Tiger talks planets and (orange) tin foil on Thanksgiving
“… is really good Nazy,” I explained. “If you can’t smell the turkey, then you shouldn’t be at dinner. You should be out…”
“… getting a COVID test.” Nazy concluded.
We will have Melika, Tom, Tiger, Arrow and 9 over for dinner. Unfortunately, however, neither Darius and his family nor Mitra and Stefan are coming to Santa Barbara. It’s just too risky. We will, instead, rely on covid necessitated Zoom. And…
“ … not just any Zoom,” I explained when everyone had arrived. “This will feature a Tiger Talk.”
“Tiger talk? What’s that?”
“It’s like a Ted Talk with a tiger instead of a Ted. Tiger will be talking about astronomy.”
“Astronomy?”
“With PowerPoint.”
The dinner was, of course, wonderfully prepared. We even had homemade pumpkin pie and sugar cookies that Melika and the grandchildren had prepared.
Although Darius, Christiane and the girls were not able to come to Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving, we were able to see them around Halloween. And, while we were in Bellingham, Washington (city motto: “Ye old city of subdued excitement&rdquo
, I got a replacement for my iPhone Xs. It was…
“… covered by insurance,” I explained to Darius. “I just had to pay the deductible…”
“… and the insurance premiums for the last year…”
“… two years, Darius,”I explained. “But I got a new phone.”
In fact, the few weeks since I’ve been home have shown that I didn’t get a ‘new phone’. I think I got a refurbished … eh, mostly refurbished, hmm somewhat refurbished phone with a weak battery.
The battery on my old phone, the one that had a broken screen, lasted all day. The battery on the new phone doesn’t. And, about once a day, the new ‘phone’ loses the ‘cellular network’ and has to be restarted. Probably..
“… the insurance wasn’t a good idea, Nazy.” I explained.
“Probably you shouldn’t have dropped the phone, Dan.”
“Yes Dear,” I replied. “But Tiger dropped it,” I thought.
“And don’t blame Tiger. You took the protective case off of the phone,” Nazy concluded.
As if the phone debacle wasn’t enough, when we got home, I noticed that while there were no dead fish floating in my tank, the..
‘ … aquarium has fewer fish,” I began. “And bigger fish,” I continued. “They must have been well-feed with fresh food,” I thought as I noticed that my floating water lilies had also vanished. Nazy and I got a few new fish to replenish the tank.Unfortunately, one of them, a ‘red tail shark’ is territorial. And it typically prefers…
“ .. A 55 gallon territory,” I said.
“How big is your tank?” Nazy asked.
“55 Gallons. But we also have a large Angel Fish that thinks…”
Unbelievably, here in Santa Barbara, the ‘presidential’ prediction {“we’re turning the corner&rdquo has proven to be accurate. We’ve turned the corner and now are speedily en route to calamity. We stay in our pod and restrict our outings to the outdoors.
We’re trying, somewhat unsuccessfully to defy gravity.
While we’re walking along the beach, Arrow and Azelle have continued with swimming lessons. And both are getting bolder and more confident in the water. In fact, we may be at the awkward stage…
“.. where it would be better to be a little less bold and, maybe, somewhat uncertain,” I told Nazy after describing a situation in which Azelle jumped into the water planning to swim 20 feet to me.
We are, of course, keeping a close eye on them. They’re usually worn out after the lessons. (I’m usually worn out after the lessons, too.)
It’s entertaining to listen to the ‘president’ tweet conspiracy while and his GOP enablers spout drivel.
The election loser, unwilling to accept the results, tweets evidence-free claims of fraud and humongous conspiracy.
But —the only election fraud is his attempt to overturn the results of the election. And, anyone believing in the purported conspiracy should be wearing a tin foil hat. Ah ha!
“Did you know that they make orange tin foil? I asked Nazy.
And then there are the GOP invertebrates, like Marco Rubio, in the Senate who either lack a backbone or are unable to assemble and connect sufficient neurons to determine (and communicate) the name of the President-Elect. Marco, in a league of his own, even criticized the President Elect’s cabinet appointments because they are experienced and well educated.
“Doesn’t he want people who know what they’re doing?” Nazy asked.
“Apparently not. Just look who’s working for the current administration. When you practice decision making without reference to facts, competence will get in the way.” I replied. “And, paradoxically, incompetence is the core competency of the GOP. In fact, it’s not even new.”
“Really?”
“Yep. It goes back to at least 1970 when Nixon nominated Carswell to the Supreme Court. Democrats objected saying that Carswell was ‘mediocre’. A GOP Senator said he was still going to vote to confirm because ‘mediocre people need representation too’.”
“Does that Senator share DNA with Marco Rubio?”
“Most likely.” I concluded.
For last week's letter, please click here