Happy MLK Day!

I am hoping that Drumpf hasn’t been able to stop today being MLK day. You know that he and his creepy administration would love to get rid of that. It would probably take an act of congress, though.

One thing that I spent some time on yesterday was geneology. YouTube had a piece about free Geneology tools on the internet. The first one seems a lot like Ancestry.com. But free. I like free. Sadly, a lot of the people are not in their shared database. I guess no one wants to know those ancestors. But I hope to rectify those deficiencies at some point. I don’t know how, but I will spend some time on it on the road. I am sure I will have some down time. It looks like my branch of the Alexanders did not do well. I am still hoping for some long lost cousins on that side of the family…

I got up early than is my wont this morning to give SM a ride to the airport. This is a quick trip for her. I’ll be picking her up again on Wednesday. I just drove there and back. And didn’t go back to sleep. Though I did take a nap after lunch.

I continue to plod (skip?) along getting little things accomplished. And planning (hoping) that I will get the bigger things accomplished too. Anything is possible (most things are unlikely). I did a good bit of scanning. Mostly pictures of mom from China. I am not scanning a lot of the pictures she took of places and people I don’t know. This project really is primarily about scanning in pictures of people in the Schoen-Rene sphere.

Mom being a queen!

Augustus for President: Today I started looking at coasters. Another design is called for. And they don’t come quickly unless you pay a lot. It looked, from one of the websites, that I have a few days in which to get them designed if I want them to get here before I leave. As I mentioned yesterday, I think I am going to just make 200 each of new stickers, some pens and some coasters. Though if the pens don’t happen for the 50+1 Capitals Tour, I won’t be horribly upset.

I also did more work on the document about the tour. Filling in some basic information about each state. I think I have maybe 10 completed. Only 40 more to go.

One of the many things that isn’t getting done is the press release for the tour. Do I really think that any media organization will be interested in speaking with me? Yes, I do. Certainly not MSNow or whatever it is called. But maybe a college radio station in Oregon might be interested.

Every Lira Counts: $10 can buy maybe 20 coasters (or something like that – the prices for these things run the gamut from $.01 per piece to $$ per piece). I do need a designer at some point…Hmm, maybe that is something to think about as well…

Not a bad day at all

I did not sleep well last night. For a variety of reasons. One of which was existential angst. But around 6 this morning, I had a potential eureka moment and that allowed me to fall asleep. For an hour and a half. Woo hoo! I am still a bit fuzzy.

So, I have been dragging all day. But, I have been trying to not be recumbent. I am doing a lot of sitting up in a chair. And I am also trying to move around more. The little bit of yoga I have been doing in the morning is not making my body as happy as it could be.

While I have been dragging around, I have been working on a few projects simultaneously. One for my campaign, which I will write more about below. And the other are just things around the house. I finally did a little bit of cleanup in the living room. And I have done some dishes. And I did a bunch of scanning. And a load of laundry. Oh, and I changed the sheets on my bed!

Laughing Buddha

I did not avail myself of two free tickets to see Spamalot up in Rochester this evening. I’m just feeling too fuzzy and the performance was scheduled to start relatively early, and I just couldn’t get my mind around going. I am a bad human.

And that’s all I’ve done. I haven’t done much thinking. Mostly just puttering a getting little things accomplished.

It looks like I will be heading to JC and EC’s on Tuesday, not Monday. So Monday might be wide open! It’s a bank holiday though…

Augustus for President: I have been doing some work on the 50+1 Capitals Tour. Mostly adding items of infromation to the pages of each state capital: when the state was settled or founded – whichever is earlier, population (as of 2024), GDP (Gross domestic Profit), Motto and Bird. I’ve gotten through the first few days at least. Maybe I will do more in the third part of the evening.

Ok, I am thinking I will get three swag type items – coasters, pens and stickers – for the 50+1 Capitals Tour. Maybe 200 of each and see what happens. I need to order them soon so that I will get them by the time I leave Geneva. My departure date is now February 9. RP has offered to let me stay inhishouse for the time I will be in DC. That is great! And very generous of him. He will be heading out on the 10th, but I can still stay until I leave on the 12th. So excited. That gives me more time in Washington, so I might go to a museum or something while I am there. It will also give me a way to ease into the trip instead of going full bore right from the start.

