There was once a man who was being chased by a ferocious tiger across a field. At the edge of the field there was a cliff. In order to escape the jaws of the tiger, the man caught hold of a vine and swung himself over the edge of the cliff. Dangling down, he saw, to his dismay, there were more tigers on the ground below him! And, furthermore, two little mice were gnawing on the vine to which he clung. He knew that at any moment he would fall to certain death. That's when he noticed a wild strawberry growing on the cliff wall. Clutching the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other and put it in his mouth.

He never before realized how sweet a strawberry could taste.

—Zen Buddhist parable

   
As our world continues to continue its descent into madness and ruin, don't forget to look around and find those simple pleasures which still make life worth living.

They're everywhere.

It's gotten to the point where I seriously wonder if modern science deniers think that things like satellite television and mobile phones are powered by magic. At the rate they want to completely dismiss all scientific evidence when it comes to keeping humanity in good health, why wouldn't they think that Jesus allows them to make calls and access the internet from the smart phone in their pocket?

Thankfully, there's still pro-science advocates out there doing The Lord's work...

This is what we need more of. Though the odds of it getting through to people who have been brainwashed seems unlikely. But if the bullshit is not confronted early and often, it just makes it spread even further.

Like trying to use Ivermectin to cure COVID.

I ordered something that was shipped from Kentucky. It made it to a hub three hours from me... then got shipped to Ohio... then ended up in Illinois... and now is estimated to arrive on October 29th? It was due TWO DAYS AGO!

I swear, these automated package routing centers for all the big carriers make a shit-ton of mistakes, and once something goes wrong they just continue to make mistakes for some reason. Humans are out of the picture, so if there's a mark on the barcode (or whatever) you're fucked. Totally and completely fucked.

This is not the first time this has happened. It happened in July where a package coming across the country from Florida ended up in CONNECTICUT before being rerouted to CALIFORNIA. At that point it sat for two days until somebody bothered to take a look and get it rerouted to me. And of course UPS doesn't give a single fuck.

But of course the cost to ship packages just keeps going up and up, so you're paying more for shittier service, which sounds right on-point for where things are headed.

I have been an unapologetic fan of fast food for forever. I used to travel a lot for work. Despite the fantasy that work travel is a non-stop vacation, it's actually a tough life to have. You still have a day of work, but you don't get to go home at the end of the day. And since you're too tired to go out and do fun stuff in whatever city you're in, you only have the energy to go back to your hotel and crash.

Hence my love at fast food. I can run through a drive-through after work on my way back to my home away from home, then crash.

I'm pretty sure you can see where this is going.

Fast food now is barely food. And it's so expensive that you might as well go to a real restaurant with table service. That's what I've been doing.

And if you want to watch an interesting video about the downfall of fast food, here you go...

Not that going to a real restaurant is a guarantee of a great experience. Now more than ever, it's not. And here's why...

More and more I'm happier just cooking at home. Sure it's a pain in the ass, and groceries are insanely expensive, but at least it's quality I can count on.

That's about all that's left.

It seems as though my weekend is ending just as it began, which makes me want to crawl under the covers and cry for a bit. But I won't abandon you in your hour of need... because here's an all new Bullet Sunday starting... now...

   
• Cozy! It's pouring rain outside tonight. YouTube knows this somehow, so it recommended this lovely video. It's wonderful and charming from start to finish. They're Turkish, but there's English subtitles. Not that it matters... this is the very definition of "cozy" and the only way I'd want to do camping...

And this one is amazing. They decorate their campsite for Christmas. And I don't mean decorate a little bit...

Welp. Guess I know what I'll be doing obsessively for the next week. Watching RambleSoul.

   
• Polissya! That video lead me to a Ukranian guy building natural shelters and foraging for food in the forests of Polissya. His builds are very impressive. Like this one, where he creates an underground bunker...

Unlike so many videos that use primitive construction, you see nearly the entire process (albeit sped up) so you know that he built everything himself.

   
• Must-See TV! HOLY CRAP! THE ENGLISH TEACHER GOT A SECOND SEASON?!??

I haven't seen this advertised anywhere. Ran across it by dumb luck on my news feed because somebody mentioned it.

   
• Tig! Need a laugh? I'm a huge fan of Tig Notaro and have been finding her early specials available on YouTube...

It's amazing how her comedy was so fully formed from those early days. Her latest special from last year, Hello Again, was just as hilarious as ever, and can be seen on Amazon Prime Video.

   
• Logic! Here's my latest thrilling adventure with insurance...

PHARMACIST: Your insurance will only pay for 1/2 a tablet per day. We'll need to have your doctor re-write the prescription or you'll have to pay the cost or you can take it up with your insurance.
   
ME: Okay, I guess I'll pay for it.
   
MEDICATION INSTRUCTIONS: DO NOT BREAK THE TABLETS. THEY MUST BE TAKEN WHOLE.

