Where is Ruben?

The New Republic sent me a newsletter.  It details all the horrible messes coming from the White House - FFOTUS didn't know that Liberia's national language is English as he complimented their President's vocabulary; any contract to aid Texas flood victims over $100,00 must be personally approved by the Sectetary; Tom Tiilis is surprised that RFK Jr lied about vaccines. 

Then it shares a short piece on my junior Senator, Ruben Gallego, and his trip to the Iowa State Fair. Testing the waters for a presidential run is not unusual. Doing so when you've been in office for seven months and ten days seems like jumping the gun. 

When I was working,  it seemed that six months passed before new hires were fully functional. I suppose that once he figured out where the bathrooms were located and how to get a quick lunch and what reports were needed when and by whom he has turned his sights to bigger and better things. 

I'd like to see him act more like a Senator and less like a power seeking 40 year old maneuvering through the I Wanna Be The Nominee parade. 

Vacation Mode

Apologies for my spotty attendance here.   There are small people requiring attention and their needs are a priority. 

So is sleep.  HoneyBunny isn't thrilled to take her nap; she'll understand the wonderfulness of a mid day siesta when she's old.... like Grandma.

Queen T and I started watching Missing You, Netfix's version of Harlan Coben's novel. Unfortunately,  we started this binge at 9pm.  The show is great, but 2 episodes, much deep conversation, and a phone call from TBG pushed the start time of the third episode to 11:30pm. 

Since I promised Big Cuter that his lovely bride would be in bed by 12:30, we put off the last 3 episodes until tonight. But the show lived on in my head and falling asleep was a challenge. 

A small face atop a small body stood in my doorway at 7. My body cried NO but my heart got me up and out of bed. 

Brushing teeth with a toddler involves sucking off the miniscule amount of toothpaste Grandma applied, then following Grandma's toothbrush as it crossed up and down and front and back. The giggles just add to the fun 

Then there are eggs to whisk for breakfast,  blueberries to sneak from her lunchbox into her mouth,  and the one exit away drive to Montessori.  

It's 9:07 and I'm ready for a nap.

Vacation

 I'm in Marin, with the littlest grandkids.  As always, it's wonderful and exhausting.  

I took the weekend off from politics.  It feels great.  Family is much better for the soul.

(Un) Happy 4th of July

This is how I feel about America right now - droopy.  But there was a time when I felt hopeful, even enthusiastic about our standing in the world.  That's when I originally wrote the post I'm reprinting below the sad flag.  I'm going to let those memories take me back in time for the 4th of July.

The sky is pure blue,  painted that way as G'ma said every time she looked up.  The occasional fluffy white cloud drifts by, and I'm hearing G'ma remark on that, too.  The flag in front of the house is swaying, the pole wedged between the base and the capital of one of the front columns, secured with thin, silver, crafting wire.  

It's an elegant solution to TBG's reluctance to put holes in his house;  I feel like Daddooooo every time I wrap another ring around the post.

Daddooooo was big on ingenious remedies to intractable problems.  He was also big on flags and the 4th of July.  We always went to the beach.  We always stopped at Custom Bakers on the way home, where the owners always let us go back and stick our fingers in the vats of frosting.

We always went to the Boardwalk in Long Beach, arriving as the sun was setting.  Skeeball and mechanical fortune tellers and the smell of the ocean, too black to be seen but too noisy to go unnoticed, occupied us as we waited for night to fall.  We practiced our ooohs and aahhhs; we were in fine form by the time the booms and the bangs began.

Through it all, the flags were flying.

There was a big one in the bracket beside the garage door, until the house was painted and further holes were frowned upon (is this some kind of male thing I just don't get?). A pole-holding-tube was sunk into the flower box, and while it was neither sturdy nor attractive, it did the job and as far as Daddooooo was concerned that was that.

There was always a plastic flag attached to the car's antenna, and all our bicycles had flags on the handlebars.   

I'm not letting the tradition fade away. 

I'll be wearing my red white and blue tie dye - the dress, the tank top, the even bigger tank top - as I go through my day. 

I can't find a title for this.   

I'm embarrassed for my country.  I'm appalled that there are human beings in the Senate who cheered for the passage of a bill that will kill people.  

What in the world does FFOTUS have on Lisa Murkowski?  She talks about her fear of retaliation from the Administration in this rather self-serving Politico article.  She cried when talking about her vote.  She's not up for re-election until 2028, and she beat a MAGA acolyte in 2022.

Yet, she accepted the carve outs that were offered to our 49th and 50th states, the carve outs that Hawaii's Senators rejected because that wouldn't be fair to the rest of us, and voted AYE. I suppose her constituents are happy.  

Paramount joined the ever lengthening list of companies that have caved to FFOTUS's power tripping.  I suppose their shareholders are happy.

