Category: Current Events

Maybe I’m dreaming, but it’s like something switched over in me, and I’ve become quite good at managing the daily Trump dump. I know it’s there, this brutal attack on democratic values, and I refuse to look away, but I found a place to park it in my brain where it doesn’t drive me crazy every single day.

Oh, and don’t ask for help because I have no idea how I finally got there or if it will last. All I know is that it felt like everything was broken, and it occurred to me I didn’t survive cancer twice to be this miserable over things I can’t control.  

I’ve been feeling good. Not quite broken after all. We are planning to join a June 14 protest. This would be in opposition to Trump’s multi-million dollar, tax-payer funded military parade in Washington, D.C. for his 79th birthday. I am reminded that my mother died on her birthday.

What I’m eating

My sourdough has been giving me fits. The last few loaves tasted good, but I wasn’t getting the rise I want. I did a bit of troubleshooting and came to the conclusion my starter isn’t strong enough. When you feed starter, you are also supposed to discard some of it. I always felt that was wasteful, even though I know you can save the discard and use it for other things. So, I didn’t do it.

But discarding some of the starter each time you feed it strengthens the brew. I guess mine was too diluted. I went back to discarding, and sure enough, my starter perked up. This last loaf looks great to me!  

I made spanakopita this week. That would be layers of buttered phyllo dough stuffed with spinach, feta cheese, eggs and yogurt – and then seasoned with onion, garlic, dill, mint, lemon zest and nutmeg. And sprinkles of Pecorino Romano cheese between the layers. Baked until crispy golden brown. It’s normally an appetizer, but I cut larger pieces, and we ate it as an entrée.

Both of us have quite a Mexican Jones going on most of the time. This week, I made slow cooker jalapeño pulled pork and used the filling to make oven-baked taquitos. Dale made a white queso for dipping, plus we had some homemade salsa verde.

There was a wee mishap with the slow cooker. Mine came with a temperature probe, which I have never used. In one of my fuzzier moments I put the probe in the bottom of the base unit for safe keeping and then put the ceramic liner on top. I never realized the probe was still there.

The pork was perfect, but when I took out the liner so I could put it in the dishwasher, I saw something odd stuck to the base unit and then icky brown stuff around it like blood from a crime scene. I thought, why, that looks like the probe!

Dale was able to pry it off, and while the probe is toast, the slow cooker seems no worse for the wear.

What I’m watching

Many thanks to Sheila, a friend here at Retirement Confidential, for alerting me to a new season of The Mountain Detective on PBS Passport.

I confess to watching Reacher on Amazon Prime. That was part of my stress epiphany. Per my boycott, I’m still spending next to nothing on Amazon, but I love my digital content and decided Jeff can have a few bucks if it makes me happy.

What I’m reading

I mentioned Jar City in an earlier post. This is the first in a crime series by Icelandic writer Arnaldur Indriðason featuring Inspector Elendur. I’ve since read two more, and I believe there are 11 in the series. This might be my favorite new-to-me series.

The Cold, Cold Ground is the first Detective Sergeant Sean Duffy novel by Adrian McKinty. The setting is 1980s Ireland. Complex politics, sometimes hard to follow, but I liked it very much. There are eight books in the series.

I’m a fan of the Irish crime series by Benjamin Black featuring Quirke, a pathologist in Dublin during the 1950s. There’s also a Boston connection. Christine Falls is the first of seven. The Silver Swan was number two, and I have number three by my bedside.

World of Trouble was the finale to The Last Policeman trilogy. The story is about what happens to people and families when they believe an asteroid will destroy Earth in a matter of months. For a grim subject, it’s an entertaining read. At first I didn’t like the ending, but it haunts me. There is darkness, yet there is light. Detective Hank Palace is a character you will not soon forget.

Just this morning I finished The Summer Guests by Tess Gerritsen. This is second after The Martini Club about a group of retired CIA agents in Maine. Highly entertaining. Now I want to explore her other novels.

I’ve read three of the Veronica Speedwell novels by Deanna Raybourn. The first was A Curious Beginning. The setting is Victorian England, and Veronica is an adventurous natural historian who specializes in butterflies. Due to unforeseen circumstances, she partners with another natural historian to solve crimes. He also happens to be sort of hunky. Such great escapism, and there are nine in the series. Yay.

