Monday Night Miscellany - Say What!?!

Yeah, what the heck. It's not Friday night. I've been too tired on Fridays for the past few months t0 do a full-fledged, or even a half-fledged, edition of Friday Night Miscellany. But today I feel energized - wonder if it has anything to do with the thunderstorms that rumbled through the area this morning? Scary stuff, actually - thunderstorms. As of this moment (5:50 p.m. CST), no word yet on the fate of that French 330A airbus that took off from Rio toward Paris last night. But at this point, there is no hope whatsoever that the jet, or its passengers, survived. From what I understand, the jet encountered a large area of extreme turbulence and the last message received, which was an automated message, was that the jet had electrical problems. Of course, Air France says the craft was struck by lightning, trying to deflect any possibility that the jet's electrical system may not have been able to withstand a mega-event. Well, what the hell do I know - nothing, darlings, nothing. Whatever happened, I hope it was fast and painless for the 228 souls on-board. T-storms are threatening here again tonight. The local weather has been extreme. Today started out cool (in the low 50's), and then there was a downpour; and then the sun came out and it was a steam bath (I understand it got up to at least 80)! About 3:30 p.m. the winds started shifting from the west to the northeast (off Lake Michigan), and the great temperature drop began. I closed down all the windows and the patio door. It's downright cold out there right now, but the winds have abruptly abated (it's now 6:00 p.m.) Whether we get rain tonight or not, tomorrow is not expected to get out of the low 50's. May as well be back in fricking March. GIMPY SQUIRREL UPDATE: I was pleased as punch to spot Mr. Gimpy Squirrel out in the yard late this afternoon, it was right around the time the wind started shifting and I was closing the patio door. When I saw him down there I quickly launched individual in-shell almonds into the general area. Sure enough, about 5 minutes later I noticed Mr. Gimpy Squirrel dragging his way laboriously up the Big Tree, but this time he was on the left-hand trunk, not the right-hand trunk! What gives, I thought. But I got distracted with other things and went inside. When I next looked out, Mr. Gimpy Squirrel had climbed the tree and was up on a high, sturdy branch (where I had spotted him a few days ago), and I could tell he had an almond in his paws! I do hope he figured out how to break through the shell and eat the nut-meat. I think he did. Although he moved out of sight, I stationed myself on the deck, wrapped in my jacked and an afghan against the cold wind from the northeast, and I could hear "crunch crunch" noises coming from an area on the Big Tree where I think Mr. Gimpy was. So, now the question is whether I should attempt to stuff some almonds into the hidey-hole that Mr. Gimpy has found in the pile of logs along the north fence line (for the next week, month, year, years?), or if I should content myself with continuing to toss the nuts into the general area, with perhaps an extra-large cupful of "critter mix." Okay - moving to other things... SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS: I'm pleased to learn today from the Social Security Administration that, should my earnings maintain their current level, I will be entitled to a monthly retirement benefit at age 66 and 4 months of $1,719.00 a month. Of course, that is before mandatory deductions for Medicare premiums, which by the time I retire will probably wipe out about half of my monthly SS benefit; and despite the fact that I will be mortgage free upon reaching retirement age, my property taxes will probably eat up whatever is left of my SS benefit. So I'll be left with whatever I've managed to accumulate in my 401(k) plans and miniscule pension from the old Office World (I don't even want to go there, darlings!), plus various other investments, all of which absolutely suck at the moment, and if history is any predicator, will suck again right around the time I's rady to retire. With luck, I may be able to afford one or perhaps even two $5.00 foot-longs from Subway each and every month. Gee, I'm thrilled. Can't you tell? BACHELORETTE: Tonight the lovely lass from America's 52nd state (Canada) is back on prime-time juggling the attentions of some 20 bachelors, at least, I think that is the current count. It's so easy to lose track on these shows. Not that I should be watching such prime time dreck at all, that's what I keep telling myself. But I watch it anyway, damn the dreck! So tonight Jillian, the erstwhile heroine from Canada, will smooch it up and play ballsy-pallsy with various types of age-eligible young men. I cannot understand why the guy with the foot fetish is still in the show. He's not good-looking and he's positively creepy! What is the matter with you, Woman? Why didn't you ditch the dude the first chance you got? Arggggh! Guess it really is true that the show's results are now totally rigged and G (J?) really has no choice in the matter, in a sorry attempt by the show's producers to maintain viewer interest and/or attract new viewers. Barf me. Now, let's get into some really interesting stuff! SUSAN BOYLE: I want to make this clear. I love Susan Boyle's voice. Tone for tone, I think she far-outclasses any of the other singers I've heard on American Idol and certainly any other singer I've watch on youtube.com from "Britain's Got Talent," other than Katherine McPhee. Age-wise and "hotty-wise," McPhee has it all over Ms. Boyle, but when it comes to voice, I choose Susan's. In my opinion, the way Ms. Boyle was treated by the British tabloids the past few weeks is absolutely actionable under libel laws, even those in Great Britain (which, basically, do not exist at all). I hope, I sincerely hope, that each and every one of those reporters with by-lines (and all of those unmentionables who contributed to the by-line stories) ROT IN HELL FOREVER AND EVER, with the DEVIL PUTTING HIS PITCHFORK UP YOUR BUTT 60 TIMES A MINUTE. When Susan Boyle's first CD comes out, I will stand in line to buy it, if necessary.

