Like most of you I get up in the morning (which is obvious if you’re reading this), take my meds, have breakfast and enjoy a cup of coffee while catching up on the latest stupidity in the world (in no particular order). I don’t watch the news but scan through headlines on the interwebs so I can filter out the stupidity and bullshit on my own terms.

Looking through the day’s news it seems there are always people who suck at grammar that are writing the stories…even on major websites. For example, an apostrophe in a word does not mean it is a plural – it usually means possession. I see these things like this all the time. Most of it is people who don’t know how to write.

Case in point. I saw a headline yesterday that said “What to Eat With Overactive Bladder”. I wondered aloud – is it some recipes for side dishes? Mac ‘n’ cheese? Tater Tots? Jellied cranberry sauce? Then I thought what would you drink with overactive bladder…a red wine? A nice dark beer? Maybe an overactive bladder would be filling enough on its own. I don’t know.

The sign above is another example. I took this several years ago in Colorado. There was road construction being done on a road named “BOWLES” but someone was a crappy speller and made an ass out of themselves (I had to…).

I saw an interesting story on NPR talking about the things that are getting people through the pandemic. The most captivating one to me, and they were all very good, was the guy in Brazil talking about drinking a coffee in the sun in a little part of his yard. Just a very few lines about the smallest, simplest thing that brings him some escape and you get it. You feel it. It’s amazing to me how saying so little can say so much. Another one that stuck out for obvious reasons was the imaginary travel journal the girl in New Zealand did. That was clever.

It made me think about the things that have gotten me through the rampant dumbassery going on around us. I really cannot say one thing I did was more important for my sanity than the others. Being retired I don’t have that going on so I had way too much time to think if I let myself do so. Not watching the news was a big thing. Dreaming of going back to Europe with all three of my girls, the few trips I took in my trailer, cooking amazing (to me!) meals, babysitting one of my granddaughters, walking my dog, and being in touch with a few friends and family all played a part. Plus posting on my blog. Wine and The Devil’s lettuce has certainly helped.

Speaking of travel, it’s looking as if Canada will still be closed at the border for a while yet. It could be a long while unfortunately. It’s understandable, though. I was hoping to get to explore and experience more of Canada since Europe is still not fully on my radar. It IS on my radar, of course.

With that said, though, I guess there have been some great flight deals but my notifications were turned off for my bargain flight website when the deals came out so I missed out. If I found a great deal that had no change fees I just might get a ticket for a ways in the future and figure it out later.

Until then it’s looking like the summer is gonna be a rough one concerning fires and is starting out with some fury. That may force me to cut back on my road travels for some time.

In the meantime I still need things to stay busy doing and accomplishing. Pretty much my biggest to-do is the things the trailer needs. Today I climbed up on the roof of the trailer to start caulking the seams. I used the clear caulking to seal the edge trim on the roof since it’s out of view. I did not realize how much needs redone until I took a few minutes and looked at the seams that needed resealed on the trailer as a whole. Yeah, there’s only five windows to seal but the trim and other seams on the sheet metal all needs resealing as well. It’s gonna take time.

The trim runs from the bottom of the front to the bottom of the back and it’s on both sides. Basically this trim covers the edges where the top sheet metal meets up with the sides. It screws down over the edge then a vinyl trim strip snaps in to cover the screws and keep the seam from leaking. Each side has two edges needing sealed; I also need to replace that vinyl trim strip on one side at some point as well. It’s going to be a big undertaking getting this all redone. I may not have enough white caulking to do all of it.

Another documentary I watched is called “The Last Blockbuster”. It is about, well, the last Blockbuster Video store in existence. Yes, there’s is still one store left. Those of us of a certain age remember going to the video store to rent videotapes, LaserDiscs, DVDs, etc. If you remember that, or want to see how it was in “ the olden days” of the 1990s then catch this movie. Blockbuster was ubiquitous for video rentals back in the day and they were everywhere. It was very interesting & well-done and it brought back a lot of memories and “oh yeah” moments.

I created my own pasta sauce and it turned out pretty tasty. It’s a couple of spoonfuls of olive oil, some diced up green olives, some red and green peppers, garlic, a couple of diced Campari tomatoes, sun-dried tomato pieces, pepper flakes, and pepperoncini. At the end I add a little sliver of Kerrygold butter to make it a little silky and a little splash of the pasta water to thicken it up a bit. Then I finish the whole-grain pasta in the pan with the sauce. Top with some grated cheeses and some fresh basil off my plant.

I got out for another hike yesterday and picked a few salmonberries along the way to snack on. I actually walked farther than the day before and stumbled across a few ripe thimbleberries. I found a few more next to my house so I ate them too.

That’s about all the odds and ends for tonight.