Last but not least, I started the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. The first is actually titled Maisie Dobbs. A former servant, she evolves to become a nurse during World War I and returns home to continue her education and become a private investigator slash psychologist. If I got this right, there are 18 books in the series. Double yay. 

One day this week I opened the morning newspaper and just laid my head down on the table and cried. The sad part is I don’t even remember what it was. There’s something new every day, and there’s no bottom.

Like so many people, I’ve overcome a lot in life, and after the drama of youth, I’m happy to be happy. On the cusp of 70, I want to enjoy my time on the planet and ignore everything that isn’t pleasant. But there’s a tiny problem. I have all these quotes dancing around in my head, and one of them is about what happens when good men do nothing. Something about the triumph of evil.

I keep singing Guns of Brixton. The Clash.

The money feels good
And your life you like it well
But surely your time will come
As in Heaven as in Hell

Or maybe a little Pink Floyd. Wish You Were Here.

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from hell? Blue skies from pain?
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil? Do you think you can tell?

So, I guess I’m in it. Not happily, I’ll admit that. I try not to think about it all the time. I try to remember I still have a great life, and there is much goodness and beauty to behold. Dale and I still make each other laugh. I’ll write what I need to write, say what I need to say, donate money to organizations fighting the good fight and otherwise protest when I can.

One small step and then another one.

For the record, NostraDonna predicted weeks ago that Trump and his cronies were using tariffs to game the stock market. I Googled it multiple times and found nothing to support my suspicions. Even Dale said, oh, no, that’s a stretch. Now, insider trading news is all over the place, and I hope somebody somewhere gets nailed over it.

What I’m eating

We had leftover roast chicken, so Dale made chicken tortilla soup yesterday, and it was spectacular. I grew up eating Mexican food in Southern California, but I had never even heard of this until sometime in the 90s and had my first bowl in South Carolina, if you can believe that.

Ours is a spicy base made with fire roasted tomatoes, garlic, onions and poblano peppers seasoned with a Pendery’s chili powder called Fire and Smoke (not for the feint of heart). The shredded chicken goes in toward the end. We serve it in big bowls, and then we each do our own toppings – crumbled queso fresco, chopped cilantro, avocado chunks, fried tortilla strips and a wedge of lime. A frosty beer to go with!

The recipe makes four servings, so we freeze half of it. When that second one goes, we’re always thinking about roasting another chicken just so we can have the soup again. We never get sick of it.

Over the weekend, Dale grilled a chuck roast. We called it Chunk ‘O Beef. I am sometimes known as Side Dish Mama, so to live up to the hype, I made zucchini sauteed with onions and mushrooms along with potato halves stuffed with sour cream and chives and topped with cheddar cheese. It was warm enough to eat outside, which was great.

I know the price of eggs is all the rage, but someone needs to investigate the price of chives. I should really try growing my own.

What I’m watching

I canceled Amazon Prime but still have access until mid-May, when it expires. That means I’m squeezing in Bosch Legacy. It’s good, but I’m pretty much done with that series. I’ve missed my shows on PBS Passport.

Dale doesn’t watch much TV, but we are both enjoying Matlock with Kathy Bates. I like her as an actor, and I also feel a personal connection. Like me, Kathy is BRCA-positive and has had both ovarian and breast cancer. There aren’t many of us walking around.

What I’m reading

I read Countdown City, the second book in the Last Policeman Trilogy by Ben Winters. An asteroid headed for Earth is expected to destroy the planet within months, and the story follows a young detective as everything around him devolves. One might think it would be depressing, considering our current situation, but I have not found that to be the case. It’s interesting to see how people cope, particularly how they cope with the unknown. There are lessons to be learned. I can’t wait to see how it ends.

Previously, I’ve mentioned Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn, and it turns out she’s quite a prolific writer. I thoroughly enjoyed A Curious Beginning, the first in the Veronica Speedwell mysteries. The setting is Victorian England, and Veronica is by her own definition an “old maid.” However, she’s also a butterfly expert and world traveler with a mysterious past that begins to unravel. Yes, there’s murder. And perhaps a bit of romance?

I have three library books by my bedside, and the clock is ticking, so I need to get moving on them. Our library has done away with overdue fees, but for me, that pressure to get them back in time will never go away. I’ll report on those books in due time. Get it??? Due time?

