In a rather revoltin’ development, the NYS Fair opens today – a day early with a “preview” day, that I think they added in order to help pay for some of the money they’ve spent renovating the facilities. This is the beginning of the end of a summer that was a really shitty summer on multiple levels. I think I was in the pool maybe five times total this year, and when you spend nine months waiting for warm weather (as we do around here), it really kind of sucks when the season doesn’t live up to expectations. It’s kind of like Winterfell around here – winter is always coming. All we can hope for at this point is a warm fall that lasts until New Years or so (and maybe more than 4 wins from the football team, though that’s kind of doubtful). I’ve seen plenty of white Christmases in my time (and Halloweens, Election Days, Thanksgivings, etc.), and I don’t need to see any more.

Today is also 12th anniversary of the day (I think) that what would soon become known as Hurricane Katrina formed in the Atlantic. Ah, those were the days. Whatever happened to Ray Nagin, anyway? Oh, that’s right, he’s doing a 10-year stretch in a Federal prison. Just minimum security, though, so you probably don’t need to worry too much about him. Pretty sure no white folks went to prison for anything.

So, your President went to the land of the loonies (sorry, KP, wherever you are) and gave one of his patented, unhinged and full of shit speeches out there in the desert last night. I don’t have the intestinal fortitude to listen to him, but from what I’ve read, he was in good form.

Cheer up, folks, just another 7 or so years to go.

Hey, you didn’t think I’d leave you without a look at the butter sculpture, did you? Not sure what this one’s about, but I think these creepy guys are getting ready to make veal cutlets or something.

I’ve been trying to think of something to say about everything that’s been going on lately. I can’t think of anything – I guess I’m just too shocked to think that it’s come to this in this country. Or depressed, I guess. I don’t know – can you be both shocked and not in the least surprised? ‘Cuz none of this surprises me. Nobody was dumb enough to actually believe there wasn’t plenty of racism (and sexism, bagism, shagism, dragism, madism, ragism, tagism…) in this country, but the assholes used to keep it among themselves and not out there in polite company. Now, well, now all’s fair in hate and loathing, on and off the campaign trail. There seem to be a number of people who think that Trump is likely to resign or otherwise be removed from office in the not-too-distant future, but I don’t fucking believe that for a second. The entire Republican political infrastructure is now built upon the concept of survival of the shittiest (and, man, it’s a race to the bottom for the title of “shittiest Republican”), and changing that would be like trying to turn an aircraft carrier. And never forget that the Democrats don’t suck, too. Not to say they’re the equivalent of what the Republicans have become by any means, but, let’s face it, they suck. Can you imagine what it takes to be the Party that allows Donald Trump to be elected President?

And that’s not even getting into the whole nuclear holocaust with North Korea as a distraction thing. Oy.

So, anyhow, I decided to do what any self-respecting American does when times are tough and push comes to shove. I stimulated the economy. Or the economy of Japan, via San Antonio, TX. In other words, I bought a new Toyota Tacoma (aka, the US version of the terrorist’s choice for pickups, which would be the Toyota Hilux). So, the bad news is it’s a Japanese truck. The good news is that it was built in the US. The bad news is that it was built in a non-union plant in San Antonio TX.

Always a source of pride to know you spent about 2.5x more than your WWII veteran of the CBI Theater lifelong union member dad did on the house you grew up in for a Japanese vehicle built in a non-union factory by people who hate Yankees (not that my dad felt any animosity toward the Japanese – at least not by the time I came around – unlike my uncle, who held a bit of a grudge, but then he was on two ships that were sunk somewhere in the Pacific, and he never was quite right. I think the VA hd him on the wrong meds for about 30 years).

But I suppose since I traded in a Japanese car built in a non-union factory in Kentucky, it’s kind of a wash (at least the TX plant isn’t in “Georgetown” which we all know still sucks).

