Cool, soon to be cold. Probably low 60sF to start then warmer later. Not too warm though, I don’t think it even hit 75F yesterday. Clear skies and more wind is probably in the forecast again. It was 55F when I went to bed.
I actually got some stuff done today. I received my IKEA delivery (and later assembled the drawers and doors.) Paid the lawn guy. His industrial strength backpack blower could barely move all the acorns off the walk and into the grass. The concrete is stained with the tannin from where they got crushed and wet. Did four pickups and the thrift store next door to one.
I even made dinner and did a load of laundry. Oh, and there was more domestic bliss in the morning too. I even found a little time to read. All in all a productive day.
Today I’m hoping to do more of the same. I still have shelves to mount in the laundry room, and to replace everything we moved out to paint and reconfigure… and I have more cleaning and organizing to do, as well as more decorating. I might hit a thrift store on my way home from the two pickups I need to do and see if more stuff for my tentative theme jumps out at me. If not, this might be a fairly low key year.
Most of this work is to improve my current situation. Shore up some things, so to speak. I’ve still got a lot of generator work to do, including installing the wheel kit I got yesterday… among other things. The list is long, the time is short, and the motivation is lacking.
Don’t stop stacking.
nick
The middle class wanted The Pizza Box Dream, $20 Reeboks, and free Internet pr0n.
While I’ve seen first hand the destruction of a lot of lives and capital in pursuit of the first and never believed that the second was actually good for society, borne out over the last 30 years of “Hecho en China”, the last one led to the creation of an infrastructure, hardware and software, which may yet make “The Terminator” possible.
Even if the tech can’t go that far, feudalism is back in a big way.
The first $5 Trillion dollar company? Think about that, fellow serfs.
BOHICA! Like we’ve never seen before.
NVDA may truly be different. Pray it isn’t.
It looks like the real price of gold has backed off that $5000/ounce point. The number came very close last week.
https://www.usmint.gov/american-eagle-2025-one-ounce-gold-uncirculated-coin-25EH.html
Unlike a lot of brokers, The Mint has a “no questions” return policy within seven days of receipt so a drop of more than $100 in the price of an Eagle may justify the ~ $100 (estimating) return postage in a lot of minds
USPS will not insure for more than $5000, but I believe FedEx Ground will.
Bah. An awful lot of people are getting tired of grown women acting like spoiled children who think they can do whatever they like with no consequences. “About friggin time” will be the response from some significant portion of the populace if a criminal woman gets run over or shot, even if she’s a slim, pretty, sweet young thang.
Yeah, FAFO is a thing now. I’ve even heard “win stupid prizes” from unlikely sources.
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49F this morning. That’s a big drop in a short time. We’ll see if it smooths out over the next week, or if we stair-stepped down.
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Lunch packed, coffee brewing, lions poked.
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I have noticed lately that gubs are relatively inexpensive at the moment. Several places running specials on popular models, getting the price under $200, $300, $400, or $500 for models that typically run slightly over those points.
n
Another one punch murder
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15238001/thomas-john-pizzitola-new-dad-killed-single-punch-arizona.html
I think you can make a pretty good fact based argument that you have a reasonable fear of being killed if punches look likely.
n
More outages
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15239249/Amazon-cloud-crash-leaves-half-world-without-internet-AGAIN.html
n
True for everyone, even moreso for me, given a documented issue with 2 of my cervical disks. Killed or great bodily harm, like quadraplegia.
I’m at jury duty. They confiscated my FLASHLIGHT. And the P-38 I forgot was on my keyring.
They claim I’ll get them back when I’m done.
What basis do they have for confiscating a flashlight?
Well, I just let it go. I suppose it was a power-trip “do-something” motion by the DEI security person.
Get receipts?
“The meme “that could be my daughter or granddaughter” is a very effective play against Republicans.
If she gets squished on video by an ICE vehicle, the game will be over for Trump and Noem.”
That train left the station Jan 6, and disappeared over the horizon in Charlotte.