If you’re still on the fence about whether to contact your elected officials about Trump, Musk and other bad actors in Washington, there’s a tool that might make it easier for you. The tool is a free app named 5 Calls.  

I downloaded it a couple of weeks ago and have found it exceptionally helpful. Once you plug in your address, the app identifies your legislators. The home screen lists top issues and provides talking points that articulate the progressive position.

Yes, the app is proudly partisan. And non-profit.

Once you decide what you’re going to say, you click on who you want to call first and the process begins. I arrived for an appointment early last week and thought, oh, I have time to make a few calls. I sat in my car and used the app to contact my legislators about the spending bill.

While I prefer emails, I’ve read calling is more effective. Speaking spontaneously is a challenge, but it got easier when I figured out shorter is better. On my first attempt, I got a voice mail and was cut off after I blathered on too long. Now I just say my name, where I live and then one or two sentences about the issue. I try to remember they’re probably just keeping some sort of log in favor or against, and so that’s really all you have to say.

What I’m eating

Late last year, I made a list of our winter comfort foods, and we’ve been knocking them off one by one. Dale made chile verde last week, and I made flour tortillas to go with. There’s only one more to go – venison meatloaf.

The weather is starting to warm up, although we’re getting another week of cooler temperatures and rain, so there’s still time to finish the job. Tomorrow is the big washout, so I’m thinking venison meatloaf, asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes.

Dale bought some gorgeous artichokes, so I cooked those this morning, and they’re chilling in the fridge. They’re huge, so we’ll just have artichokes for dinner. Occasionally I make aioli but most of the time we just make a dipping sauce from store-bought mayonnaise mixed with some good olive oil.

There’s still coconut cake in the freezer, so, you know, tick tock, tick tock. That might be a tasty breakfast on a cold rainy morning. Oh? Is that tomorrow? What a coincidence.

What I’m watching

My original pledge to reduce spending on Amazon by 50 percent morphed, and it’s pretty close to a complete boycott. I’m no longer watching movies or shows on Amazon. There are plenty of other streaming services to choose from.

We like a bad sci-fi movie on Friday nights with pizza, and we used to order them on Amazon. But I switched to the Classic Sci Fi Movie Channel, and it has been so fun. Attack of the Giant Leeches, Attack of the Crab Monsters, She Demons. Only the finest. Sometimes the sound quality isn’t the best, but we make do.

I’m also burning through season 2 of The Mountain Detective on PBS Passport.  Former policeman Alex Hugo leaves the big city to find peace in the French Alps but ends up confronting violence in paradise. The show is in French with subtitles.

I’ve read it’s filmed on location, and the scenery is breathtaking. Too bad about all that crime!

Alex is Mr. Mountain Man and never leaves home without climbing ropes and all that stuff. When they’re talking about a place they need to go, he might say something like, “that’s a three-day walk.” I sort of love that, and even though I have no interest in climbing, just seeing an older man in good physical condition stomping about the mountains keeps me motivated to do my exercises.

What I’m reading

The library is my friend. My recently completed list includes:

Locked In by Jussi Adler-Olsen. This is the last of the Department Q series featuring Danish detective Carl Mørck. Sometimes finales suck, but this was great, and I absolutely loved the ending.

Pro Bono by Thomas Perry. A young lawyer who specializes in financial crime tries to help a young widow recover money embezzled from her late husband’s accounts. Oh, and the lawyer has a shady past.

The Last Policeman by Ben Winters. Published in 2012, this is the first in a trilogy about a young detective trying to solve crimes even though everyone knows the world will end in six months when an asteroid collides with Earth. It’s not as dark as you would think, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Can’t wait to read the other two.

Guide Me Home by Attica Locke. Another finale to a three-part series featuring Texas Ranger Darren Mathews. I tell myself I don’t want to read about current events in fiction, but it’s actually way better than reading the news. Let’s hear it for the arts!

Darren, who is black, spent most of his career fighting white supremacists and framed a bad guy for murdering a member of the Aryan Brotherhood because he wouldn’t let a black man go to prison for killing him. Now Darren is facing indictment. And plenty of self-loathing. It’s a compelling story.

I’m depressed about Trump, Musk, Vance, et al. Maybe writing about it helps me some, but I wonder if it just amplifies everything. The movers and shakers will make their mark one way or the other, but I still think the answer is for ordinary citizens to do small things you hope will make a difference and then go on and try to live a happy life no matter what.

