Maybe he's just encouraging the son to face his inevitable hardships. Or, he could be a dick.

Pat, Your post is misleading. You must look at the rate per 100,000 which is clearly shown on your chart. You can't compare a huge population state against a small population state. Texas as shown on the chart falls just into the bottom half of gun deaths with over half the nation exceeding it in gun violence. Is Texas overwhelmed with rednecks? Yes, just look at the name I chose. Is Texas a red state? Yes, it has been since Dubya was elected, but that's changing in the next couple of cycles due to demographics. Once Texas is reliably blue again, with all their electoral votes, they'll be right there with California, dominating the landscape for Democrats and sanity. 29 million people don't live here because it's awful.

I'll mention the balance issue to my GP and see what he thinks. Oddly, I don't need the elbow touching the wall to offer actual support, I think it just orients my brain to where I am.

Yes, caught early, all gone and I'm down to only twice a year for check ups with the oncologist so all good. Thanks for the concern!

I'll have a remodeling crew working that likes income more than American holidays, so a little of checking in on them. However, my elderly mother loves smoked meatloaf off my pellet smoker, so I'll be doing that early afternoon and taking a couple to her and the step dad. I make them little ones. Fortunately, she'll do her own mashed potato and salad sides. Before I go, she'll attempt to pawn off a couple dozen cookies since tomorrow is her cookie baking day. Then I'll be expecting you good folks to entertain me.

Fuck Herschel, fuck his Heisman, fuck the way he suckles the GQP and fuck his sponsor Trump. May they both die in a fiery car crash. Immediately.

He's become a press hungry prick that knows being controversial will get him mentioned on Faux News every Saturday morning. I've had enough of his antics. Fuck him.

Wow

For me, podcasts have killed political talk radio, sports talk radio and music on the radio...and I'm thrilled. While I still listen to music at home, my truck is ALWAYS playing a podcast via bluetooth and my iphone. I can never go back. On the rare instances where I allow an exhaust emitting fellow human to ride with me, they better be interesting or they're listening to the second half of that Dateline episode!

Surprisingly few for me. No family members or actual friends. A couple of acquaintances have died, but while I knew them, I wasn't particularly close to them. It's surprising that I don't know more because I used to frequent a neighborhood bar for happy hour and that core group of regulars (mostly red hats of course) refused to change their habits when the pandemic started, and they all passed the rona around like it was a collection plate. These folks are 50's to 70's in age, most heavy drinkers, many smokers...and none of them died while infected!

I thought I was going to start Saturday morning chores, but your blog...

I guess I'll give my dating profile as well. My name is pretty self explanatory. I love where I live, but so do shitloads of conspiracy theory believing, racist, Bible thumping, Fox watching anti-vaxxers. It's a great community as a whole though, even with the red hatted dimwits determined to screw it up. I'm a giant, so most STFU as they drive by and see my yard signs during election season. I retired from my real career and now spend my days flipping houses and keeping whatever I can manage as rentals. I'm three times divorced and still love them all, I just insist on being impossible to live with. I kicked cancers ass and given an opportunity I'd kick Trump's ass too. I loathe whatever the GOP has become, anti-vaxxers, and liver, but I like you folks pretty well. I'm 59 next month and live with an old cat. She is a constant pain in the neck, but like QT, she refuses to die.