No Taxation without Representation

I read an article about author and aspiring politician, J.D. Vance proposing that childless adults shouldn't have a vote and people who have kids should be allowed extra votes for each of their children because childless people aren't invested in the future of the company the way parents are. Okay, J.D. If I can't have a vote because I don't have kids, then you can't have my tax money. How about that??? No taxation without representation! The sheer ridiculousness that comes out of the mouths of people these days is astounding. Any idiot can run for office, I guess, even hillbilly ivy leaguers.  

Did No One See This Coming?

Try as I might to avoid the news, I can't help it these days. COVID rates are back on the rise across the country and my main question is did no one see this coming? Once the CDC told folks they could go without masks (well, fully vaccinated people anyway) and most states had 50% or less of their population fully vaccinated, COVID was bound to rebound! And, once you throw the Delta variant into the mix, it makes everything even worse. Did the CDC really think people who weren't vaccinated would continue to wear masks? Ridiculous. I really hope we're not heading for another shutdown. I also think that a lot of the decisions coming out now are based on economics and not science. Businesses want to fully reopen and corporations want people back in the office space they're paying to lease. Sure, many are willing to let employees continue working from home in the summer, but watch the tide change after Labor Day. 

Speaking of workers, despite my disappointing visit to Milwaukee last weekend, I did enjoy going to the Grohmann Museum while I was there. The museum has works dedicated to workers. I took a few pictures on the rooftop in the sculpture garden. 

RIP, Biz Markie. "Damn it feels good to see people up on it." Yes, it does, Biz.

Underwhelmed

I went to Milwaukee this weekend for a quick visit because my sister suggested we visit the city since neither of us had ever been. I was up for it. Unfortunately, the city (at least the downtown part where we stayed) was underwhelming. It was like a ghost town. Very few stores and restaurants, deserted streets, blocks of empty store fronts. Oy! I wasn't sure if the city was so empty because of COVID or if it had been like that before the pandemic. The trip wasn't a total downer. I got to see the Bronze Fonz statue and the River Walk. I also did a ghost tour (that was a lot of fun) and visited the Grohmann Museum that was interesting. But I don't think I'd do a return visit to Milwaukee anytime soon. A coworker suggested I visit Madison and I may do that the next time I want a quick weekend getaway. Still, it was nice to get out of Chicago for a few days and not have to wake up to double-digit numbers of people getting shot overnight. 

Down Time

I have some time off this week from my day job (yea!) so I'm planning to do the following:

1. Read

2. Write

3. Watch TV

4. Sleep (daytime naps are great)

5. Go to the gym

I was reading four books at once, but now I'm down to three since I finished one last night. I read the every entertaining book Bath Haus by PJ Vernon in about two days. A good page-turner for the summer. 

I watched a documentary on Prime over the weekend called Tickled about some dude on Long Island who had fake online personas where he duped young guys into allowing themselves to be tickled on film. That was odd. I also watched a few episodes of a show called Bonding on Netflix about two college kids who are in the BDSM business. I took one look at these kids and found them totally unbelievable in the roles. The show is played for laughs and neither of the actors (the one playing the dominatrix nor the one playing her assistant) look like anything other than fresh-faced college kids. Totally unbelievable casting, totally unbelievable plot. I got through three episodes before bailing on that. Netflix really is throwing money at a lot of garbage trying to find something that sticks. I know they're trying to build up their library, but a lot of the shows and movies they're creating just aren't good.

 I'm planning to try and either resurrect the short story I've been working on for far too long or just make the decision to ditch it. I really want to get it together and not abandon it, but I need to make some decisions ASAP about that. It's time to move forward or move on to something else.

It will be nice to have a string of days where I'm not tethered to my computer for work. I want and need the down time.