Easier said than done, that’s for sure. I told myself, just do one thing today and then think about dinner. There’s usually a Law & Order rerun on Mondays. I hear that music, and I just kind of sigh in relief. Dun-dun.

Outrage of the day is Musk trying to get access to the IRS files. I don’t even know why I bothered to write my elected representatives, because it has probably happened by now, but we can only try. I still can’t get through on the phone, so I’m using the email feature on their websites. This is my message to my Democratic senators. As always, feel free to steal anything that resonates with you.

Please do whatever you can to stop Elon Musk from accessing anything, most recently the IRS and our taxpayer records. This is a gross violation of privacy and very frightening to the average American who pays taxes. Musk is unelected and has no right to anything, let alone our personal data. He does billions of dollars’ worth of business with the government, and he’s allowed to look at the finances? We would not let any other defense contractor in the world do that. All that, and Tesla didn’t pay any federal taxes last year, but he’s snooping around trying to stick it to honest citizens? Please stop him.

The next one went to my Republican congressman. He has a thing on his website about how ridiculous it is to think just because Trump hired Elon Musk as an accountant that it’s a threat to democracy.

I read your words about hiring Elon Musk as an accountant, wondering why some people think this is a threat to democracy. Because it is!  We, the people, did not hire or elect Elon Musk to anything. And now he’s trying to get access to the IRS records. Talk about fox guarding the henhouse.

This is a gross violation of privacy and very frightening to the average American who pays taxes. Musk is unelected and has no right to anything, let alone our personal data. He does billions of dollars’ worth of business with the government, and he’s allowed to look at the finances? We would not let any other defense contractor in the world do that. 

From what I’ve read, you are currently on board with the president and his administration violating the rights of average citizens, but I’m still writing because I hope at some point you will reconsider. Please reflect on your elected position and the oath you swore to defend the constitution. I can only believe you had a calling to serve your country, and I thank you for that. I may not like some of the conservative policies you support, but I respect differences of opinion. You can still make a difference and advance your agenda without burning down the house.

I have not spent any money on Amazon since I made a pledge to reduce my spending there by 50 percent. Thanks to your comments, I canceled my Amazon subscription to PBS Masterpiece and made a donation to PBS. Now I have PBS Passport, and you were right. Everything I could ever want is there.

What I’m eating

I’m still quite smitten with my sort of sweet but savory oatmeal. My favorite so far starts with one serving of regular rolled oats. When it comes out of the microwave, I pour it in a bowl and top it with about one tablespoon each of unsweetened coconut, currants and walnuts. Then I drizzle a little olive oil over the top. Oh, and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Tonight Dale’s making grilled Gochujang Burgers with Spicy Slaw from the NY Times. This will be our third time around. Because. It. Is. Delicious. If you can’t get through the firewall, the same recipe is here.

You start with a concoction of gochujang, garlic, rice vinegar, sugar, olive oil and sesame oil. Half of it gets mixed in with ground pork for the burgers and the other half is used for a tangy slaw made with carrots, bean sprouts, cucumbers and scallions. Put that on a toasted buttered bun with maybe a schmear of mayo, and it is heaven.

What I’m watching

Now that I’m on PBS Passport, I’m continuing to watch All Creatures Great and Small. It’s not my normal crime genre, but I just like that show. Another one I’ve started that isn’t on the crime spectrum is Seaside Hotel. It’s in Danish with subtitles and  follows the lives of guests and employees at a North Sea hotel prior to World War II. I haven’t gotten very far, but I like it.

On the crime front, also on PBS Passport, I’m enjoying The Mountain Detective. It’s about a former policeman who leaves the city for the mountains and discovers, guess what? Violence and crime. It’s in French with subtitles.

What I’m reading

I’m not reading much of anything. I think I’m too agitated. Two of my books on hold at the library came in, but it turns out the library is closed for repairs to the HVAC system. Talk about annoyed. I was able to get through to a librarian, who is going to have the books transferred to a nearby library, but that will be Wednesday at the earliest.

There are plenty of books in the house I could read, but I’m just not into them right now. I did finish kind of a fun read called Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. Four women retired from their jobs as professional assassins and discover someone is trying to kill them. The sequel, Kills Well with Others, is out next month.