host. Containers are lightweight and contain everything needed to run the application, so you don't need to rely on what's installed on the host."

Or, to put it another way, Docker lets you run the apps that aren't in your NAS's app repository.

Now, before I dig into it, there is something I've learned about Docker. Primary of which is that a lot of people are moving away from it because it's gotten bloated and resource hungry. There are even lighter alternatives being developed which do the same thing more efficiently. But none of them are in the UGREEN app repository like Docker is, and I don't want to take the time to learn how to manually install them. So here I am running Docker.

Not that Docker is easy, mind you.

Things can get very tricky when trying to install apps, even when you are following a step-by-step guide you found on the internet. You're still going to have to deal with SSH and config files (called "compose.yml") and other stuff that ain't a point-and-click process. You will have to get your hands dirty and that can be frustrating. I can say that the more you use Docker, the easier it gets.

The important thing to note is that despite some difficulties, I do have my apps up-and-running on my NAS now. I'm going to drop those apps here in case I ever need to refer back...

• Portainer. This is an app which let's you more easily manage apps with Docker. Something which is very much welcome. Half the tutorials I've found on the internet to install, alter, and maintain Docker apps use Portainer, so it should be the first thing you install.
• Watchtower. Updating your Docker apps can be a challenge, because you have to remember to log into your NAS often so you can see what needs to be updated. Watchtower handles this for you, grabbing the latest versions and installing them automatically.
• Pi-Hole. This is a "DNS sinkhole" that also allows you to do nice things like block ads on websites. Though I've found more and more websites are finding ways around being blocked by coding ads as if they're a part of the page, so it's not as useful as it once was.
• TailScale. This wholly remarkable app allows you to create a VPN (Virtual Private Network) between all your devices. This means you can securely access them as if you're sitting at home. I've installed it on everything from phone to laptop to tablet to every desktop I use, and it's fantastic. No more setting up wacky holes in your network to access stuff remotely. Lock everything down and let TailScale handle it! Whether I'm using Apple Screen Sharing to control my work computer from home... or feeding data to my iPhone from some service I have installed on my NAS, it's all just... there.
• Plex. The main reason I installed Docker was for Plex, the app I use to catalog and serve all my media (from videos to photos to music). It wasn't the easiest thing to get set up but, once I did, I just added the TailScale address for my NAS to Plex and everything works seamlessly. Far, far better than using the flakey remote access offered by Plex itself.
• Paperless-NGX. This is just too handy. It's like a repository for all the stuff you collect on the internet (or even Real Life). From recipes to notes to receipts... whatever. Just drop it into Paperless and it gets stored, cataloged, and converted to searchable text (if it's an image file). I've collected hundreds of vegetarian and vegan recipes over the years in all kinds of different formats from text files to screen captures to PDFs. They're all in Paperless now, and I've got them tagged for easy searches. Scenarios like "What was in that drink that I had in Hawaii?" used to be a mess because all I had was a photo I took of a menu at a bar. But now that the photo is cataloged in Paperless and tagged as "alcohol" and "Hawaii," it takes two seconds to find it instead of endless digging through files.
• Immich. This is a photo cataloging app that's very, very good. Far better than Apple's own Photos app (and UGREEN's Photos app too... maybe even Google's app!). And it's constantly being improved and updated with great new features. Since all my photos are already in my Plex folder, I just pointed Immich to it and that was it. Now I have all the cool Immich tools without having to re-catalog everything. So nice. And, just like Plex, I just enter my TailScale address into the apps on my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook, and I can get to my library wherever I am.
• IT-Tools. Over 50 tools that handle everything from temperature and date & time conversion to math evaluation. I do wish it included more useful every day conversions (like weight and measurements) but hopefully we'll get that eventually too.

Since discovering the joys of Docker, I'm sure there are several other apps out there that I will be installing. And there's a lot of apps out there.

So... my initial panic of UGREEN not having many apps has been resolved. About the only UGREEN apps I use now are Docker and Sync & Backup (I have a secondary cheaper UGREEN NAS in a separate location which regularly pulls all my data off my home NAS via TailScale so I have an off-site backup). Everything else is on Docker. Which has changed the way that I use my devices and store my data.

In a good way.

Yesterday Apple unleashed the MacBook Neo... which is not so much a MacBook, but an iPhone with a screen and keyboard. That's because it's using the Apple iPhone A18 Pro chip instead of the M-Series found in MacBook Air & Pro. And yet it runs all Mac apps out of the box, which is pretty cool.

And it's just $599 ($499 for students!). Or $699 if you want the memory upgraded from 256GB to 512GB.

It's a wacky topsy-turvy world where Apple has value for the money against the PC competition. Or, in this case, the ChromeBook competition. This is a great laptop for those who don't require the raw power of an M5 chip, which is overkill in a lot of ways for most people. If you're mostly surfing the web and writing emails, or taking notes in class, here's your machine. And it arrives in four colors...

The promo video is kinda fun...

What's surprising is that Apple didn't cheap out where they absolutely could have. It's got an aluminum chassis, a great keyboard (with TouchID on the $699 model!), a real trackpad, and a decent display (which is 13-inches, an inch bigger than the 12-inch Mac that I used for travel back in the day). The only thing that gives me pause is the mere 8GB of memory, but that's probably adequate for light computer use.

Earlier, Apple upgraded the MacBook Pro to a pair of bigger M5 series chips. My current laptop is the M2 Max with a MacBench score of 2749, so naturally I'm coveting the newer, faster, more powerful machine. For the work I do, it's looking pretty incredible. The base-model M5 from last year scores 4228 on MacBench... which means the new M5 Pro and M5 Max are probably a leap above that, pushing 4500 or higher.

Alas, the ads Apple created for both the US and UK are awful, which is a bizarre contrast to the Neo ad...

Ye gads what a mess.

I don't really have the money for a new laptop (I just had to pay $800 to get a pressure regulator installed on my water line because it was getting dangerously high for some reason), but given the time it would save me for renders and such, it might just be worth trying to scrape some money together to have it. I don't even know that I'd need the Ultra. The Pro is probably plenty. For now. Because once you get used to really fast renders, all you want is even faster renders.

Or maybe I should wait for the M6 models?

Why can't I be a millionaire who doesn't have to worry about the cost of always buying the latest and greatest.

And... Starbucks is "expanding" to Tennessee.

AKA: They are slowing relocating to Tennessee to escape the absurd taxes here in Washington State.

We're losing businesses at a steady stream while legislatures sit on their hands. MUCH LIKE THEY'VE BEEN DOING FOR DIGITAL DRIVER'S LICENSES AND PUSHING CONGRESS TO ALLOW US TO ADOPT PERMANENT DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME LIKE BRITISH COLUMBIA TO THE NORTH OF US HAS. Senators Patty Murray* and Senator Maria Cantwell* and my Representative, Kim Schrier, might want to look into saving Washington from themselves. Because if any more major companies move out, they'll likely make up the difference by raising our taxes even more. At which point people are going to be voting for whomever runs against them... no matter how big a dumbass they end up being.

