I was listening to NPR News about the latest federal agency the President is attacking, this time the Smithsonian Museum and other federally-supported museums. More run of the mill Trumpsterisms, you know the War on Woke and DOGE, firing all of the talented people and then putting those who remain under a lot of pressure to revise history to conform to the President.
Kind of mundane. Trump is awful. But then as I finally got out of the hollow on my evening commute, I was reminded why I voted for Trump, when I heard them moving to some shooting at an โunsanctionedโ youth car rally that ended up in a hail of gunfire with a bunch of kids getting shot, and the New Mexico governor pushing her latest gun control agenda, with liberal feigning over her absurdly strict and police enpowering laws, and how the Democratic legislature in that state was bounded to reject this latest group of proposals as being too far out there for a largely rural western state where a lot of people own guns. If the liberals werenโt so gleeful about gun control and locking up everything as wilderness, maybe Iโd have more of an open mind to them. Itโs like the liberals are almost gleeful when kids are murdered, as itโs a way to enrich the cops and themselves through the enactment of strict gun control measures. Maybe itโs all the campaign contributions from special interests that have blown all sanity out of their brains.
As a Democrat, I am sympathetic to many of the Democrats causes, and Trump 2.0 has proven so awful, but the Democrats arenโt winning gold stars in my book either. Itโs so obvious in my mind, Democrats havenโt learned a thing since Trump and Republicans took over the nation. Hoping the Republicans would crash and burn and your party wouldnโt look so bad isnโt solution. Or the Democrats taking over the preaching for consumerism, now very concerned about inflation and trade barriers. Whatever happened to fair trade or living with less? Paying a bit more for fairness? Not that I think Trump is going the right away around trade. But we got to stop flooding our communities with so much cheap, disposable Chinese crap that is posioining our bodies, air, water, and land.
It was just one of those days. As the unit Director, I got to let people know about their COLAs and raises for the year today, and obviously the people who got big bumps and promotions were happier then those who did not. Itโs tough to make good calls, you canโt give everybody what they want, and there was a lot of rules we had to follow in adjusting salaries, and ultimately it wasnโt my decision as lot of people had to sign off. Plus, I wasnโt thrilled with my COLA though Iโm sure itโs equitable to other directors in my position with the same level of experience. I literally have $432 in my bank account after all the bills this week, with the car insurance, and I donโt know how people survive on so much less. People say itโs because Iโm saving and investing so much, but it sure doesnโt feel like much after all the taxes are do. I tried to be fair. My unit did like the Italian cookies I picked up at the supermarket. Much more popular then the homemade ones I made a few weeks back, and the ones I tried to make last week and ended up making a lot of smoke. But those burnt cookies were good ground up and put in my coffee the next few days as sugar. I hate to waste anything.
I wish I was out camping this weekend, I had hope but itโs going to be another meaningless weekend stuck at home. Took the garbage out, looking forward soon to having a big fire. Not sure what was stinking so bad in the freezer, maybe it was the canned pumpkin I had in the fridge that was getting moldy. Still need to empty out the compost. And Iโve been doing a lot of dreaming about off-grid living and building a cabin. All because of that Homesteady YouTube of them selling their farm and moving to Alaska. At the same time, Iโve been doing a lot of thinking of what it means to live truly rural, to be poor, to be a homesteader and pulling things together from what you have. But all the freedom of living remotely in a rural state. And the knowledge and skills to do your own repairs and take care of your own needs. I do enjoy doing my own maintance on my bike, and Iโve really gotten to dislike just taking things to the store to be repaired professionally or replacing things unnecessarily. This has me researching and watching YouTube videos about building a cabin yourself.