The last time I entered the court house my little Swiss knife, about 1.5 inches long, on my keyring, was going to be confiscated. I said no, it is not. I returned to my vehicle and left the entire keyring and my wallet in the vehicle. When I returned all I had with me was my ID (VA, no driver’s license for those clods) and the key fob for the truck. The same “guard” decided that I was trying to hide the highly dangerous knife and subjected me to a manual wanding, a pat down, searched my pants pockets and had me remove my shoes. It was nothing more than a power trip and “you will obey the masters” on his part.
I have jury duty on the 6th of November. Again, I will carry only one ID (VA), the jury papers, and the key fob for the truck. According to the papers, even nail clippers are banned. They will not let in food or drinks so that everyone has to use the overpriced vending machines. $3 for a bottle of water. A small bag of chips, $3.00. A stale sandwich, $7.00. The machines do take credit cards but charge a surcharge.
Tip for anyone who buys groceries after Bad Orange Man takes away the food from the poor people who can’t feed themselves without welfare and who are threatening to mug anyone walking out of a grocery store: Buy only ingredients. Don’t buy bags of snacks, cans of soda, heat-and-eat meals, or any of the other “food” that welfare slobs buy. They’ll look at the chuck roast and bag of potatoes and ask “Wuddafuq iz dis shid?”
Everyone here should be able to avoid grocery stores for weeks, if not longer. RIGHT?
n
Other than half and half and eggs, butter, and cheese, I’m good for a solid six months. Maybe a year. I seem to have a LOT of rice.
The Christine Blasey-Ford testimony at the Kavanaugh hearings taught the Dems how to work the meme. Any woman was someone’s little girl at some point.
In the two months since my daughter went off to school and I’m no longer taking her around for appointments, lessons, shopping, friends, or errands (she got her driver’s license a while before leaving but wasn’t confident so she wanted me to accompany her for several weeks), I have left the property three times, each time to meet her to give her some things she’d forgotten or to meet her at a doctor’s office. I combined these trips with other errands, including getting groceries, but the fact is that I’ve spent about ten hours away from the house and yard in two months.
When I tell people that they can drop something off pretty much any time because I’m almost always home, I’m not exaggerating.
As for food, I’ve been deliberately eating down my stores in preparation for moving at some point, but I still can feed myself for at least six months. Realistically, probably close to a year if I cut back a bit. I have chicken feed for probably six months. Come to think of it, a couple dozen eggs per week stretches how long my food will last me.
(Technically, I’ve left the property several more times, like when mowing the lawn, retrieving litter in the street, or doing forest maintenance. I’m not counting these.)
Again, bah. That was seven years ago. The hand’s been overplayed.
See also: the race card
“Any woman was someone’s little girl at some point.”
I can name a dozen butt-ugly harridans on the Democrat side as counter-examples.
Good point. A fair few Democrat women started life as someone’s little boy.
Washington Post: This Democratic Shutdown Has Gone on Long Enough (Post Readers Are Furious!)
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2025/10/30/washington-post-this-democratic-shutdown-has-gone-on-long-enough-post-readers-are-furious-n3808386
With the recent revelations that EBT is mostly non-citizens, I would have to inform Thune that he can kiss my deficit if he expected me to vote to fund that program without requiring a full audit of recipients in thirty days.
And don’t wine to me about thirty days not being enough to vet 42 million recipients. I have noted before that ca. 1970 it was reported that a ten-page dossier of every citizen in the U.S. would fit on one reel of magnetic tape. Do the math–it would fit on a thumb drive that most people wouldn’t even tote home from the trade show in their swag bag. A second-year compsci major taking elementary data structures at the jc gets harder assignments than comparing two files.
As a practical matter we know that Calli and the other commie states already know how much they’ve stolen from the citizens to fund non-citizen food stamps, so require them to do their own cross-check and purge their lists. Or better yet, do a forensic examination of a random sample and them extrapolate to the entire state list and tell them with only a fraction actually qualifying, they owe X years back to fedgov and won’t be getting any payment for a decade or so.
Build your formula to overestimate illegals and ineligibles and they’ll beg to do a full 1 to 1 audit.
n
That message was diluted by the Dems insisting that women were also someone’s little boy.
Released from jury duty, retrieved my FLASHLIGHT and P-38, no problems.