I mean, just look at this bullshit... we're #2 in regressive tax policy circa 2024. After Florida. FLORIDA!

By "regressive" it means that the burden of taxes are mostly on low-to-middle-income families. And that should really tell you something. Because if most of the tax burden is on us... and businesses still want to leave because of high taxes... exactly how fucking high are our taxes? Monumentally huge. Insanely huge.

There's only so much gas in the tank.

And speaking of gas... it's averaging $4.50 in Washington State? Since Trump blamed Biden for that even though the president doesn't have much to do with gas prices, do we now get to blame Trump?

I swear... the broken way the USA governs itself is beyond stupid. At what point are Americans of all political parties going to come together for the common good and start over with a system which hasn't been corrupted to the point of idiocy? Americans can disagree on issues. That's bound to happen. But there are major points where we agree, and we should build from that. Not continue to pay a government huge amounts of money to act against our collective best interest.

But it's all special interest and billionaires running the show, and they don't give a crap about us.

   
*I am still raw over the fact that Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell voted against cheap drug re-importation from Canada over "safety concerns." AKA: They didn't want to jeopardize the cash flow from Big Pharma. Like we're supposed to believe that Canadians are dying left and right over "bad prescription drugs." Murray, facing massive backlash, eventually flip-flopped on her position... I have no idea where the fuck Maria Cantwell is standing. Probably wherever is paying her the most.

UPDATE: And, right on cue, look what popped up on my Facebook feed. An ad from Washington State House Republicans...

My GOD Democrat politicians are fucking stupid. They do stupid this shit while the Republicans walk all over them to gain followers, then whine like dumbass dipshit assholes when they lose elections. It's useless hand-wringing while wailing "HOW DID THIS HAPPEN TO US?!?. Democrats just LOVE to lose. They're designed that way. Or so I would assume. I mean, look where we are now.

On my Immich photo manager there's a "ten years ago" section which has been displaying pictures of Jake & Jenny when I got them a decade ago. Which means they're over ten years old? It doesn't seem possible. It seems like yesterday.

I took a lot of movies back then. And all of them are adorable. To me. Probably not to many other people though. I mean, look at this...

But it's the photos of Jake with Mufasa that are my favorites...

Even when Jenny wants to take Mufasa away...

Awwwwwwwww.

In world news... "In Sweden, new legislation has made it illegal to leave cats alone for long periods of time. This law is designed to improve the welfare of cats, ensuring they receive social interaction and care. It is part of Sweden’s broader animal welfare policies, which aim to protect pets and ensure their well-being." — This is interesting to me. I mean, I don't like leaving my cats, but there are times I have to. At first I was hiring a pet sitter to come take care of them, but that traumatized them more than being alone. They would hide when the sitter showed up, then not come out... even after they left. So I stopped doing that. Instead I make sure there are feeding robots and litter robots and water fountains and warming pads and the like. It's better for them.

I saw this and it reminded me of Jake...

Cheesecake eventually got switched to a new food that deflated her gassy tummy and helped her lose weight. Jake's just fat.

I may be fucked up because the fucking clocks were fucking changed again, which is fucking rough because I'm hard at work on this fine Sunday, but don't worry about bullets... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• For the Love of God, Make the Stupid STOP! Look, more people want us to go on permanent Daylight Saving Time than don't. Some of us are so fucking desperate to stop dicking around with the clocks that we're even considering permanent Standard Time (which is not a better option, but it is the only one you can make happen without getting the fucking dumbasses in Congress to ACTUALLY FUCKING DO SOMETHING). This is all so stupid. Just do it. Just make Daylight Time permanent and fucking MOVE ON FROM THIS BULLSHIT.

   
• Nacho! One of my favorite chefs is Saúl Montiel, who appears on Epicurious often. He's entertaining and a genius in the kitchen. Even when he's cooking with meat, I learn new things that I can then adapt into a vegetarian recipes. Yesterday I found that he recently made Perfect Nachos that are vegetarian from the jump. They look incredible...

Damn that looks delicious. No clump of stuff dumped on top of the chips, and when you grab one chip you don't take the entire plate of cheese as you would with cheddar. My next grocery order is going to include the ingredients for this bad boy. Best cooking tip you'll ever get from me... go to the Epicurious page and search "Saúl Montiel" to get more awesome tips than you can shake a spatula at.

   
• YOU FOLD IT IN! After Catherine O'Hara's passing, I'm seeing a non-stop parade of clips with her in them. But this is the first time I've seen her in LEGO. It's one of her most classic scenes...

Oh how I miss Schitt's Creek.

   
• Libarry! Every time I see the Obama Presidential Library in the news, I wonder what in the hell they were thinking...

I detest this design. It looks like a brutalist nightmare... lacking warmth, beauty, elegance, or architectural fluidity. It could have been so much more. I often wonder what type of statement these oppressive-looking monuments are supposed to be making. Whatever it is, this one feels opposite of the presidency it is supposed to be representing.

   
• Lanterns! It's interesting how James Gunn is trying his best to differentiate all the DC projects so they're not merging into sameness. And while I can't say that the concept for a cosmic-spanning character like Green Lantern to be trapped in a distinctly earth-bound scenario, I do appreciate that Lanterns is striving to be something different...

And then there's the rumor that Gunn wants to bail from his contract a year early because he feels at odds with his studio's new Paramount overlords. And wouldn't it be interesting if he returned to Marvel? Seems like Paramount would do just about anything to avoid that.

   
• NEWSFLASH: LLMs can unmask pseudonymous users at scale with surprising accuracy. For better or worse, I put my name on the shit I say. My name is at the top of the sidebar of every entry on Blogography. And my real name is used on all my social media as well. And, believe me, I struggled with whether or not I wanted to go that route. In The Beginning Times, it felt like more people were using a pseudonym than their real names, but I ultimately decided to skip past that. Who cares what I say? And then I got a reader showing up where I live, and figured I may have made a mistake (the threats were also having me re-think things). But now, decades later, it turns out that staying anonymous is a thing of the past. AI can unmask you with "surprising accuracy." I wonder if this will cut down on the number of people making "anonymous" threats? One can only hope.

   
• Frod! I think I shared this years ago. I bears re-sharing....

I do the same thing... for my cats.

   
• Denial Isn't Just a River In Egypt! Every time washed up, bargain basement Hercules homophobe Kevin Sorbo opens his mouth... it's either to say something shitty. Or work in movies like Meet the Spartans so he can kiss dudes...

That's it, Sorbo, put your back into it! Such a hypocrite. Lord what a piece of shit.

   
And now I'm going back to work. Feel sad for me since my circadian rhythm is fucked.

