FIRST DATE -- DISTRESS -- QUIRKY HUMOR

 Republic -- "If you can keep it."  [Democracy]

      Accountability for Jan. 6 insurrection.

U.S. Select House Committee on Jan. 6th Hearings

(A final Sept. Hearing canceled due to Hurricane Ian -- Reschedule TBA)

QUESTION:  Does Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife's persistence in stating our ex-President's lie the 2020 election was stolen from him present questionable issues about her husband's impartiality, need to recuse himself from some Court case considerations? 

Here in sunny Southern California our temperature has dropped by a few degrees with the extreme heat past.  Fall may actually arrive soon though only the calendar says it's here now.  We still lack sufficient rain with no end to our drought in sight.

Florida and other U.S. east coast states have shared in Puerto Rico's Hurricane Ian's disaster-producing weather -- floods, high winds, tornados, destruction, death.   I guess we will be challenged by events such as this, maybe even worse in the years to come due to changes in our earth's climate.  This sort of weather causing disasters prevalent in other parts of the world is no less serious.

West Coast gas exploitation continues here in California.  No more of those one cent, two cents or nickel a gallon raises overnight.  This past week they just socked it to us -- fifteen cents plus not just one night, but fifteen more cents the next night, too.  The third night the raise eased a bit to ten cents, then seven plus cents the next night.  

"Sock It To Me" -- Judy Carne 

Clip from the US TV series "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" (1960s - '70s)

Our Governor has arranged our less expensive winter gas mixture be sold earlier than usual by another week which is expected to result in a twenty-five cents per gallon cost reduction.  He also requests a special windfall tax on oil companies who have made huge profits on gas sales with oil costs expected to decrease.  We could use a little gas pricing stability.  

Humor is where we find it, often with quirky matters triggering my funny bone.  I've always derived lots of laughs from reading posted signs as we drove about locally wherever we lived across this country, also with advertisements in newspapers, brochures.  Not everyone has shared my sometimes-weird sense of humor.

I recall my youth and first date, a blind date at that.  I had reluctantly agreed to this setup by a girl who was only a casual acquaintance, but she had been persistent wearing down my resistance to the idea.  He arrived at my house in a pickup truck in a time when such vehicles were strictly utilitarian on farms -- before becoming culturally popular everywhere in the U.S., including cities.  

My blind date may have felt as I did, nervous, lacking in self-confidence, awkward, uncomfortable -- each of us focused on ourselves and how we were feeling inadequate.  I was shy, especially in 1:1 situations unlike with the boys I grew up with where we lived previously.  I don't recall what verbal efforts were made by either of us to become acquainted.  I just recall the long silence driving into town as he said nothing.

I started reading some funny signs aloud I spotted along the highway into town as he said nothing.  He did not react, say anything, or laugh, even chuckle -- apparently, he did not share my sense of humor.  Or maybe, I wasn't supposed to be the entertainer, but he wasn't entertaining.  I don't recall anything more about that evening, but I don't think it got better for either of us wherever we went or whatever we did -- maybe we went to a movie.  Fortunately, in the years to come my self-confidence improved as my relationships developed, but I don't recall ever going on a blind date again.  

My sources for humor continue to emerge in everyday life, not as many when you live alone, in just about every situation, even some that are quite serious.  Sometimes I laugh so hard I end up crying, and occasionally I've laughed to keep from crying.  Some of my laughter is prompted by matters some people might think weird.  The digital world and the internet have certainly contributed to some laughable events as some of you have probably found, too.

I recently fired off one of my occasional brief instant messages, this time to my daughter -- an observation about a current news report about which I felt compelled to comment.  My daughter responded, "Not in this Pili A1 world would either of those states be ideal".  Reading her observation, I thought, oh dear, some more new terminology younger generations are using, and I don't have the slightest idea what "Pili A1" means.  So, revealing my ignorance of current lingo as I used to know in the days of yore, I asked her, "What does Pili A1 mean?"

I learned later she was puzzled when she read my query, so busily began a Google terminology search for the meaning of "Pili A1" since she didn't know the meaning either.  She came up with nothing specific that made sense.  Then she happened to re-read our previous messages exchange and found "Pili A1" in her's to me.   She could only laugh, she said, as she thought she had typed "political", but Google's automatic word correction had produced "Pili A1".