Every Drachma Helps – $10 will buy me a big mac meal on the road – or more likely a Bojangles meal. One of the things I miss most from North Carolina is Bojangles.

Huzzuh! It was a Monday!

Hi anyone who reads this. I hope you had a good Monday. Mine was good. Except for the ongoing terrible political news that just seems to never ever end under the Drumpf administration. Grrr.

Ok, moving on. And no, that wasn’t cathartic enough, but I am not going to dwell on that crap. Way too disheartening.

It was a cold, cold day here in the Finger Lakes. I hope this polar vortex thing isn’t going to last that long. Sadly, according to the web, it is going to. Yay.

My car doesn’t like the cold weather. I think I have mentioned before that the horn doesn’t work when it is cold. And now, the voice commands don’t seem to work either. And that also sucks. I wonder if the Tesla repair people will have an answer for me on Friday. And this leads me to my next car thought. Maybe, after I finish my tour in April, I will see about leasing a newer version. If I get a three year lease, by that point, maybe Cybercabs will be ubiquitous and I won’t need a personal car. Or I will be in the White House and again won’t have need of a personal car. We shall see of course. Anything is possible. Most things are unlikely.

I did a marathon dash today. Not really marathon, but the long mode version of my dashing. I started a little after 8 and ended at around 1. A lot more driving than I would have liked, especially in the winter when some roads are not all the great to drive on, but it was a decent dashing day. Yes, really looking forward to not dashing anymore. But I will keep dashing until I leave for my capital trip in February.

I stopped and came home for a light lunch. And then ran some errands. I got a library book. And was told that there was no way to track whether or not books I had requested the library purchase were being purchased or not. Then off to Wegman’s. My goal there was to buy some saltines – I am almost out – and they can be a staple at the Chalet sometimes. And to buy more windshield wiper fluid, as I was going through it like there was no tomorrow. My car’s windshield seems to attract schmutz. Actually, my whole car does. It looks like I haven’t washed it in forever. Which is kinda true, actually. But in this particular set of circumstances, it seems like it accumulates more snow and crap on it’s sides than other cars I have had in my life. Sigh.

Last night, I finished up the 9th shelf (of 17) of the back stairs books. And I also scanned a lot of pictures from my wedding. Not because of the wedding. But because of all the family members and friends that are in them. Ok, I scanned a couple of pictures of wedding stuff just for the fun of it. That wedding was in 1984. Long time ago…

See anyone you know?

Augustus for President: I had ordered some pen leashes for clipboards and they didn’t come when I was told to expect them. The order kept getting delayed and delayed and delayed. I finally asked for a refund. Yesterday I think. And today Amazon told me that they had received the item back at their warehouse. Grrr. I went to staples to try and buy them more locally and they didn’t have them. What? Anyway…

Back to today’s news that SCOTUS is probably going to allow Drumpf to, again, do what no president has been allowed to do – fire anyone he wants basically anywhere in government without oversight. I mean, really! I think one of the first things I need to do as President is figure out how to fix the Supreme Court. This is insane. At this rate, there may be elections in 2028 but there won’t be a country to run. The US will be a shadow of it’s self. And heck, maybe that is a good thing. We really aren’t that great a country if you look at history. American Exceptionalism, while a lovely thought, just isn’t true. That being said, I truly do believe that we can do better. And be a better country and citizen of the world. Maybe a good space alien invasion is just what the world needs about now…

S’no Dash (Snow Dash)

It’s No Dash Day. S’no Dash. Woo hoo! We are having the first decent snow today and I have barely looked outside. When I heard plows I decided that I would spend the day actively not dashing. Or is that passively. Well, I hope to be active at some point. (I looked later – and even did some shoveling – and I told the car to “heat thyself” so I didn’t have to clean the snow off the car.)

Lately, I have been doing both scanning and cataloguing. I feel like I am accomplishing things around the house, though really, it is just teeny nibbles at the elephant at this point. But every nibble swallowed is one fewer someone else will have to nibble. Perhaps. At least it’s one fewer than I will have to nibble if I live so long.