I honestly don't understand why the fuck people concern themselves with what other people are eating. Or, even worse, condemn people for their choices. A lot of times this comes down to "food influencers" shaming everybody for content. Telling people that their cheaper foods are garbage and they should be eating expensive organic stuff instead. Whether people can afford it or not. Or, in the case of truly fucking shitty "food influencers" (like the Queen of Bullshit Misinformation, "Food Babe" Vani Hari) dishing outright misinformation about food, and condemning methods of food production which they deems "bad" even though science may not support the claim. But influencers doesn't give a fuck. All they care about is the clicks for cash.

In my case, I simply don't want to kill animals to eat. Period. That's what guides my dietary choices. And, lucky for me, food options exist which help me achieve my goal. And, much to my joy, these options are getting more versatile, convenient, and delicious all the time. I am currently hopelessly addicted to Beyond Stack Burgers. I would eat them morning, noon, and night if the coconut oil content didn't cause me digestion woes. So instead I just eat them morning and night.

And, yes, I know what the fuck is in it. The ingredients are right on the package, so I don't need some shitty "influencer" to read them to me: Water, Pea Protein, Canola Oil, Refined Coconut Oil, Rice Protein, Natural Flavors, 2% or less of Methylcellulose, Potato Protein, Apple Extract, Salt, Pomegranate Concentrate, Vinegar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Potassium Salt, Dextrose, Spices, Faba Bean Protein, Vitamins and Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Niacinamide [Vitamin B3], Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [Vitamin B6], Cyanocobalamin [Vitamin B12], Calcium Pantothenate [Vitamin B5]), Vegetable Juice Color (with Beet).

And, yes, I know what the fuck the nutrition values are. That's printed right on the package too. The only problematic values to me are saturated fat (from the coconut oil) and the sodium (260mg).

But God-forbid I be allowed to make decisions for myself without somebody stepping in to tell me where I'm going wrong.

Lately I've been inundated with videos about why plant-based meats have "failed."

Most of it is the shitty fucking influencer brigade, praising people for finally coming to their senses by dropping horribly "unhealthy" fake meats and going back to real meat (mad cow, cancerous tumors, feces, steroids, and all). Because nothing screams "health" than having cow shit in your hamburger, I guess.

But the real story is more nuanced and interesting than that. Which is where actual journalism comes into play... like this story from Business Insider...

I'm glad they didn't leave out the fact that real meat is heavily subsidized by the government while plant-base "meat" is mostly left to fend for itself. This, coupled with the economics of scale, put fake "meat" at a disadvantage compared to the slaughterhouses. I'm happy to drive a (relatively) cheap car so I can afford my chosen diet (among other things), but a lot of people aren't. Though given the current high price of food, the extra money is a drop in the bucket compared to the total grocery bill which is hurting vegetarians and carnivores alike.

If "food influencers" truly gave a shit about people's well-being, they'd put their energy into advocating being able to afford food in the first place.

But that doesn't pay as well, so here we are.

I am used to multi-tasking. I do it all day long, and it doesn't matter if I'm at work or home. As I'm typing this, I have another window monitoring a data import for work, I have a video playing on my television called Betelgeuse Is "Eating" Another Star…and its Concerning, I've got a second video playing in the corner of my laptop where William Osman is responding to "Uncle Roger cyber bullied me", all while being careful that I don't smack into Jake who is sleeping against me. As if all that wasn't enough, I'm off-and-on answering a work email while thinking through some problems I'll have to resolve when I get back to the office.

I think nothing strange about doing a shitload of things at the same time. It's just how I am.

At least I didn't think it strange until the astronomy video Just. Got. Interesting, and I had to set aside everything else so I can focus on how the companion star is revving up Betelgeuse. Then it seems very strange that I am trying to do so much while something so interesting is being explained.

And... I'm back.

Though I just started the latest Kurzgesagt video, Let’s Travel to the Scariest Place in The Universe, so my attention to this blog entry may be fleeting.

But here's the thing about multi-tasking all the time... I find it almost impossible to wind down and do important things like... relax... and sleep. You would think that I would burn out and crash but it never happens. And that's getting to be a serious problem for me.

I am averaging just three to four hours of sleep a night.

The problem, however, is not that I am dragging ass all day and can't function... that's never been an issue (maybe because I traveled constantly for decades and jetlag wasn't an option). No, the problem is that I feel like I'm losing years of my life. Like I'm being burnt out day after day and it's only a matter of time before my brain implodes or my body gives out.

I'm not sure what to do about it.

Perhaps it's a problem which will resolve itself as I age. I simply won't be able to keep up with constant activity, so I'll slow down naturally.

Perhaps one day I'll discover that magical combination of meditation and exercise which fixes my ability to wind down.

Or perhaps I'll drop dead from pent-up exhaustion.

Whatever happens, I'm looking forward to finally getting a good night's sleep.

We are constantly under assault from those who wish to steal from us, harm us, or otherwise make our lives miserable. From telemarketers to spam emails, fuckers are everywhere.

And now there's AI. As with so many applications of this new technology, it's making our lives demonstratively worse. Then today I saw this...

Soon enough, AI will be too smart for tricks like this.

And then we're even more fucked than we are now.

Preston Rakovsky does street interviews about love. The majority of the time, they're very much worth watching, and it's an account worth following.

But this time? It's so great that I am compelled to share it. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a video... just this series of photos. The original is on Instagram here.

Peyton nailed it. He's got it figured out.

"Lower grocery prices on Day One."
—Some Lying Asshole

Yesterday after work I went to the grocery store for hamburger buns, bread, lettuce, and oat milk. I ended up forgetting the oat milk, so I wasn't able to have Captain Crunch Peanut Butter for dinner like I wanted, but I was able to have a Beyond Smash Burger, so it all worked out.

As everybody knows, grocery prices are astronomically high in the USA... and getting higher thanks to an ill-intentioned*, ill-conceived**, ill-planned***, ill-legal**** (haaaa!) war that's directly responsible for gas prices escalating which causes food prices to escalate even worse. That's on top of the fact that my local market in my small city already has high prices.

As I was standing there in the bread aisle, this is how my thinking went. "The buns I like are on sale, but they're still over $2 more than the cheap buns that aren't very good. Is it worth paying $5 for a package of hamburger buns that I know will make for a more enjoyable meal? I guess so. But damn." Sure, $2 doesn't sound like a lot, but it all adds up, which means I have less money to spend on something else.

I walk out of the grocery store having paid twice as much as I should have for a minimal amount of food, but am feeling grateful because at least I have the option to afford food. I'm betting a lot of people now-a-days would be grateful to have enough money to afford even the cheapest groceries available.

Somebody needs to study history. Starvation has always been a major catalyst for revolution, and we've got a serious problem which will only get worse now.

Especially if the next season of Ted Lasso sucks.

   
*You will never convince me that the "no more wars" president isn't actually starting a war to distract from the Epstein Files or his intent to suspend elections by encouraging a revenge terrorist attack on American soil. Probably both. More and more the Files reveal that he's fucking guilty of some heinous shit... and he can't afford to lose the mid-terms because it could flip the House and Senate, which would curb his insane power ploy to grift the country and stay out of prison. Or God-only-knows what else, since he's committing new crimes daily.