Of course, the big news for today is the total eclipse of the sun, which will of course be the best, most beautiful eclipse ever, thanks to Donald Trump. Until he was elected, the eclipse was going to be in Mexico, but the negotiator-in-chief made yet another one of his patented deals with God, and there you have it. Of course, since we didn’t vote for the fat asshole up here, we won’t get the full Monty. In fact, we’re only going to get about 68% totality, which I think means it’ll look a little weird, but not all that awesome. Plus, I’ll be at work anyway. Thank goodness I can watch it on the Internet, which is how I experience pretty much everything these days.

Oh well, time to get out there and seize the day. At least I’m not on call this week.

I know I’m a few days late on this, but, shit, it’s already August. And it’s been kind of shitty non-summer for the most part around here, so I’m not thrilled at the prospect of what little summer we get rapidly coming to an end. Although hearing that there will be pig racing at this year’s NY State Fair takes the edge off it a little bit. Each year, I get a little less tolerant of the cold weather. I probably wouldn’t mind so much if I didn’t have to go to work, but, well, that’s not gonna happen.

Ever since that awful day back in November, I’ve been more or less unable to watch the news – even the local news, with an occasional exception for sports and weather, neither of which have been particularly fun for me to pay attention to lately either – on the teevee. I can’t stand listening to NPR news (they’ve been pretty annoying for a long time now, but they way they bend over backwards to normalize what goes on in DC these days is nausea inducing), and if I’m going to listen to any news, it’s pretty much limited to the CBC and BBC News briefs every morning. Lots of wildfires in BC, if you didn’t know.

So today, because I’ve pretty much seen every episode of Law and Order and “How It’s Made,” I figured I’d give the lo-cal news a shot. What I learned in the brief time i could stand watching was that the local baseball team paid tribute to our local delicacy by calling themselves the Salt Potatoes for a day, and that there have been “dozens” of complaints of skunks in Oswego. It seems they’re coming up out of the storm sewers (really? Didn’t know they hung out there) and getting into people’s garbage and behaving in a skunk-like manner. So apparently the mayor is going to ask the City Council for some $8,000 in funding for skunk traps (humane ones, I hope, though I don’t even like getting a dead mouse out of a trap – pretty sure I wouldn’t want the job of collecting a live skunk).

That was when I gave up on the news and decided to do my breakfast dishes.

I then returned to the Internets, where I learned that Cynthia Nixon may run for NY State Governor. Really? I mean, nothing against her. She’s probably a wonderful person and I guess is an outspoken advocate and all that (and I’m sure she’d be better than Governor Snotball – not that he’s set the bar particularly high, even by NY standards, where the most competent Governor we’ve had in years had a rather unfortunate predilection for expensive prostitutes), but I honestly don’t think it’s a good idea to elect somebody with no experience trying to actually accomplish anything within the confines of our corrupt and dysfunctional government is an especially good idea. Plus in NY, with all its arcane election rules, you need a really good (well-financed) machine behind you just to get on the ballot, never mind win anything. And running a “celebrity” for Guv seems like an even bigger loser proposition than Caroline Kennedy for Senator was.

Besides, what’s her slogan gonna be – “Nixon. Now more than ever” (I guess you need to be of a certain age to understand that one).

But, whatever. As long as we don’t get Carl Paladino.

My brother hit the big Seven-Oh yesterday, which means he’s a mere four years younger then my dad was (his too) when he died. I find this thought disconcerting, to say the least. And not just because I really don’t wanna have to drive down to Long Island for his funeral (in addition to not wanting to drive, I have been to all the funerals I care to go to in the lifetime, and I’d prefer it if the next one was mine – let somebody else do the driving).

Well, I guess I better get my shit out of the dryer and continue to get ready to go back to work tomorrow while trying not to think about the fact that I have to go back to work tomorrow while I wait for it to be late enough to get out there on the tractor and cut the grass. Is ten o’clock late enough on a Sunday?