Is “less” and “fewer” a pet peeve for anyone else?

The Town of Geneva Court says that their credit card machine may be working. I will check tomorrow. Hopefully it is.

My nest thermometer confuses me. I told it to heat up the house. It said ok! I checked an hour later and it had stopped heating the house again, almost immediately after I had asked it to heat. Maybe it was just bad timing on my part. Who knows. So I just turned the heat up again. I toyed with the idea of just heating my bedroom, where I am currently spending most of my non-dashing time, but in the end decided not to do that. Mainly because there is no space heater currently in my room. Maybe I will rectify that situation at some point. Maybe not.

Our China group!

Ok, it has been an interesting day. I finished another shelf of books on the back stairs. 6 down, 11 to go. I might get another one done tonight. I don’t know that I will do any more scanning this evening, but the night is young.

I also did some reading. And a little bit of work. See below.

Coming up on dinner time. More leftovers, from the BBQ place tonight. Tomorrow, did I mention this already, I think I might go and try the place called Fully Loaded. A fellow dasher said that it was her daughter’s place.

It looks like it is going to be a very light dashing week. I didn’t dash today. And I might not dash much on Thursday. I was asked by CC to take EC to the airport and act as her companion to get her onto the plane. That will be a long morning. So I might not feel like doing much dashing in the afternoon. I guess we will see.

Oh, the courthouse said that their credit card machine might be working. I will go up there tomorrow with money in hand just in case. I still think the amount they charge for court fees is ludicrous. I wonder if that is how the judge gets paid, though. Hmm.

Augustus for President: I am, as people following along know, looking for an executive assistant. I don’t think I can afford a full time one, so I am thinking of using a “rent a sec” type service. I had a long chat with a sales rep of one of the companies today. I might look at others, but he was a pretty good salesperson. I put him off until mid December or early January. The key take away for me was that they wouldn’t do the campaign manager search because it was basically cold calling. Since they couldn’t guarantee the results and cold calling tends to be a huge waste of time it was not something that they offered as part of their services. He did, though, mention that there were companies that did that. I have looked on the internet and yes, there are many. I will need to do some research and see if I can figure out if any of them can do what I would like done.

I also need to go through my database of thoughts (up to almost 700) and decide what might be delegated. I can put a TBD in that field and then a quick search will bring up the list. If there are more than 10 things on that list, the $390 for ten hours (for a month?) might be money well spent. I will have to think on it.

The more I think about it, the more I think that the number one mission of my government will be taxation. We need to get more money coming into the government so we can stop asking “how are we going to pay for it” and actually do things that help the majority of the people in the country. I just hope the country survives until the next election. But that is looking more and more doubtful.

I was attacked! 🤓

I was attacked this afternoon. I was minding my own business, taking a load of laundry down into the basement. I noticed that the bendy/configurable ladder was looking like it was in a good place. So I was very surprised when it attacked me the moment my back was turned. Luckily, I, nor the ladder, were damaged. But now I need to mitigate that by putting up a couple of eye bolts and a bungie cord. I’ll see if I can get the bolts tomorrow.

I am still looking for photos to scan. I found a photo album labeled “Alaska 1995 Boat – Augustus – Summer.” I looked through all the pictures cursorily and I found one picture of me. Taken from the side. Mom did not take a lot of pictures with people in them it appeared. I need to be better about that. Nature is great, nature is cool, but human life is about human interaction, isn’t it? Innit? I wonder where the pictures that I took from that trip are. I am sure they will turn up eventually.

Slow start to the day. I am just now, at 1 pm, having some lunch. And dinner will come rapidly since I am dining with two early diners. So only one piece of pizza today. Drat.

It is later now. My laundry is on my bed waiting to be folded and put away. I have done my Duolingo. And I have had dinner.