**Gas is already incredibly expensive. And, while the president doesn't set gas prices (despite the current president previously blaming other presidents for just that), a war with Iran... which controls the all-important Strait of Hormuz... would obviously directly affect gas prices. But he doesn't have to give a fuck, because the American people pay for all those Air Force One golf trips, not him.

***As in there was no planning at all. Remember when Hillary Clinton was mercilessly dunked for Benghazi? Well, thousands of Americans are stranded in the Middle East, Americans and innocents are dying, and the only thing the president can say about it is that "Things happened very fast." Jesus Christ.

****The president is Commander in Chief of the military, yes, but he does not have the ability to declare war, requiring the approval of Congress. You could even invoke his violation of the UN Charter given that this was not a response, but spun as a "preemptive strike" which is bullshit. Because either the president was lying when he said Iran's nuclear program was "obliterated"... or he's a dipshit who doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about.

Jenny is a spoiled little princess. Furthermore, she knows it.

She is very aware that if she starts fretting or crying, I'll do whatever it takes to make her happy. And the older she gets, the more she exploits it. Wednesday night, for example, I moved her warming pad on my bed because it was cold and I wanted her to have a comfortable place to lay while she got her nighttime pets.

She did not like this!

She stood in front of the pad and started crying. But I couldn't move it because she was in the way. So she went from unhappy to frustrated and tried to walk around it. But there wasn't enough room, so she started meowing while I tried to move it around her.

It was an ordeal, to be certain.

And she was most put out over it.

Last night I went to bed with a headache. The cats, who care nothing about my bullshit, followed me up so they could get petted and sleep next to me. Eventually they both left, at which point I fell asleep.

Then, at 1:22 in the morning, I was awakened by both cats running into my room and jumping on me. A part of me wanted to go downstairs to try and figure out what got them so upset, but my head hurt too much. I figured I'd wait until they calmed down and left so I could go back asleep. Except they didn't leave.

So I did.

I took my pillow and went downstairs to sleep on the couch.

And when I woke up, this was my view...

Jake sleeps on top of me every chance he gets. Today I've been working on the couch, and he's been sleeping on my legs all day. So I'm not surprised that he sleeps on me at night too.

Snow at last. Snow at last. I still think we're going to be in the middle of a drought come Summer, but on Friday there was finally snow. Quite a lot of it actually. But don't you worry about me... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Nowalla, Part Deux! Remember location-sharing apps from back in the day? The primary players were FourSquare and Gowalla. My hands-down favorite was Gowalla, which made exploring fun and had stamps you could collect. I was such a fan, that I bought my own Gowalla stamp for Blogography HQ...

Then one day Gowalla shut down after being acquired by Facebook (I'm positive that Facebook bought it just to kill it because they didn't want any competition for their "check-ins"). All the stamps I collected, all the places I logged, all the travels I shared, all the objects I found, all the spots I founded... not to mention my custom stamp... were gone. We were promised that we'd be able to download our data, but it never happened. I'm still a bit raw over it. Then it was announced that Gowalla would be relaunching back in 2021. I somehow missed that the new app was released in 2023. At which point it immediately ceased development. When I found it last week, I downloaded it just to see what it was like. And it was shit. All the charm was gone. And of course none of the stamps or any other stuff from the original was still there. It just lets you share your location with friends in a boring way... like Facebook... and they shouldn't have even bothered.

   
• Lil'! Just the internet doin' it's internet thing. And right now the internet is obsessing over Lil' Finder Guy. He briefly appeared in Apple marketing for their new MacBook Neo...

Now he's been modeled and is popping up everywhere...

From Basic Apple Guy

He's based on the Apple Finder logo which Apple appears to be playing with...

Apple marketing is waking up, it would appear.

   
• New! And speaking of Apple's MacBook Neo, the reviews are starting to hit and it's more impressive than I thought it would be. I selected this one to share, because it nicely puts things in perspective...

Nice! But not shocking. The A-series chip in an iPhone is very capable. I just wasn't expecting it to be this capable in a laptop. It's marketed to people who want to do simple things and have no need for the power of a MacBook Pro. But apparently you can still use it for Pro things.

   
• Human Clay! I had seen the story that Aardman, the company behind some of my favorite animation, was in danger of shutting down because the company making the clay they use was being shut down. It was nowhere nearly so dramatic, which I found out from this video I saw last night. Still, it's interesting...

If nothing else, I'm a little encouraged that this video dispells the idea that Aardman is going to give up on hand-hewn clay to tell their stories and start using 3D modeling instead.

   
• Crumbley! My undying love for Zoey Deschanel cannot be overstated. I thought I was alone in finding Crumbl cookies do not even remotely live up to the hype. Most times I find them to be a lump of sugar that are underbaked. Other times I enjoy the topping more than the cookie underneath...

I've had one cookie I enjoyed from Crumbl, and it was no more special than other bakery cookies I've had. It was essentially a soft version of a big OREO cookie with OREO crumbs on top.

   
• No Love Like Christian Hate! This is absolutely fucking outrageous...

If you're going to imply that Mayor Zohran Mamdani had something to do with 9/11 and call him an "enemy" because of his faith, then are you also going to tie every atrocity committed by Christians to every Christian in this country? All the shootings and bombings by self-professed Christians means that Christians are "the enemy within the gates?" It shouldn't be a surprise that Tommy Tuberville is dropping stupid racist shit like this. That's all he does. And he can't comprehend what "freedom of religion" means in the "land of the free" so ignorant dipshit bigoted crap and lies are all you get. And lest we forget that his "Tommy Tuberville Foundation" gave less than 18% of the money it took in to actual charity. So even if he wasn't already douchebag, he'd still be a piece of shit. Just look into how he treats our military veterans. How he treats any American who isn't Tommy Tuberville. This is the guy who calls Democrats "a satanic cult," but his every action just proves where true evil is, and it looks him in the mirror every morning. Tommy proudly processes to be a member of The Church of Christ, but is one of the lease Christ-like people on the planet. I have Muslim friends who are worth a hundred of him. A thousand of him. It's not hard when they're being compared to inhuman garbage.

   
• I'm a Meme! This is a better story than it has a right to be...

Fate, sometimes, has other plans.

   
• Aeon! One of the most amazing apps I use on a regular basis is Aeon Timeline. It's mainly a writing tool, but I started using it to outline projects at work and it's a complete and total game-changer. Of course if you are a writer, it is a godsend. I haven't found an easier way to organize my thoughts for events in time... no matter what they may be.

If you need to work with timelines for whatever reason, it's worth a look.

   
Since the snow hasn't all melted yet, I'm going to be cowering in my home all day. If I get ambitious, I might clean my house and wash clothes.

My mom was a huge murder-mystery fan. She devoured the Agatha Christie novels, loved TV shows like Columbo, Perry Mason, and Murder She Wrote. So when the novel Post-Mortem was getting huge buzz, she added her name to the list at the library so she could read it. This was, of course, the debut novel featuring medical examiner Kay Scarpetta by author Patricia Cornwell. And thus began my mom's longtime fandom of the series. I read some of them she thought I'd enjoy, and thought they were entertaining reads.