Google's system often does some curious word creations in messages I've sent confusing or totally altering my message's meaning.   When I read how she had searched Google I started laughing, too.  Now, every time I think about the whole comedy of assumptions and misperceptions we each had made, I start laughing out loud to myself.   Maybe I'm finally cracking up.

PUTIN'S WAR -- PUZZLING TERMS -- CATTLE CLIMBER

I would like to go through one week without some mechanical or tech device not requiring special operational attention or my having a dental or medical issue surfacing.  These are minor irritants for me compared to major catastrophes occurring in life for too many people around the world.  Most recently I continue to think of Ukraine.

Maybe I've become more sensitive to my personal annoyances since the pandemic descended upon us even though the virus effects appear to have lessened some presently.  Now, the invasion and atrocities committed by Putin's Russian army including slaughtering Ukrainian civilians also generates negative feelings in me.

One result of Putin's war on Ukraine felt here in SoCal is auto gasoline costs have been increasing every night.  The past week 13 cents a gallon has been added each of several successive nights with expectations that total costs per gallon will rise to $6, even $7 or more soon.  My displeasure with this added expense mellows a bit when I consider these higher gas rates are said to be a consequence of U.S. efforts to pressure Putin to stop his war, thus help the brave Ukrainians resistance.  Ukraine's needs are so much greater than my own, with no end in sight, and so little else I can do.

I welcome opportunities to lighten my mood a bit, often find entertainment in the most mundane places.  My attraction to unusual topics reflects my somewhat warped sense of humor though you may or may not perceive the matter in quite the same way.  One such topic is this recent TV news story I discovered being reported somewhat differently on various news channels.   With tongue in cheek, I note they all raised a fundamental question many may wonder about whenever any one of these animals is seen -- cow, bull, or steer?

The initial TV station I viewed, KCAL-TV, the male anchor described an escaped "steer" being shown racing for freedom on city streets before being safely corralled in a yard.  The female co-anchor then referred to her partner's steer as a "cow".  From that point forward they both used only the term "cow" which I found perturbing -- because I thought the animal was definitely a male, in fact a steer.  Why did the male anchor change the term he used?

A subsequent TV channel, KABC-LA reported the same story with both the male and female anchors describing an escaped "bull".   Maybe a bull or a steer (castrated male/bull is what seemed visually obvious to me) -- a cow (female animal) it was not.

I suppose some adults don't know how to discern the difference between male and female cattle or bovines, but that's another topic I'll not get into here.  However, I got to thinking about another matter -- what do we call one "bovine" if we're unable to see the physical differences to determine cow or bull?  I've not heard people say, "Oh, see that bovine?"

A pig is a pig, a horse is a horse, whether male or female.  Cattle, if just one animal is a bovine -- but who says that term?  

A third TV station's KABC-LA news anchor laughingly summed up the story by noting confusion in their newsroom as to whether the animal was a cow or bull.  He concluded his life experience had familiarized him with these animals and this was a bull.  All I can say is that he must have had a view not shown in the various news videos I saw, because I think it was a steer, but a bull is a more accurate term than a cow.

Finally, FOX 11 has a local newsman who generally really tries to get his stories straight (unlike some on FOX national network level, IMHO).   He described the animal as a steer.  A recorded earlier clip of his station reporters filming live from their helicopter in their audio used the term, cow.  I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe they couldn't see the animal well enough at their altitude in the sky to discern if it was a steer or bull.

I subsequently noted in this NBCLA News video, totally off base with a "cow" designation, also answering an additional unrelated question about which I'm sure we've all wondered -- can cattle climb stairs?  Especially anyone living in a dwelling with steps considering having one of these animals as a pet would certainly want to know the answer to that question.

The matter is resolved in my mind that this bovine is a steer.  The issue of a commonly used term we can use, like we use pig or horse, for the unknown sex of a singular one of these cattle animals continues to be bovine at best as far as I know, unless you know some term I don't.

Now that I've brought these monumental issues to your attention, please feel free to make any astute observations, including disagreeing with me, that may come to your mind.  I hope, if you didn't already know, that you appreciate the fact I've also shown you that cattle can climb stairs, or at least this steer can.