Dinner was at Smokin’ Pete’s BBQ place down route 14. We got there and it wasn’t crowded at all! Woo hoo! That was pleasant. There was a bit of noise from the football game that was on all the screens. So I guess the place doubles as a sports bar? Anyway, we got there and we all ordered the same main course – pulled pork and two spare ribs. We did, though, all order different sides. I had coleslaw and baked beans. Their BBQ sauce is self serve. I got two flavors: their OG flavor and honey mustard. Of course, I didn’t finish my meal so I have leftovers for Tuesday. Tomorrow night I will finish up my T-Day food. And I still have four pieces of pizza left for lunches.

No exciting plans for the evening. More books. Maybe a scan if I get the books and laundry off the bed. I have my baby book to scan (thank you Emma for giving that back) and the one picture of me from the Alaska trip. I want to scan that one because my hair was probably the longest it has ever been. Or will ever be. I might also watch more Bake Off. I think I am at the semi finals for Season 5. Oh, I am also watching Shogun, which is pretty good.

Tomorrow will be the first of December! Wow that year went by quickly.

Two Renees, both kids, probably both female…very confusing

That’s my mom in the picture, btw.

Augustus for President: I know I am going to get a lot of people naysaying about my run for the Presidency. Life is that way. I am, generally, a duck in regards to other people’s opinions – they slide right off my back and into the water and float away – not bothering me a bit.

I realized that there are lots of different kinds of people. There are leaders and followers. I am a leader. Though I have at times followed. There are also people who think they are neither a leader or a follower, someone marching to their own drum, unlike anyone else. Islands, even. Rock on! The world needs all types.

I just looked and Bernie announced his candidacy 530 days before the election in the 2016 race. So I am going to have a lot of ground to cover in 470 days to try and get to a similar level of national awareness that Bernie had when he started his run since I will be announcing on February 11, 2026.

Thanksgiving Eve

That’s a holiday, right? Thanksgiving eve? I don’t care if it is or not, I am going to celebrate it. For tomorrow we dine!

Yes, it looks like I am sharing T-Day with JC and EC and TC. I will start cooking the turkey tomorrow before I head down there. I think the other stuff I can make while there. The stuffing takes no time. Nor does the gravy. The Brussels Sprouts take a bit of time – so maybe I will at least cut those up tomorrow before heading South. Oh, and cranberry sauce – I think that takes almost no time as well. So excited! I do enjoy cooking.

Speaking of which, I came to a realization last night. I could re-watch the Baking Show episodes! I mean, why not. People do watch reruns. Heck, I’ve watched Ted Lasso three times. Maybe four. And the same with Gilmore Girls. So, why not the British Bake-Off. I wonder if Netflix will secure the rights to the first five seasons someday. I wouldn’t mind watching those. Anyway, I have started watching Bake Off again, starting with season 5! Woo hoo!

I did my first shelf of books in a long time. And I have completely forgotten how I did it before. I had thought I had used my laptop, but it is possible that I was using my phone. I would also like to get it working on my tablet in case I decide that I will let other people catalog some books. Not likely, but it is possible.

Scanning is temporarily paused. I am trying to decide how many random pictures of mom I want to scan. I have found some photo albums from her time in China. I am still in awe of her doing that. How amazingly brave and inspiring. Anyway, I can’t think of anyone in my immediate circle who is dying to or would be dying to see pictures of trips and experiences that mom had that didn’t include them. Like a trip to Hawaii that I didn’t even realize she had taken. I might scan one picture from each album or something. What I really want to find is all the pictures from 1957 to 1984 before things started going digital. I’ll keep looking. And scanning, where appropriate.

High School – but who?

The Town of Geneva supervisor lied to me. He told me that the credit card machine was going to be fixed this week. It wasn’t. Poo on him. I will call him again on Monday I guess. Or send another email.

Today was a one dash day. A long dash. It started at around 8:15 am and ended around 1:45 pm. 5 hours and ten minutes on the clock. 4 hours and 14 minutes of actual work time. I did ok money wise. I also chatted with a bunch of different dashers. I had two long waits – one at McDonalds and one at KFC. The one at KFC was crazy long. Apparently the store manager thought it wasn’t going to be busy so didn’t schedule many people. And it was a huge order from the National Guard people. (That wasn’t tipped enough imho) Oops. I think I will try this schedule again next week.