Gimpy Squirrel Update

Hola! I'm pleased to report that the little fella has survived the weekend. The right rear leg seems to be totally useless (broken?) and it also looks like he lost about half of his tail, which doesn't help with his balance issues with the useless leg. However, he's plucky! He's been showing up very early in the morning to feed before the other (bigger) squirrels are around to knock him out of the way. He was out there early Saturday, yesterday and this morning. He's digging around where I throw the bird seed every morning, maybe eating whatever sunflower seeds he can find. I've thrown almonds (in the shell) down there but he doesn't seem to have connected them with "food" yet, and the other squirrels come in and take the almonds as the morning goes on. It doesn't take long! Mr. Gimpy Squirrel also found a hidey-hole amidst the piled-up logs that are laid against the north fence down below the retaining wall by the big tree. I've seen him tuck into an opening between the logs whenever he feels threatened, and then some minutes later if I watch long enough I see his nose peek out! After seeing him do this Saturday morning, I thought he might have taken up residence and I was worried all day - what if it rained (the area can flood if we get a lot of rain). What if a predator comes along? And I was out there with my very noisy and scary gas lawnmower, cutting the grass, and then later on I was down in the area trimming the black berry tree/bush! I was relieved when I saw him out there again, Sunday morning. At first I thought he might be living in that log hidey-hole, but this morning, when it seems he'd had enough to eat (or the competition from the other squirrels was getting to be too much for him), I watched him laboriously climb all the way up one of the tree trunks on the Big Tree to a limb way off the ground, where an old squirrels nest rests (used last season and now abandoned). I saw him go in and not come back out, so I figure he's living there now. It's good to know he's off the ground where he would be easy prey to predators because he can't move very well or quickly. This photo of that limb was taken from my second floor bedroom window, which is below the level of the nest Mr. Gimpy has moved into! The nest is in the high "V" formed by two branches on the right. It is barely visible - it looks like a sort of "hairy lump" in the "V." I hope he makes it. Since losing Mr. Tipsy Squirrel, who made it through a nasty winter only to disappear in April, my heart has been aching. Oh I know it's foolish to get so attached to wild animals - and to squirrels in particular, since many people consider them vermin and/or food! But to see him, so tiny and helpless, and yet he's fighting to survive as hard as he can because he doesn't know how to do anything else, just touches my heart.

Gimpy the Squirrel

Hola! It's been a depressing sort of day. The weather is beautiful - for a change - and I actually dosed for awhile today outdoors in the sun while I was reading the latest issue of Chess Life magazine, yippee! But the news, oh my, the news. One of my pleasures on Sunday is reading different things online and posting about them here. I usually find a lot of interesting items at The New York Times. But today I scoured The Times and was appalled, and got depressed. News about food shortages, news about the rising cost of oil and the looming shortages in that commodity too, news about the eroding of the American middle class, now only 16% of all Americans make wages higher than $20 an hour. We are in danger of becoming the first generation of Americans who will not live as well as our parents - and our children certainly will not. If that isn't pathetic, I don't know what is. More bad news about global warming and climate change. One gets the vision that my senior years will be spent huddled with freezing, hungry people in underground dugouts around meager coal fires, eating roasted worms. All the animals will be gone, all the wood will be gone, we won't be able to afford oil or gas to eat our homes, which will be deconstructed for the lumber and other materials they contain, all the food will be gone. One-third of the coasts of the United States will be under water and the rest of the country will be scoured by relentless hurricanes, floods and drought. In the developing nations about 8.5 billion people will be jostling for elbow room and killing each other over whatever is left to scarf out of the ground. The oceans will be dead, all animals will be gone, even the insects will be in danger of extinction as people turn to them as the only food source left. May as well just blow my brains out now and get it over with. Sigh. BIG sigh. So I want to tell you about litle Gimpy the squirel, who always makes me feel better whenever I see her. I do not know exactly what befell Gimpy, but she showed up in the back yard one day in laste autumn last year, with her tail bent at a weird angle and moving very strangely - sort of like dragging/hopping. She was absolutely terrified of me - whenever my shadow came anywhere near the patio door she would drag/hop out of sight. But she stuck around, no doubt because of the plentiful and easily acquired food I toss out in the mornings and the evenings, day in and day out. When dondelion visited over Christmas I pointed her out to him. Slowly, very slowly, she got used to seeing me - but she would still run up a tree for safety when I opened the patio door to throw out some tempting nuts for her. Unlike the other squirrels who hang around here, she doesn't come running when I make my squirrel "mooching" sound - they know that's the signal for food. Maybe because of the constant food supply, Gimpy survived this long hard winter, and actually came through with some weight put on! The broken end of her tail fell off about 2 or 3 weeks ago, so now she just has about a five inch stub. I don't know if it will grow back. When she first arrived, I suspected that she had an injured paw or leg, thus causing her very strange gait - but until recently I could only guess because she would not come close enough (or hold still in one position long enough) for me to get a good long look! Gimpy has gotten sufficiently used to me now that she comes up on the deck to grab peanuts, as long as I stand quietly behind the closed patio door. So I was able to get a good look at her, at last. She is missing her right front paw - it's not there at all. I suspect that whatever fate caused her broken tail also caused her to lose her paw, and thinking back on how she moved when I first saw her in the yard, she may have had an injured rear left leg too. But now she is fat and sassy and the boy squirrels are chasing her all over the yard. She has lost her funny gait and moves pretty much just like the others in my tribe of squirrels do. When she eats the nuts I toss out with free abandon (I spend more on nuts for the squirrels than I do on food for myself) she holds them between her good left paw and her stump. I expect she'll have a litter later in the summer. And so Gimpy, Goddess love her, was able to adapt and survive. I will try and get a picture of her to post here - so far I've been unsuccessful - she's just too fast for me! So perhaps there's a lesson here, although I seriously doubt that there will be any "Goddess raining peanuts from Heaven" down upon us sorry-butt humans - so, maybe not. I don't know. I just know that seeing Gimpy makes me feel better.