Due to the series' early successes, Demi Moore (who was riding high off of Ghost and probably A Few Good Men) was attached to star as Scarpetta in the film adaptation. As a huge fan of her work, I was looking forward to it. Except it never happened.

Fast forward to now, and Amazon Prime has come out with a series adapting both Post-Mortem and a much later book I never read. To have that make sense, there are two different sets of actors portraying each character in each time period. Most notably, Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis as the older characters.

And despite the A-list talent and good source material, the Prime series is shit and I couldn't even get through the first episode.

First of all, the attempt at weaving together two storylines from two time periods is a failure. The connections don't really connect and the ping-pong narrative between past and present is a distracting mess. Maybe it evens out by the end, but I sincerely doubt it. I would have much rather them just adapt the complete book to let the story unfold more naturally. But the worst thing is the characterization of Scarpetta herself. Far from the analytical genius in the books, the adaptation is all about artificial drama that you'd be hard-pressed to give a crap about. Idiotic screaming fights are not what Scarpetta is about.

I never got far enough in the books to know that Lucy got married to a woman that eventually died, but I went running to the internet to find out if she created an AI of her dead wife in the books, because it seemed too randomly stupid for Patricia Cornwell to exploit. And, of course, it's not in the novels at all. Just another random attempt at padding out the source material that fails.

I know that Reacher is not 100% faithful to the books. But it still works because the character is faithful. So much so that it's almost impossible for me to read the books now without picturing Alan Ritchson in my head. The show-runners worked overtime to make sure that this was the case, which is why I love the adaptation so much. But with Scarpetta it's the exact opposite. The character is so divorced from the source material that I don't picture anybody from it in the books at all.

One of these days Hollywood is going to wake the fuck up and realize that the books they are adapting are popular for a reason. And deviating from them for whatever reason is a stupid mistake that rarely manages to improve on what people fell in love with in the first place.

But, as Scarpetta makes so vividly clear, that day is not now.

The first non-meat burger I ever had was at Johnny Rockets in Santa Monica. I was in L.A. for work, staying at the lux Miramar Sheraton Hotel. Wanting something to eat, I wandered down the nearby 3rd Street Promenade and was draw to the smell of Johnny Rockets, a restaurant chain I had never heard of before. I was only a few years into being a vegetarian, and thought for sure that I would be ordering a grilled cheese with a side of fries. There just weren't a lot of vegetarian options at a hamburger restaurant, and that's what I almost always ended up ordering.

But there was something strange on the menu.

It was called "The Streamliner" and claimed to be vegetarian? How could I resist that when the smell in the place was so intoxicating? So I ordered one, hold the grilled onions, expecting the worst. Veggie burgers of the day were always either 1) made from unappetizing chunks of vegetables and mushrooms or 2) some soy monstrosity which had the texture of shoe leather.

Imagine my absolute shock to find that it was actually a delicious burger with a sublime texture. It was everything I ever wanted in a burger that was reminiscent of a beef burger, but without having to kill a cow. It was love at first bite, and I would be going out of my way to visit Johnny Rockets at every opportunity... announcing it to anybody who was reading my blog "Rockets, bitches. Rockets." And I did that for many years.

After a while I learned that the burger Johny Rockets used was called Boca Burger and though it wasn't the same, I found them in stores and started buying them to eat at home.

Then one day I went to the Johnny Rockets at the Maine Mall... minutes after landing and picking up my rental car at the Portland International Jetport in 2018... only to find that The Streamliner had been discontinued. Replaced with a gag-inducing "burger" that claimed to be a "black bean burger" but was unlike any good black bean burger I'd ever had. I was absolutely gutted. A once favorite food had been destroyed. I never ate at Johnny Rockets again.

Then a miracle happened. Burger King unleashed their "Impossible Whopper"... something I discovered on one of my many work trips to Las Vegas in 2019. It was incredible. And, because Burger King was everywhere, a lot easier to get than Johnny Rockets. And so there it was. No matter where I was traveling, I was ignoring local specialties and buying Impossible Whoppers. What a great time to be alive.

But then... something changed over the years.

The burgers tasted the same, but the produce would vary widely. Sometimes the burgers were perfect, sometimes you'd get wilted lettuce, unripe tomatoes, or stank onions, and the experience was terrible. And I started ordering the Impossible Whopper with cheese because otherwise they'd take it out of the tray instead of off the grill and it wasn't hot. If you ordered cheese, they'd at least microwave it so it was warm when you went to eat it.

So now I go to Burger King rarely, the experience having been ruined. I understand that Johnny Rockets eventually realized their mistake and are now using Impossible Burgers, but there's nothing local and it's just not worth going out of my way to get there. Not any more.

Buying burgers for home was equally depressing. Boca Burger was bought out by Kraft and utterly destroyed. Morningstar Farms was never great, but I preferred them over other options because usually burgers released by Impossible or Beyond were an inch thick and you have to choke them down.

But then I discovered Beyond Stack Burgers recently, and everything changed.

I don't stack them (because multiple burgers causes me intestinal distress)... but I do smash them. Not from frozen, but I microwave them for 30 seconds so they're smashable. It's important that you coat the food-turner with the oil that melts out of the burger first so it doesn't stick to the burger and destroy it, but the result is 100% delicious, and I eat them way more often than I probably should.

The fact that the burgers come 8 per pack, thus matching the 8 buns you get in a bag of buns is just a bonus.

So of course I'm now living in fear that Beyond Foods will go out of business or discontinue their Stack Burgers or "improve the formula" or some such bullshit. History has taught me it's an inevitability.

One of these days, I really need to try making my own burgers. Usually when doing this I find a recipe online that's close to what I'm looking for and adjust it until it's to my liking. But I have yet to find a recipe (or more likely a "copycat recipe") which is even remotely like what I'm looking for.

In the meanwhile, I'll just keep buying my beloved Beyond Stack Burgers and enjoy them while they last.

With each passing day humanity seems to dumb-down to entirely new depths.

From flat-earthers to anti-vaxers to the idiotic "us vs. them" divisions that plague us, I grow more and more disillusioned with our ability to survive an increasingly hostile future. You have to be smart... be able to think your way out of situations and move forward... but it's tough to do that when science is being vilified and critical thinking has become passé.

And it all starts with people buying into misinformation idiocy...

I haven't related to a cartoon more than this one in a long while.

And I'm beginning to wonder if I'm relieved that we're becoming too stupid to continue.

We kinda deserve it.

Annnnd... just like that, the snow from the weekend is gone.

It had a good run, but was already melting away on Monday, was mostly gone by Tuesday, started disappearing from the hillsides by Wednesday, and now you'd barely know it was here and the weather is so warm that I've been wearing T-shirts.

So while I was thinking we might get a few extra weeks grace from drought, now I'm wondering if it was enough snow to make a difference. I guess it all depends on what's going on in the mountains.

