amount to some form of "keepin' on keepin' on". One can resist in various ways, great and small and try to build broader awareness of the situation in a larger fraction of the population. Another is to remain oblivious through distraction. Many dying empires exhibit widespread focus on such things as fashion, food, sport and such, clearly part and parcel of the current milieu. (Were such things fulfilling they might fall under the heading of "the best revenge is living well", but they aren't and that dictum presumes that all is lost or that one has conceded defeat.) Some diversion is necessary, of course, but it can't be too simplistic or all consuming if one is to stay afloat, as they say. A life partner or spouse is a good life ring, as is someplace like c99p. For most people, it seems to me, places where adults can gather and have adult free and open discussions of ant and all things have largely vanished from the landscape. so it appears to me that this place is likely the last and best such life ring in a sea of echo chambers and narrowly focused dens of this or that monomania. And, yes, we all need to get and keep some crazy in our lives, because "sanity" is normative and today's norms are the diving belt that drags one ever deeper into the morass and, to an extent, it has ever been so.

Thanks for the OT, the inspiration and the music.

be well and have a good one

Hi Capt. QMS,

Did you say shattered? My Pavlovian response:

I'm in tatters, my brain's been battered... shadoobee

This is funny, I presume an ad to get people to watch the walk signs instead of phone?
30 seconds: https://twitter.com/thinking_panda/status/1742427291278589952

Hope all is well over yonder for all!

Just had the phone tech here upgrading us from 3M to 25M. Wow...bandwidth.

Chilly and gray here, but a beautiful red sunrise...reminded me of Dylan's line, "The sky is on fire...."

It's one of those songs that is beyond understanding, but still great. Some folks have a way of seeing the meaning.
Farewell Angelina
The bells of the crown
Are being stolen by bandits
I must follow the sound
The triangle tingles
And the trumpet play slow
Farewell Angelina
The sky is on fire
And I must go

There's no need for anger
There's no need for blame
There's nothing to prove
Everything's still the same
Just a table standing empty
By the edge of the sea
Farewell Angelina
The sky is trembling
And I must leave

The jacks and queens
Have forsaken the courtyard
Fifty-two gypsies
Now file past the guards
In the space where the deuce
And the ace once ran wild
Farewell Angelina
The sky is folding
I'll see you in a while

See the cross-eyed pirates sitting
Perched in the sun
Shooting tin cans
With a sawed-off shotgun
And the neighbors they clap
And they cheer with each blast
Farewell Angelina
The sky's changing color
And I must leave fast

King Kong, little elves
On the rooftops they dance
Valentino-type tangos
While the make-up man's hands
Shut the eyes of the dead
Not to embarrass anyone
Farewell Angelina
The sky is embarrassed
And I must be gone

The machine guns are roaring
The puppets heave rocks
The fiends nail time bombs
To the hands of the clocks
Call me any name you like
I will never deny it
Farewell Angelina
The sky is erupting
I must go where it's quiet

Hope you are all having a good day!

been brutal for local working people. Businesses have closed all over the place, resulting in job losses, evictions, repossessions of autos and foreclosures on property.
The biggest growth in my business has been my probate practice. People are dying like flies.
The crime rate is high, especially murders and thefts.
Families and friends settle their issues with guns.
I have a brother, numerous close friends, and most of all, Dear One. We can get through this together.
The country is cracking, but we will not have a do over until it crumbles and falls.
Only a few pieces will be salvageable.
Thanks for the OT, friend, and oopsies about that wreath miscalculation...