There's a chill in the air, although the thermometer read 106 today.  Familiar faces are missing from small, local restaurants.  I now live in a 100 mile border zone, a military designation. 

And now he's talking about denaturalization.  That's how it started in Germany.

If you're not afraid, you're not paying attention.

Call Congress.  Praise those standing firm.  Ask the rest of them why they feel the need to adhere to a deadline that is important to only one human being when the other 340 million of us think the whole bill stinks?

After a little bit of research I find that Support for the legislation rises as high as 72% among MAGA supporters, a key constituency of President Trump. Yet, among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who are not MAGA supporters, two-thirds (66%) have an unfavorable view of the bill.  

That's a lot of Americans.  Imagine if everyone of us made the effort and called to voice our opinion.

(202) 224-3121 

Time To Get On The Phone

The Big Ugly Bill seems to be stalled in the House over a procedural motion.  My sources (ooo-la-la, I have sources!) tell me that these Representatives are flippable.  

If you or someone you know lives in one of these districts, it behooves them to make a phone call asking What's The Rush?  Only one person wants it done by July 4th, and he's not the only one in charge.  Ask your Congresshuman to have a heart and reexamine this bill that benefits no one but billionaires and private prisons and hurts everyone else.

It's a republic, if we can keep it.  Do the work, reap the rewards.\

Thanks.

REP

AZ-06, Juan Ciscomani

CA-22, David Valadao

CA-40, Young Kim

CA-41, Ken Calvert

CO-08, Gabe Evans

FL-07, Cory Mills

FL-13, Anna Paulina Luna

FL-27, Maria Elvira Salazar

IA-01, Mariannette Miller-Meeks

IA-02, Ashley Hinson

IA-03, Zach Nunn

MI-07, Tom Barrett

MO-02, Ann Wagner

NJ-07, Tom Kean Jr.

NY-17, Mike Lawler

OH-07, Max Miller

OH-10, Mike Turner

OH-15, Mike Carey

PA-01, Brian Fitzpatrick

PA-07, Ryan Mackenzie

PA-08, Rob Bresnahan

PA-10, Scott Perry

TN-05, Andy Ogles

TX-15, Monica De La Cruz

VA-01, Rob Wittman

VA-02, Jen Kiggans

WI-01, Bryan Steil

WI-03, Derrick Van Orden

 

I Spoke to a Human

Rep. Ciscomani's Tucson office was open for business this morning.  A lovely woman answered the phone, basked in the wonderfulness of it all with me for a moment, and then asked what she could do for me.

I lit into my Vote No on the Big Ugly Bill rant, hoping that when it returns to the House my Congressman will remain true to his promises and protect Medicaid and SNAP.   

She responded with a real statement.  Let me tell you what the Congressman has written and asked us to share.  

Although it was the same nonsensical blather about waste and the worthy poor and scam artists and having the welfare of all his constituents in mind, I have to give them credit for reading the room.  They are now prepared for the onslaught of comments on the issue.  

He has to know that his MAGA voters are with him and the rest of us don't trust him.  He made no attempt in his statement to appeal to me, on any level.  He's firmly in FFOTUS's camp and has to count on those votes if he wants to be reelected.  At this point, there's nothing he could say that would sway me to his side.

July??? - A Snippet

Excuse me, but where did June go? 

Yesterday it was Memorial Day and now it's 4th of July. 

I thought I was paying attention, but apparently I was not.  That's weird, because there are so many family birthdays and events in June and I notice the arrival of those dates.  

And anyhow, why would a month start on a Tuesday in the middle of the summer?  Who at my age is paying that much attention to a calendar (unless there's a doctor visit on the horizon)?

I've written a more substantial post which I was ready to publish.  Then Blogger showed me the date and my head exploded.

I feel like my 4 year old self who was furious at my parents for letting Captain Kangaroo announce to me that it was 1956, rather than preparing me themselves by having me practice my 6's.  

I'm bemused.

State Champs

FlapJilly is a pitcher on her softball league's All Star team.

Why is she a pitcher? Because it's hard and I like hard.  

How did she make the All Star team?  Because I'm very good.

She played when her team won the 2023 Babe Ruth League 's Indiana State Championship.  She was 8.

She pitched with that same league's team last weekend when they won 2025 Indiana State Championship.  She's 10. 

Her team mercy ruled 5 of the 6 games they played.  

How was her pitching?  According to her teary eyed mother, she was spectacular!

I'm going to spend the rest of the evening basking in the reflected glory, while watching inning after inning of my granddaughter throwing strikes.  

Murder Most Foul

S.A. Cosby wrote King of Ashes and put guilt - real, imagined, judicial, psychological - front and center.