On the up-side, the good thing about having a dead lawn is that you don't have to mow it.

I had to go to the Big City on a work errand today. While I was waiting, I remembered that my driver's license will expire soon, so I went online to renew it. Except I couldn't renew it online. And that's when I noticed that now you can make appointments at the DMV. How handy is that? What was even more surprising? My appointment time actually meant something, and I was in-and-out pretty quick. Interestingly enough, I had the option for an eight year license! And, for good measure, I went ahead and got an "enhanced" license since I had my passport and a pile of mail with me, which allows me to use it at airport security and stuff.

My visit was a far cry from DMV visits in the past. No longer an exercise in torture filled with assholes. Everybody was actually nice.

While I was waiting for my appointment time, I was looking at Facebook and this popped up on my feed...

Kinda embarrassing to be laughing in the waiting room of the DMV.

My cats are being absurdly fickle again.

I always grab a few random cans of food when I go to the pet store, just so I can know which foods I can get if the food I normally buy for them is out of stock or discontinued.

One of the foods from my last haul was so favorably received that I decided to buy some of it to add a little excitement to their lives.

You know what happened next. They turned up their nose to it.

And so... the cans are going to the back of the cupboard. This is what I do when this happens, because many times when I try it again later, they're obsessed with it again. And if not? I give it to the neighbor's cats, because they aren't at all picky like my spoiled little kittens.

In other news, Jake has gotten so comfortable laying on me that he now has no problem at all giving himself a bath...

Not only that, but he makes for a great foot-warmer on cold days...

And of course both of them are still sleeping with me. I regularly wake up to find them somewhere on my bed...

Now it's time for me to try and sleep. A task my cats excel at.

Blergh. I was too tired to work last night, then didn't feel like working on Saturday, so here I am trying to get it all done on Sunday night. Just like I was back in school! But don't think that's going to keep the bullets from flying... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• D2! One of my most favorite video games of all time is Minecraft Dungeons. I love it so much that I ended up buying it for my Xbox S|X because the copy I had for my Nintendo Switch ended up stuttering when there was too much stuff happening on-screen at the same time. Fortunately, that's mostly cleared up on the Switch 2, even though the game hasn't been optimized for the platform. I have been yearning for a sequel ever since I played through the last of the DLC packs, and was beginning to give up hope. And now? Minecraft Dungeons 2, baby!

Such a fun game. I hope the sequel is beyond my expectations.

   
• Centimeters! This is the funniest thing I've seen in a minute, and I'm compelled to share it...

The pain on his face! Oh noes!

   
• Future Imperfect! Yeah, I don't know how "real" this video is, but the trajectory of what's being said seems like it's entirely accurate...

Which means this is nothing less than a horror film.

   
• The Source! WHAT A NOVEL CONCEPT! WHEN ADAPTING A BOOK INTO A MOVIE, STICK TO THE SOURCE MATERIAL THAT PEOPLE ALREADY LOVE!

I'd say this is a no-brainer, but soooo many books I was dying to see adapted got fucked up beyond recognition. So, in that respect, Ryan Gosling is a fucking genius. But there's always some director or some studio exec who wants to "put there stamp" on something... which is just saying that they don't want to do their job. Your "stamp" should be STAYING FAITHFUL TO THE SOURCE MATERIAL! I can't wait to see this film because I loved the movie so much.

   
• Fade Left! Oh man. Coming from Washington State, I assumed that I could make a free left to a one-way everywhere. I shudder to think how many times I've broken the law when driving in other states. AND NO FREE LEFTS AT ALL IN MAINE??...

I used to go to Maine twice a year for work, and took free lefts ALL THE TIME! Yikes. It's a miracle that I didn't end up with a ticket.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Afghan father, former U.S. military ally, dies in ICE custody in North Texas. — I am disgusted to my very core. This man risked his life to save the lives of American soldiers in Afghanistan. He's a hero to this country. He was brought here legally. He was in the process of immigrating legally, as was promised him. By all accounts he was doing things "the right way." And yet he was still abducted by ICE and is now dead. We may never know what ACTUALLY happened. What we do know is the promise of ICE removing only "illegal" criminals is a fucking lie. The blood is on our hands for allowing this. There's a right way and a wrong way to go about the immigration challenges we face. This is the wrong way.

I hope his family sues. I hope they win millions. But it will never be enough to compensate them for their loss. Nothing ever will be. Rest in Peace Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal. You deserved so much better at our hands.

   
• Meta Versed! Apparently Mark Zuckerberg's "Metaverse" is now dead...

Which is essentially makes it NFTs 2.0...

Apparently Meta wants to take the billions of dollars they were pumping into the "Metaverse" and instead pump it into AI. And while I never cared about the "Metaverse" and wished them well, I don't have the same attitude when it comes to AI. I want that bullshit to become NFTs 3.0.

   
• Dig Duggar! So there I was looking through the news when I saw that old story about one of the Duggar kids from 19 Kids and Counting being arrested for child sexual assault or misconduct or something horrific. I didn't understand why they were rerunning the story from years ago until I realized it was a different Duggar...

I was just relieved that it didn't turn out to be one of my favorite YouTubers, William Osman...

For the love of God I don't understand this country's love affair with conservative evangelical "Christians." It's become a cult which seems to be encourages this kind of shit. Because when you can commit heinous crimes then it all disappears when you beg God for forgiveness, how could it not encourage it? But, yeah, keep blaming drag queens and trans persons for the crap that these assholes are guilty of.

   
And... back to work.

For the past couple months, it feels as if time is passing me by. It's Monday and I brace myself for a busy week... then all of a sudden the weekend is here and I'm mentally and physically exhausted.

All the plans I have and all the things I need to do seem impossible. Anything beyond laying on the couch and watching television feels out of reach. Then I blink and it's Monday again.

Maybe this is normal as you age? The good news is that, at this rate, I'll perish soon, and finally be able to get some sleep!

And, on that note...

I had a ridiculous crush on Miss Tessmacher in Superman: The Movie back in the day. Valerie Perrine played her so flawlessly... a bit ditzy, but smart enough to have things figured out and know the score...

Rest in Peace.

Thanks to all of you who are flooding my social media with birthday wishes! Now that I'm officially old and slow, it will take a while to reply to all y'all... but I'll get there eventually, because the outpouring of kindness means the world to me!

But so does money. Money is great. Feel free to send money as well. In fact, if you would rather not spend your precious time sending a happy birthday message, you can just skip that part and send money. I promise I'll appreciate it just as much. If not more. Probably more.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! Dave2, Jake, and Jenny.

I know it's an honest mistake, but that's not me in the video.

But that's an adequate representation of what it's like for me getting out of bed every day.

Guess what... it's allergy time!

I went outside to take photos for my landscaper and came back in with itchy eyes and a runny nose. And so... it's time for me to be miserable for a while as my body adjusts to this assault on my mind, body, and soul. Or so it feels. All I know for sure is that I want to move to Antarctica this time of year.