To celebrate, before I picked up my car from the parking garage, I went to Treebeard’s at the Cloister and had red beans and rice with sausage and cornbread. A splurge. Since it was a short walk.
I almost had the meatloaf instead. It looked pretty good.
I don’t really understand why everyone thinks this @sshole will walk away with it. Is the fraud that bad? Are the voters REALLY that self hating?
n
when you cost the rich money, they leave.
n
Yeah, Communism. Trump tho.
Seriously, I think the masses want Trump Tower seized and auctioned off.
Keep in mind that 37% of the NYC population is foreign-born and cannot be assumed to share traditional American values. Many of those 37% are not citizens and are not allowed to vote. I have no idea how many of them will vote.
I think we are past the tRump hUmp. More people are for than against our Orange King simply because commies suck. Shot Girltm is so dumb I don’t think she will get past Representative. Once Mamfukstiky ruins NYFC, the commie movement will end.
One of the terrible ideas proposed by Mamdani, among others has been a sales tax on financial services such as stocks and bonds. If they DO that, then the New York Stock Exchange will become the Dallas Stock Exchange in about a month. Because most of the hardware that supports the NYSE is already in New Jersey anyway.
“NEW: Senate Votes to Terminate ALL of Trump’s Global Tariffs – Here are the Four RINOS Who Voted With the Democrats”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/10/new-senate-votes-terminate-all-trumps-global-tariffs/
“The four Republicans who voted to strip away Trump’s efforts to restore prosperity were Lisa Murkowski (AK), Mitch McConnell (KY), Susan Collins (ME), and Rand Paul (KY).”
“GOP Senators Eric Schmitt (MO) and Roger Wicker (MS) did not vote on the measure.”
“House Speaker Mike Johnson will not hold a vote on any of these measures, nor would Trump ever sign them into law.”
A bunch of RINOs.
Yep, one and all. What good does it do to terminate a tariff, but let the other country continue to tariff our products.
I wouldn’t call any of those four RINOs. They are Dumbos. The RNC needs to primary them.
What am I thinking. A spine must be grown first.
Just went to my 10 day post cataract surgery followup. My new right eye is doing great. However, the left eye is ghosting because of the disparity in the two eyes. The ghosting is so bad at nighttime that I have to close the left eye if there is any oncoming traffic a mile or more away. This will not get better according to my doc so we are scheduling the left eye for lens replacement even though the cataract is just a 2 out of 4. He likes to replace the cataracts at 3 out of 4.
My right eye is 20/20 now whereas the left eye is still -4.25 diopters. I am going to get a distance lens in the left eye also for good night time driving. I will have to wear readers for computer and reading, such is life. I will severely miss reading at night in bed without glasses though. I already have been test reading at night in bed with +2.50 readers, it is ok. I might try +3.0 readers also.
I can go without readers while driving as I can figure out everything on the dash except for my cruise control mph setting and which gear I am in. Oh, and the total miles on my odometer is hard to see also. I carry readers in my truck so that is not a big deal to grab them. In fact, I plan to wear readers on a string around my neck.
The dollar store readers do not fit me very well as my head is big. I wear a size 7.5 hat without hair or a size 7.75 hat with hair. So I have been buying XXL readers and sunglasses on Big River at four for $17.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQ5455GY?tag=ttgnet-20
I just had an Amazon delivery.
The delivery man literally ran from his truck to my door, left the package, and ran back to his truck.
“Depend on it, sir, when 30,000 of a man’s coworkers have been laid off that week, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”
—–
The UPS guy, on the other hand, just dropped the black bubble envelope containing my new glasses over the pony wall sometime earlier in the week – I only happened to see it by accident this morning.
“Feral hogs are surging into Texas neighborhoods right now”
https://www.chron.com/life/wildlife/article/texas-feral-hogs-cold-front-surge-21122177.php
“Residents across Texas report more encounters with invasive wild hogs.”
We have got to do something about the feral hogs. They are everywhere. The 8 million deer in Texas are cute. The 6 million feral hogs are not cute.
Pearls Before Swine: Pastis Has Jury Duty
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2025/10/30
So he is sitting right next to the Karen. Lovely, just lovely.
