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?