In other news, it's official. I can't buy any more spices thanks to The Spice House coming out with two must-have-blends that filled out my spice drawer.

Back of the Yards is an instant favorite. It's the perfect blend of salt, pepper, garlic, sugar, shallots, peppers, and parsley, which tastes phenomenal on my Beyond Burgers! So crazy good.

Golden Herb Salt is one of the best vegetable toppers I've ever had... featuring salt, garlic, mustard, onion, MSG, pepper, parsley, rosemary, oregano, turmeric, and mace! I have all these spices already, but any attempt to make this blend on my own would never get a balance this good, so I'm content to leave it to the professionals.

To make room, I had to remove my Spice House Sea Salt & Tellicherry Pepper (fine, coarse, and peppercorns) and they're next to the stove now. And I had already moved my Dutch cocoa and put it with my coffee service.

We won't discuss how Spice House changed their labels, so now the non-matching designs sets my ADHD on edge. Not only that, they've drifted upwards... and one of them was crooked...

WHY? LORD, WHYYYY? It's like when they change the design of book covers half-way through a series and now nothing matches any more. How am I supposed to live this way?

Back in December of 2024 my faithful Toyota Corolla died. I had helped my mom purchase it in 2006, then took it over when she could no longer drive. Afterwards I donated my Saturn to the veterans, and the Corolla rolled on with not too many problems (except the brakes, which I had to replace in 2024). I am not a "car guy" so my plan was to drive the Corolla until it died, which I did.

My sister made it clear that I had to run out and get another car so I could make it over the mountains for Christmas. Not trusting myself to get a used car because I'd have no idea what to look for (I worried about inheriting somebody else's problems) I went to the Toyota dealership and asked for the cheapest car they had.

Which turned out to be another Toyota Corolla. It was so new they hadn't even gotten all the plastic wrapping removed.

After waiting for them to get it ready, I went for a test drive and ended up buying it. It was a car that could get me from Point A to Point B, and that's all I needed to know.

The car is fine. Nothing special. And since I have nothing else to blog about today, here's my thoughts.

• I like blue cars. All my cars have been medium-to-dark blue. But since I needed the car immediately, I got what I got. Which is grey. I didn't care. The issue is that this kind of grey is everywhere now because all the car manufacturers have been releasing new models with it. The tone is slightly different between manufacturers (mine has a nice purple-ish blue undertone), but this is the color of the moment. Which can make it a challenge to spot your car in the parking lot. I have walked up to totally different brands (and even other Corollas) from the beginning. I'm still doing that.
• Like all modern cars of this class, the construction isn't the greatest. I had random squeaks and creaks from the first week. It's disappointing, but unless you have $250K to spend, it's what there is.
• One of the features I was happiest to have was CarPlay. It's a screen that allows you to control stuff while using your iPhone as the "brain" of the car. The problem is that Toyota's system software is shitty, which means it doesn't always automatically connect to my phone. 75% of the time I have to press a button on the display to initiate it. And it pisses me the fuck off. Once I select CarPlay, I don't ever want to see the Toyota system ever again.
• Another feature I was thrilled to get was a wireless charger. Except the charger is shit. It doesn't work at all. It will start charging, but then fail-out in a minute. I have the most popular phone in the entire fucking world, and Toyota's charger won't work with it? And it's not just me... everybody complains about it. Why the fuck say that you have a wireless charger if it doesn't actually wirelessly charge anything? Toyota should be sued for lying and forced to fix it.
• One of the coolest features that comes with the car is remote access. You can remote-start the car, unlock the car, and the like. After a year it stopped working and you have to pay for it. And that's fine. I know that the cellular communication required isn't free. I don't mind at all. Except you can't just buy the remote access by itself. You have to pair it with Toyota's music service (when I already have iTunes and Google Music) or pair it with their mapping service (when I already have Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze, etc.). It's so fucking stupid, and I won't do it. Just let me buy the part I want, assholes.
• The backup camera (which I think it required in American cars now?) is nice, but it would be equally useful to have a forward camera that you could engage when pulling up to something in tight quarters. I wonder why auto manufacturers don't get on that?
• I was going to buy an electric car because electrical power is relatively inexpensive where I live. But I balked at the idea of having to purchase a new battery when this one dies, seeing as how they're almost as expensive as the car itself. Since I don't drive a lot, I went with gas-powered, figuring it would be cheaper in the long run. But now regular unleaded gas is $5.49 a gallon where I live thanks to the president being a dumb fuck asshole who needed a war with Iran to distract from his being named in the Epstein Files. All over nuclear weapons he had already "decimated" with his last distraction. Now I wish I had spent the extra money to go electric.
• This Toyota is slightly wider than my old one. Over a year later and I'm still not used to it. I have to turn into parking spots later than I used to in order to be centered, and it messes with my head. This is a basic car, not a luxury vehicle. I'd prefer something more narrow, not more wide.
• My car is nearing 16 months old and I've never washed it. I just let the rain clean it. When it's not raining, it's a bit dirty but I just don't care.
• The car comes with blind spot indicators on the side-mirrors. It's a nice feature, but I remain paranoid that they will fail, so I still do too many head-checks.
• The car also has lane guidance and proximity detection. This means that if you drift out of your lane, your car will guide you back to the center. If you come up too close to the car ahead of you, your car will slow down. Both would be great if they worked consistently, but they really don't. So I leave them turned on and stay on high alert like I always have.
• I have yet to read the manual. Which is nothing special... I've never read the manual for any car I've ever owned. But in this case I should read the manual because the electronics are so much more complex. Many times needlessly so. I want to make the dashboard illumination brighter. No idea how to do it. Instead of a knob somewhere, I'm guessing there's some menu setting hidden in a maze of menu settings. Annoying.
• I found out that it's next to impossible to purchase the base model of any car. Manufacturers make a base model so they can say the car is cheap... but dealerships make less money on them and don't want to carry them. So you always have to buy "packages" with extra features you probably don't want or need. That was definitely the case with my car. I paid nearly $3,000 over the base price. If I wasn't desperate, I probably wouldn't have done it. I would have tried to order a base model.

Ultimately, one year and a few months on, I'm happy enough with my car. It was more expensive than I wanted to pay and had more features than I needed, but it's still basic and fairly inexpensive by today's standards.

And it works, which is all I truly care about anyway.

Thanks to our "No More Wars" president needing to distract from the Epstein Files, my trip to Seattle and back is going to cost a shit-load in fuel. I nearly crapped my pants when I went to fill up yesterday and found out that I was paying $5.49. God only knows how much it will be next week when whatever new presidential scandal escalates the need for an even bigger distraction.

For the past several days I've been cleaning something in my home so that I come back to a clean house instead of the Pit of Despair that I've been wallowing in for weeks. Usually I'm a much better housekeeper than this, but I've been consumed with work and there's no time to keep up with it all. I just don't have the energy. It's all I can do to cook meals.

Which is a shame, because there's a list of recipes from my stack of vegetarian cookbooks I've been dying to try.