The deer aren’t so cute when they tear up the flower beds and pee everywhere.
I’m also starting to understand the “why” of fox hunting in the UK and Ireland. We had one that used our back yard as a toilet, pooping all over the grass until he disappeared suddenly last year.
I had some deer walk-through our campsite one night while hiking in the high Sierras. The ground shook. They’re basically like cows with really long legs.
—
I disturbed something last night, early evening when I went out with the binoculars into the backyard, a dog or possibly a coyote, surprised the heck out of both of us. It took off without a sound.
The Geico Gecko will pen his last “Letter to Shareholders” before Thanksgiving.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/executive-leadership-and-management/berkshire-s-new-normal-no-buffett-shareholder-letter-and-no-buffett-premium/ar-AA1PvPwN
To be clear, you’re not talking about “migrants”, are you? The photos I’ve seen suggest that “hog” is the correct term for most of them.
“Democrats Vow To Starve As Many Food Stamp Recipients As It Takes To Get Free Healthcare For Illegal Immigrants”
https://babylonbee.com/news/democrats-vow-to-starve-as-many-food-stamp-recipients-as-it-takes-to-get-free-healthcare-for-illegal-immigrants
“WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democrats have taken a bold stand by vowing to starve as many food stamp recipients as it takes to get free healthcare for illegal immigrants.”
“According to prominent Democratic leaders, starving a couple million kids is a small price to pay to ensure that blue states continue to provide free healthcare to illegal immigrants.”
“”If you’re going to make an omelette, you’ve got to crack a few eggs. And if you’re going to give free healthcare to illegal immigrants, you’ve got to let some children go hungry,” said Senator Cory Booker. “Honestly, who cares? Kids can’t vote. Plus, they’re very resilient, they can dig around in some dumpsters, or forage for berries or whatever. Cry harder.””
True, that is.
“Many a true word was said in jest.” –Geoffrey Chaucer
n
“I prefer Family Circus.”
How does that strip survive?
Auction in Magnolia with lots of gubs and bangstuff
https://hibid.com/livecatalog/687601/the-armory-auction
closing now, some prices are good.
n
On the farm I was making a trip to turn off the irrigation pump. It was about an eighth mile walk. Leave the house, cross the road, enter the pasture, follow the fence line to the creek, and turn off the pump. The fence line had a wooden post, then two metal posts, then wooden post, all spaced about 6 feet apart.
It was at night, dark, a slight moon. Having made the trips multiple times, I rarely used the flashlight I carried. An old hot wire 2 D cell light that was not very powerful, barely good enough. I had made the trip enough times that walking from memory and using shadows for reference was good enough.
I noticed that one of the wooden posts seemed higher than the others. Strange I thought so I moved closer to investigate. When I got about six inches from the post, I was greeted with a loud “WHOO” from an owl.
Yowsers, I took off running as fast as I could for about 50 yards. I then stood still for several minutes to allow my heart to slow down, the adrenaline to dissipate, and my mind to stop racing. I think I heard the owl laughing. Who knew owls could laugh?
I self-publishing success story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaosiCiA5e8
The Family Circus:
https://keithroysdon.com/2011/11/09/who-will-take-over-the-family-circus-not-me/
That lady sold a significant number of copies… that’s quite an achievement.
the man cosplaying as a female Bud Light salesman wrote a book, but it was in the “take it if you want it” bin at one of my auctioneers last week.
I bet internet rando chick sold more copies.
n
So apparently you can’t say or print the word retard?
Kid Rock said he’d dress up as a retard (as he put on a surgical mask.)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-15242833/Kid-Rock-fury-saying-wants-dress-r-Halloween.html
n
https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/10/heritage-foundation-soils-itself-embraces-tucker-carlson-and-nick-fuentes/
Is Jew-hatred an actual viral infection of some sort?
That’s why you need to lock your car when you walk away from it. Someone might open the door and leave a copy of Paper Doll.
People have been screeching at me about using “the r word” since at least mid-2021.
The funny thing is, “retard” was the euphemism, back in the 1970s or whenever, as in “developmentally retarded”. It was the kinder, gentler word to use because “moron” and “imbecile” carried a stigma.
