JOURNAL: Tuesday, November 7th, 2023

I’m sure you know the old cliché, “The dog that caught the car.” If not, it’s when a person attains an ambitious goal and has no idea what to do next. Watching the election results this evening, I thought Dobbs was just one example of the car: the recent Speaker’s election and the preceding three weeks with a stalled House being another. An argument could be made that the response to COVID-19 is another car, and you might make the argument that it’s not a bunch of cars, rather everything since January 2017 is one large bus.

You would think that after years in the minority, and in the case of Dobbs, 50 years of planning for the day Roe would be overturned, there would have been a plan. Not so much, which leads us to a hard truth: Today’s Republican Party has no interest in plans, policy, or even the bare minimum of governing. This new group is only there for the clicks.

After years of getting my hopes up at other companies, I stopped worrying about merit increases a long time ago. If the company chose to give me anything for my work, I considered it gravy. I’ve been a salaried employee for a little less than ten years between two places, and the increases are usually better than anything I ever received as an hourly employee. It’s those 25 cent raises that beat the hope out of me, so I don’t worry about it. So it was nice to have received a note from on high telling me that I received something more appropriate for my work over the year. I still come from the school of not disclosing what I make to anyone, other than to say that I now make more than I’ve made anywhere else. As long as the bills are paid and I can still buy eggs, I’m solid.

Friday off for the holiday, and we’re thinking about heading west to the Blue Ridge to see if we can squeeze the last bit of fall color out of the trees. Last year we went to High Bridge State Park, and in a strange twist, I had no trouble with the heights but Kim had terrible vertigo. Additionally, we had a storm come through that week, and it wiped out most of the leafs on the way through. Not a total bust, but close. Hoping for some better luck this year. Trust I’ll put some photos up here if we get lucky.