But frying a Beyond Burger or tossing a frozen meal in the oven is my current limit, alas.

Last Thursday night I was so tired that I was nodding off on the couch at just 10:00. I finally decided to take advantage of it and head upstairs to bed. This was fine by Jenny, and she went tearing upstairs at top speed to be petted. She ended up performing this spectacular leap over her brother, made even more impressive because he was in motion.

After brushing my teeth, I climbed into bed where Jenny was impatiently waiting.

I reached out my hand to start petting her, then turned away to put my Apple Watch on the charging stand.

What I didn't realize was that something must have caught Jenny's attention, because she looked up while my gaze was temporarily diverted.

Which is to say that instead of petting her head, I wiped my hand across her nose.

Which wasn't fun for either of us.

This lead to a deep dive into a simple Google search... Why are cat's noses wet? Turns out that it helps them smell better by trapping scent particles, and acts like a cooling system because they can sweat through their noses. On top of that? Cats lick their nose frequently and have tear ducts which drain through their noses.

Which is to say I wiped my hand across snot, sweat, saliva, and tears.

Great.

Tonight I am not home, I'm over on the coast. This is always stressful for myself and my cats. Me because I worry that they'll get into trouble. Them because they wander around the house wondering where I am.

Take Jake, for example, who sat on the bottom step waiting for me to come home. I saw him there last night and again this morning...

Hang in there, buddy, I'll be home tomorrow morning!

I'm back home and ready to destroy the internet... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Like Sands Through The Hourglass... Deidre Hall invites Ryan Gosling onto Days of Our Lives after he praises her acting: 'Nobody will be possessed' — My mom was a massive Days of Our Lives fan and I fell in love with Deidre Hall because of it. When my mom started working, she wasn't home to watch and would record the show on VHS so she could watch after work...

I remember the show very well, and I hope this happens. I would definitely tune in!

   
• For God and Country! I love stuff like this...

I mean...

If you want to see some nice content to escape from the horrors of the world, BradyYourTutor is a good place to start.

   
• Wrongful Entertainment! Alan Ritchson Neighbor Fight: New Bodycam Video Released. I don't advocate violence... however... watching some asshole neighbor getting clocked by Alan Ritchson AFTER WALKING IN FRONT OF HIS MOVING MOTORCYCLE is the entertainment I needed. Fuck that guy. If you're stupid enough to square off with ALAN RITCHSON, you get what you get. And oooooh I cannot wait until the new season of Reacher is released! And now I want to re-watch The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare for the hundredth time. Dang is everybody great in that. Especially Ritchson. Or maybe I'll re-watch Playdate for the hundredth time, Another Ritchson flick that's beyond good.

   
• Goldie! I love both versions of "Overboard"... but the original is still the best. This is such a great story...

Goldie is great in every movie. No disagreeing with Kurt on that!

   
• NEWSFLASH: Veteran senator criticizes Tuberville’s “nobody more military than me” claim. You cannot make this shit up. The guy was a football coach who has never served in the military... let alone been in combat. But stolen valor is nothing new to these assholes, and I'm glad that they're finally being called out. What a repugnant piece of crap.

   
• Misinformation=Death! My heart truly goes out to those suckered by the anti-vax idiocy movement... they buy into it, and their child dies over something that might have been prevented had they been vaccinated. And the fact that the anti-vax idiocy movement decides to prey on them over a lie is disgusting...

And yet it happens ALL the time, because when you have a disingenuous movement, lies are all you have.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Televangelist Mark Barclay apologizes to child sex abuse survivors, victims of 3 pastors including son-in-law. Good Lord... THREE pastors at his church abused people, including children. So much for the "Preacher of Righteousness" when this crap goes on in his church. I would leave kids with a drag queen over a pastor 100 out of 100 times. Who still ignores the ACTUAL danger to kids any more? It's always "Not MY pastor!"... until it is.

   
Now it's time to vacuum up kitty litter. Amazing how much of it the cats throw around the entire house in a day when I'm gone.

When I got back from my weekend over the mountains, I was too tired to do much of anything. It was a long drive after a packed weekend, and there was nothing I wanted to do more than eat dinner and go to bed.

So I did that. But the next morning I remembered that I hadn't checked my mail since before I left, walked out to the mailbox and was greeted by a package. And when I opened it? There was this very cool mug featuring the spine of Depeche Mode cassette tapes from over the years...

I'm guessing that this is a birthday gift, but there was no note inside and the label didn't have a name I recognized.

So thank you, kind person... whomever you are! I love it! It makes me want to look up to see if there's a version for other 80's bands I love (like Pet Shop Boys!).

And for anybody not knowing much about Depeche Mode, I ran across this video a few weeks ago...

I have more favorite tracks from the band than I can count, but Mercy in You is probably at the top of my list. Mostly because of the live version, which cemented them as one of my favorite live acts on the planet...

Their earliest tracks hold up shockingly well. Which is probably why they are still belting them out at their shows. I think the song Everything Counts has been in the setlist of every concert I've ever been to...

The band occasionally gets heat from Conservative Christians over an early track called Blasphemous Rumours, which is actually a fascinating track that has a lot to say...

The song most people know them for is either Personal Jesus or People are People, with the latter being the song that got me hooked on the band once I heard it...

Their entire catalog remains some of my most-played and most-loved music.

And now that I'm appreciating it all over again, I'll be playing it on repeat for a while.

Supergirl has always been an entertaining side-note to the "Superman Family” that I kinda-sorta ignored. There was an occasional story that was fun to read, and she had a good run with the Legion of Super-Heroes but she just wasn’t what I read comics for.

But then DC unleashed Wednesday Comics in 2009 which had a Supergirl strip by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, and it was pure joy in a comic book. For the first time I could remember, I was a fan of Supergirl.

And then Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow dropped in 2021.

This was a brilliant turn for the character. It sought to give Supergirl a story that was more than “girl-version-of-Superman.” Because unlike Superman, who was a baby when he escaped the destruction of Krypton, Supergirl was a teen who experienced it all. And the pain of such loss became the focus of her arc in the series which was a great story on top of it all.

Now I was beyond a fan. I was in love with the character because we finally got an interesting take. She wasn’t a “version” of anybody. She was her own separate entity with her own issues to work through. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I found out that the story was to serve as the basis for the new Supergirl movie. James Gunn was not wanting to release a “girl Superman” project... he took a script by Ana Nogueira that was inspired by the book from Tom King and Bilquis Evely, handed it to director Craig Gillespie, and let them run with it.

And this trailer looks as if it’s going to be absolutely everything I was hoping for...

Krypto being given such a prominent role in the new DC Universe of films is fantastic because Gunn made him be a draw for a segment of the audience who might not be into comic books. Just like he did with Rocket in the Guardians of the Galaxy films.

And to say I’m excited to see this is a massive understatement.

But then...

I'm not going to a theater for this, but I 100% will be watching this...

If it's even half as funny as it looks, it'll still be worth a watch.