As for the screechers, when in person or on a zoom call, I’d usually reply with something like “You don’t like the words ‘retarded’ and ‘gay’ because you’re a Democrat and everything your party stands for is retarded and gay.” or “Aw, are you afraid I’m talking about you?”
“”We Just Won”: Trump Gloats After Bill Gates Admits Climate Change Won’t End World”
https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/after-years-climate-doom-propaganda-bill-gates-admits-world-wont-end
I have almost zero respect for Bill Gates now. I am so glad that I did not go to work for him back in 1987.
That lady sold a significant number of copies… that’s quite an achievement.
55,000 copies so far with income to her of $3 per copy. That is pretty good.
I did not catch her out of pocket expenses for editing, cover design, audio, etc.
https://redstate.com/beccalower/2025/10/30/trump-administration-announces-major-change-to-us-refugee-policy-that-has-not-happened-since-1970s-n2195677
Good plan. I’d add some slots for Ukrainians, though.
Abby Zwerner: ‘I Thought I Was Dying’
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2025/10/30/abby-zwerner-i-thought-i-was-dying-n3808399
Six-year-old brought a handgun to school. Multiple people knew about it, it was reported to the principle no less than four times. No action. Teacher was shot, but survived.
Before you follow the link, any guesses about the ethnicities of the dramatis personnae?
“I have almost zero respect for Bill Gates now”
The instrument has yet to be invented that is discerning enoughto measure the distance between zero and my respect for BillG.
It is a mathematical curiosity that there are people that I have less respect for, but it’s like ranking infinities.
Good plan. I’d add some slots for Ukrainians, though.
Not sure many of them want to come here now after one of them was brutally murdered on the North Carolina transit.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/23-year-old-ukrainian-refugee-killed-north-carolina-transit-system-rcna229817
If the legend is true, BillG gave the world the srand()/rand() code still used in the Visual C++ runtime.
God help us all.
And British Jews.
Something is up with the Branch Covidians this week.
I saw masks more regularly, and the HEB pharmacy had the Hecho en China tests on the counter at the dropoff window tonight.
“George R.R. Martin’s Copyright Lawsuit Against OpenAI Gains Traction in Court”
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2025/10/30/george-r-r-martins-copyright-lawsuit-against-openai-gains-traction-in-court/
“The Hollywood Reporter reports that the copyright infringement lawsuit filed by George R.R. Martin and other book authors against OpenAI has taken a favorable turn for the plaintiffs. A recent ruling by a federal court has advanced two additional theories of infringement, bolstering the authors’ case against the AI company.”
“The lawsuit, which is part of the first wave of AI copyright cases, revolves around three main arguments. Firstly, the authors claim that OpenAI’s training of AI models on copyrighted books constitutes infringement. Secondly, they allege that the company engaged in the practice of pirating books from shadow libraries, regardless of whether these books were used for training purposes. Lastly, the plaintiffs argue that the answers generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI’s chatbot, are substantially similar to the books on which they were trained.”
“U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein permitted the separation of the shadow library and training theories, stating that the fact that many allegations in the prior class complaints suggested the ultimate purpose of reproduction was to train OpenAI’s LLMs (large language models) were not conclusive. This decision provides the authors with another path toward maximizing damages, as statutory damages for copyright infringement can reach up to $150,000 per infringement.”
“Surprisingly, Judge Stein also concluded that ChatGPT’s answers could potentially infringe upon the books they were trained on. The court pointed to the chatbot’s summaries of Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, popularly known as Game of Thrones, with one summary reading, “Members of the Night’s Watch, a sworn brotherhood tasked with defending the realm from threats beyond the Wall (a giant ice structure in the North), are attacked by mysterious and deadly creatures known as the White Walkers, thought to be mere legends.” The court stated that a reader could easily conclude that this detailed summary is substantially similar to the original work.”
So does this mean that all book reviewers are infringing the author’s copyright ? I think not.
I enjoyed the book. It started life as a series of clips, and the author was more or less arm twisted into writing and releasing the novel. It’s one of two I’ve bought due to watching clips. This one is recommended if the genre suits you, sort of meta, author’s thought process meets internal life of characters.