I wrote to my insurance and asked exactly how I was supposed to take a half-pill for a pill that can't be broken. They wrote back and essentially said "Oops!" and decided they would pay 50%. Which is better than nothing, for which I'm grateful. But it's just beyond bizarre how insurance works. Or doesn't.

   
• Mitch! I'm not even going to pretend to give a shit about a man who spent his entire political career not giving a crap about the people he represents. As recently as JUNE he said that "Americans will get over Medicaid cuts." And it's like, gee, Mitch... not everybody has spent their entire adult life fucking over the country for cash, so they're going to need to rely on the Medicaid that their taxes paid for after retirement...

Good Lord is McConnell a gaping asshole.

   
And on that note, it's time for me to try and get some sleep.

Jake is so not bothered by most anything. Especially when it comes to the litter box. I have one downstairs in the hall closet and another upstairs in my bathroom. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the bathroom and Jake will come in and do his business without giving it another thought.

Jenny couldn't be more different.

She is bothered by just about everything. Especially when it comes to using the litter box.

I woke up early in the morning, stumbled to the bathroom, turned on the light... and... bedlam.

Jenny was in the litter box and went tearing out of it. Since I was in the doorway, she ran to the shower. I felt bad for disturbing her and got out of the doorway so she could run out. Which she did at top speed. Fortunately, she didn't stay mad at me long. An hour later and she was waking me up to be petted and have her feet held (don't worry, I wash my hands after because I know where those feet have been). But she wouldn't look at me...

Or she was bothered by the light out the window that was keeping her awake. Maybe that.

A couple weeks ago I ran down stairs while Jake was in the Litter-Robot (which is near the bottom the the stairs). Didn't phase him a bit. But afterwards, he did climb up on the cat tree and stare at me, like he was saying "What was that about? I WAS ON THE TOILET!"...

Though he did take the time to cover his waste first. That's something.

I have been ignoring the recycling that I keep in a bag on the back of the front door all week. After work I went to put a soda can in it and a bunch of stuff precariously stacked there fell on the floor. So I figured it must be time to take it out to the bin. On the way back inside, I saw a small fuzzy spider on the door. I was going to relocate him to a shrub, but decided it was the perfect Halloween decoration and left him there.

I have been feeling rough all week, eating mostly saltines and 7-Up. Which is fun for a day or two, but grinds on you eventually. But tonight I felt well enough to have something more substantial.

Sounds like a job for my bomb-ass tater salad!

Which was delicious.

Except my Instant Pot needs to be cleaned.

Not a big deal for the actual pot inside because that just goes into the dishwasher... but the lid is such a pain. Not necessarily the inside, because a brush with soapy water will fix that. It's the outside that's such a pain. So many nooks and crannies...

I swear, I'd rather throw my Instant Pot Duo Crisp in the dumpster and buy a new one than grab a rag and try to get it sparkly clean.

At which point I was like "Wait a minute. This lid is design for moisture, high heat, and pressure. Why CAN'T I put it in the dishwasher?"

So I Googled that shit and, sure enough, if you remve the sealing ring and the pressure relief valve cover!

To think I was this close to throwing out my Instant Pot.

If you don't hear from me after the next time I make my bomb-ass tater salad, it's because the lid got ruined in the dishwasher and exploded... killing me instantly.

Or I forgot to put the sealing ring back in.

I have no idea where the days are going. The weekend passes so quickly it scarcely feels like it existed... then it's back to work where it's an exhausting blur until it's the weekend again. Months feel like weeks. I swear it was just July and here it is October. I can barely remember any of it. At this rate It will be New Years when I wake up tomorrow.

In the meanwhile, there's the here and now.

So there I was... scrolling through Facebook tonight and trying to avoid all the AI slop that is plaguing social media, when I see this...

A little scrolling later and I saw this...

Then I scrolled a little further and saw this, with both cosmic events in the same graphic...

Both of the maps showing that my neck of the woods had good visibility!

Except... it's Fall, which is to say that my odds of having "good visibility" here is not great.

And, sure enough, the night sky was completely obscured.

Oh well. There's always old reruns of Columbo to occupy my Thursday evening.

The stupid. It burns.

"Don't take THAT acetaminophen, take THIS acetaminophen!"

This is what happens when you have morons in charge of everything and morons following them blindly in the most idiotic way possible...

And let's remember how this all started...

Lord. I feel like the entire world is going fucking insane. When did we start listening to people who have no fucking clue what in the hell they're talking about?

Diane Keaton, D'Angelo, and Drew Struzan have passed. All of them a punch to the gut.

But the one that hits the hardest is Struzan. His movie posters are iconic, and I have bought some of them over the years to hang up (including Back to the Future II and Blade Runner: The Final Cut)...

I've also got a couple of his books somewhere that I need to dig out.

Struzan's style is unmistakable, and it's no wonder that so many artists have tried to imitate it over the years. Some of the most famous films ever made were advertised with posters he created, And trying to cash in on that only makes sense.

You will be missed, sir.