I finished the book mid-day, and couldn't start another right away.  I didn't need a sorbet like James Patterson or Billy Collins.  I needed some time alone with my thoughts.

Everyone is guilty of something, even the most innocent.  Everyone is loved by someone, even the most heinous.  No one knows everything, even though most act as if they do. The more I thought, the more I discovered. 

It's gritty and violent (I winced), but not prurient.  There are moments that made me laugh out loud, and moments that reminded me why I love my brother and sister.

But most of all, it's beautifully written.  There's no speedy page turning with Cosby; every word deserves consideration.  

It's probably too dark for some of you (and you know who you are!) but I loved it.

A Snippet - Really?

I read on-line that FFOTUS said that Iran and Israel don't know what the fuck they are doing.  

It reads a lot better than it sounds, and the way it reads is awful.

But TBG caught it later on CNN, and I found it on YouTube shortly thereafter, uncensored, by The Guardian.  To minimize your exposure to the Evil One, I start the clip at the end, where the good stuff happens.

I don't usually scroll through the comments, but the first two caught my eye.  I despise him but I can't disagree with him was the theme.  He's saying the quiet part out loud  - something a lot of us having been saying for a long time about this conflict.  

Can you understand that??? he finishes by screeching at the questioner.  

Yes, we can understand that.  The question remains, what are you going to do about it?

Brain Health Habits

The Brain Health study is trying to teach me ways to improve myself.  Some of the habits they suggest are well known to me - eg. do the hard tasks first, when you are fresh - and some just make me giggle.  

For example, there's the one they call Five Minute Breaks.  

Quiet your mind for 5 minutes, 5 times a day. It’ll improve your decision-making, problem-solving, and productivity.

Just the thought of remembering to do something five times a day was enough to push me over the edge.  I'd have to set an alarm, but I'm not free at the same time every day so I'd have to set an alarm every day.  

Am I in a space where I can quiet my mind five times a day?  Probably.... but there's that sneaky thought process again.  This might qualify as a high priority task, one that I would perform when I am fresh.  But one of the perks of retirement is that no one tells me what to do or when to do it.  Starting the day with a list of to do's, even benevolent ones, is just wrong.

When I was practicing meditation, it took me more than five minutes to settle in.  I don't want to fail myself five times a day.

As I'm typing all these excuses it occurs to me that these people may be on to something.  Perhaps I need to notice when there is downtime, and then put that downtime to good use.  Perhaps five times a day is aspirational; I don't think I'll harm myself if I miss a few quiet times.

Thanks for listening, denizens.  I'm going to sit in the comfy reading chair in the corner and quiet my mind.

I'm Taking Credit

Senator Gallego changed the message on his answering machine.  I am choosing to believe that I had a lot to do with that.

His old message irritated me every time I called his offices; the message was on both machines.  I'd ask about a bill or express my displeasure with his actions (fundraising with Mark Andreesen?) or compliment a stance he took, but I'd always end with change the damn message.

Two weeks ago, a human being answered the phone in D.C.  I was thrilled; she was nonplussed.  She listened to my comment but had no response when I asked if she had ever listened to the office's forward facing (what does that mean, anyway, and where did it come from?) message.  

Silence..... then I'll be certain to relay your thoughts to the Congressman.  Sigh.

Last week, once again, a human answered Sen. Gallego's phone in D.C.  She laughed at my surprise, said she was glad to talk to me, too, and asked how she could help?  I said my piece, then asked her about the message. 

Her Why do you ask? led to my repeating, once again, how embarrassing it was that the man admits that after all these months he still can't hire people yet he was making monumental decisions about the future of my country.  I told her people were laughing about it at Hands Off! and No Kings!  I told her Tim Stellar was writing about it, and that people in Tucson know who Tim Stellar is.   

She thanked me for my comment and said she'd be sure to pass my suggestion along. I didn't sigh; I believed her.  Then I called Sen. Kelly's office and another human being answered the phone.  I was on a roll.

She, too, was glad to listen to my concerns.  Then things got a bit more personal.

Concerned Constituent: You know the people who work in Sen. Gallego's office, right?

Wary Staffer: Sure... some... most of them. Why do you ask?

It went quickly after that.  No, she'd never heard the message.  Yes, she'd mention to the people she knows in Sen. Gallego' office that the woman who's been leaving messages on their machines about it for months has now taken to mentioning it to her.  I thanked her profusely, for her very existence on the planet, and hung up feeling heard, twice in one day.

This morning, I started my daily calls with Senator Gallego.  

In English, without hesitation, my junior Senator introduced himself, thanked me for my call, directed me to press 1 for a comment, 2 for help, 3 por Espanol, and thanked me again.  I waited for the beep, said no to war, and complimented him on the new message.  

I hung up feeling quite smug.