@Lynn
“So does this mean that all book reviewers are infringing the author’s copyright ? I think not.”
Puzzling. Stein’s conclusion here is not supported by decades of copyright law cases. Fair Use is not an issue–the summary is not a verbatim quote.
Reviewers with a legal copy would be fair use, I think.
“Trump Calls for ‘Nuclear Option’: Kill the Filibuster to End Schumer Shutdown”
https://americafirstreport.com/trump-calls-to-kill-filibuster-to-end-schumer-shutdown/
“President Donald J. Trump is once again calling on Washington to confront its own dysfunction. The problem is, this time he’s calling for something that many in his base don’t want to happen: the removal of the filibuster.”
“With the federal government now in its fifth week of shutdown and hundreds of thousands of Americans furloughed or working without pay, Trump is calling on Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster—what he calls “the Nuclear Option”—to end the “the Schumer Shutdown.””
I’ve been thinking that this will happen for quite a while now. All of the Senate’s rules are too much about power sharing.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
No mention of Tonks nekkid, however.
@lynn, she said $10K for expenses. And she says a lot of it goes to taxes.
———-
past my bedtime if I want to be productive tomorrow. Which I do.
n
>>‘Currently, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have an effective triopoly on cloud services and storage, meaning that an outage of even part of their infrastructure can cripple hundreds, if not thousands, of applications and systems.
Who is #4? Oracle? I do hear their radio ads occasionally on Fox News via Sirius/XM.
Okay, instead of going off to bed to read I’ll look it up…
The leading cloud storage vendors, based on global market share in the cloud infrastructure services market as of Q2 2025, are the “Big Three”: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.
The vendors ranked by approximate market share are as follows:
Rank VendorMarket Share (Q2 2025)1Amazon Web Services (AWS)~30%2Microsoft Azure~20%3Google Cloud (GCP)~13%4Alibaba Cloud~4%5Oracle Cloud~3%6IBM Cloud~2%7Salesforce~2%8Tencent Cloud~2%9Huawei Cloud~2%
Reviewers with a legal copy would be fair use, I think.
I think that they are arguing over what was a legal copy. May be only good for the original computer. I think that the judge wants them to buy a copy of the books for each of the million AI computers in their system.
That logic would mean that any copy of the books content would need the books to be purchased for each AI computer in the world. Maybe 10 million copies of the books. And the AI image has thousands of books in it.
>>We have got to do something about the feral hogs. They are everywhere. The 8 million deer in Texas are cute. The 6 million feral hogs are not cute.
Spit-roast them? Feed ’em to the dogs?
I remember when we lived in Tampa and we had wild turkeys around…
Hmm…
The vendors ranked by approximate market share are as follows:
Rank VendorMarket Share (Q2 2025)1Amazon Web Services (AWS)~30%2Microsoft Azure~20%3Google Cloud (GCP)~13%4Alibaba Cloud~4%5Oracle Cloud~3%6IBM Cloud~2%7Salesforce~2%8Tencent Cloud~2%9Huawei Cloud~2%
Let’s try that again…
The vendors ranked by approximate market share are as follows:
Rank VendorMarket Share (Q2 2025)1Amazon Web Services (AWS)~30%2Microsoft Azure~20%3Google Cloud (GCP)~13%4Alibaba Cloud~4%5Oracle Cloud~3%6IBM Cloud~2%7Salesforce~2%8Tencent Cloud~2%9Huawei Cloud~2%
Argh!
Feed ’em to the dogs?
– the feed I buy for the weiner/taco mix is made from hogs harvested in Texas. At least, that’s what I bought when I was buying it for the previous pooch.
n
Sports fans in panic mode as ESPN and ABC is axed by major cable service… leaving millions scrambling before weekend’s games
Millions of sports fans are scrambling to find a solution before Week 10 of the college football season – with their options to watch multiple high-profile matchups now vanishing into thin air.
– of course the option to just not watch, and do something more engaging with family or the wider world isn’t on the table.
Bread. Circuses.
n
Friday. Finally. Happy Hallow’een, all!
Fox… “disappeared suddenly”. Of course it did.