A potential cleaner came by and wasn’t freaked out about the areas I wanted her to tackle. Woo hoo! I think she will be scheduling a work visit for sometime during the second week of December. That would be cool!

Augustus for President: I keep telling people I am running, but not in an “in your face” sort of way. I am sure I will get there eventually. But until I can accept donations, I don’t really feel like the campaign is real. Real enough, for sure, since I am doing lots of little things towards getting my act together.

I think the next step is try and find some help, even if I have to pay for it. I can’t afford someone full time, but I can afford to pay someone to do some tasks. Top of that list, calling a lot of campaign people and seeing if any of them are interested in taking me on as a client. I wish I knew someone who wanted to be my campaign manager. That would be nice. I am sure JC would try, if he were mentally and physically up to the job. Sigh.

I had two very different interactions on Threads today. One person said I was spreading misinformation when I said that Newsom and Pete were both DNC party loyalists. They sure seem like they are to me. I suggested that he was MAGA and he wrote back and said that I was MAAG. Hahahaha. Probably a Russian bad actor. I blocked the account in any case.

The other interaction was with a guy who had good ideas about healthcare in this country. He pointed me at two articles that I will, one day, read. For now, just knowing that there are feasible alternatives is really good information.

Starting Scanning!

Does anyone recognize this photo album?

I have decided that I need to start scanning pictures. This is an older album, maybe from the early 1900s So the people who know the people in them might not even be alive anymore. Some of the pictures have writing on the back that might help. We shall see. More later.

Last night, I had dinner at JC and EC’s home. It was a lovely evening. They had cheese and crackers out when I arrived. I was offered and accepted a glass of tasty red wine. We chatted all chatted while they both worked on making the dinner. And a great dinner it was! We started with steamed artichokes. Instead of butter, EC made a concoction of oil and herbs that worked really well. I was surprised that neither of them were adept at removing the choke before eating the heart of the artichoke! We had white wine with the artichokes, btw.

Dinner was orrecchette with a pasta sauce that was partly EC’s and partly SM’s. No salad or bread. But that’s ok. It was quite tasty. I even got a container full to bring home for a future dinner. So excited. After dinner we had our choice of ice creams with fresh raspberries. And I got to take some of the raspberries home as well.

Oh, I took them a bouquet of flowers and copies of both Bar Dreams and Diary of a Plate Addict. And I signed and personalized both books. Will they be read? Anything is possible. I aslo took a few minutes to see what was happening with JC’s phone. Very few solicitations, which was great. For some reason, though, his weather widget was defaulting to Cupertino. Perhaps adding Romulus would fix that problem. I will try that next time I am there.

Today, three of my four helpers from the last two weeks begged off. Though one did suggest alternate times that they could come. The fourth said they were coming for sure. But they said that last week and didn’t show up. It doesn’t really matter though. If they come, great. If they don’t, great. I have stuff I can do all day if I want. Like digitize pictures…

One showed up and we got some good sorting accomplished! Woo hoo! And I found a partially drunk bottle of wine. The wine had not aged well…

Tonight, dinner with SM at a new to us both place over in Seneca Falls, The Red Brick Tavern. So excited!

Meh. The dinner was not the culinary experience I was anticipating. I guess they lost their chef and just have a cook back in the kitchen. Poo. I ordered some deep friend Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls only to be told that they were out of them. (Our server was not exemplary.) I then ordered a Cowboy burger that was decent, not anywhere near excellent. SM had a shrimp po boy and enjoyed the shrimp from what she said. The place was loud and cold and the food was only ok. I do not recommend it. That being said, I might be crazy and go back there next Saturday night. Probably not to eat though…

Augustus for President: JC hasn’t finished his endorsement. EC asked if she could share my two documents that I gave to JC to “edit” (he didn’t find anything he thought needed changing) to her sister. I said sure. Why not? One of the reasons I enjoy hanging out with them (JC and EC) is because we can talk about politics and I can tell them all of my wacky ideas. As long as we don’t dwell on Drumpf too much…

My helper and I chatted about politics a bit. That always makes me think. Which is good. Stretching the brain.