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Night Of The Nosebleed – Disaffected Musings
Usually I write about this being the anniversary of my receiving a call from my hometown baseball team and their offering me a full time job. Usually... I woke up about 12:30-12:45 AM with some GI discomfort, or so I thought. As I went to the kitchen to get an antacid, I felt something running…
It Tolls For Thee: Goodbye, Rickey – Disaffected Musings
No, I don't normally publish a post on an NFL Sunday, but one of the greatest players in baseball history, Rickey Henderson, died on Friday night. I actually worked "with" him as I was Director of Baseball Operations for the San Diego Padres when they/we acquired him via free agency before the 1996 season. By…
Winter Solstice 2024 – Disaffected Musings
I guess I wrote about this day last year. Don't worry; I won't write about it next year. Our "sunrise" today is not until 7:28 AM with "sunset" occurring at 5:23 PM. As a morning person I dislike waking up to darkness, but I can't control the processes of nature. At the Summer Solstice…
Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction – Disaffected Musings
...and a lot more interesting, in my opinion. Yes, only come to the hospital if you're well! Thanks to my (i)ncomparable niece for sending me this photo. So, is this person an extreme dogmatist or an extreme skeptic? I don't know if the proportion of lunatics among the population is…
Odd Happening – Disaffected Musings
Sometime in 2023, although I don't exactly remember when, I had a new ceiling fan and light installed in my office. It has "developed" an odd habit in that it turns itself on with the fan at the highest speed. When I told my electrician about this, he did not do the installation, he said…
Late Post Wednesday – Disaffected Musings
More medical appointments made it impossible for me to write a post for today in advance or write "live" any earlier in the day. In all honesty, the primary reason I am writing this post is that the two-day "hypersurge" in views/visitors of December 6-7 means this month could see the most views/visitors in a…
Belated Sad/Happy Anniversary – Disaffected Musings
Exactly one week ago marked exactly three years since my wonderful wife had cancer surgery. (Where did THAT time go?!) The actual day of the surgery was immeasurably sad. COVID protocols were still in effect and I could not accompany my wife into the surgery prep area. Looking at her from across the waiting room…
Medical Matters – Disaffected Musings
On more than one occasion I have mentioned serious medical issues facing our family. More issues, although perhaps not quite as serious, have arisen. I am actually writing this post on Sunday afternoon because I am not sure when will be the next time I can write a "live" post. I haven't gone anywhere...yet. …
Wish I Could Show You A Picture – Disaffected Musings
We are near the full moon, which will be at peak illumination at 4:02 AM EST on December 15. We live in a neighborhood with no street lights and the effect of the moon is amplified. When I got out of bed "for good" at 4:15 AM this morning the backyard was illuminated as if…
The Vibe Shift Goes Global – Disaffected Musings
I readily admit this is a blatant attempt to "reproduce" an important (IMO) piece in The Free Press by Niall Ferguson. (For at least the third time, Niall Ferguson is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior faculty fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs…
Calendar Math – Disaffected Musings
If one uses just two digits to represent the year, then--of course--the sum of the month and today's date equals the year: 12/12/24. I have always fessed up to being an OCD-addled math nerd. I yam what I yam... ****************** Today's post will have no references to serious topics as I am burned out…
Coming To A Country Near You – Disaffected Musings
This CNBC article is titled, "Greece's ghost towns offer a glimpse of a country struggling with 'existential' population collapse." The three key points of Karen Gilchrist's piece are: - Greece’s abandoned “ghost” towns and villages offer an eerie glimpse into the future of a country, whose Prime Minister has warned of “existential” population collapse.…
A Sign Of The Times – Disaffected Musings
To begin...the surge in views and visitors abated a great deal on Sunday and Monday, but did not disappear completely. Again, these were views of the Home Page referred from Guck Foogle. A few people clicked on a post with a link to John Kraman's bio on the Mecum Auctions website. He has been absent…
The Blog Set Daily Records For Views And Visitors On Friday… – Disaffected Musings
So why am I worried and not happy? I guess, in part, that's just my nature (have to poke the world in the eye from time to time). However, given one of the subjects that was a topic in Friday's post, I have to admit I am worried that some radical assholes might be accessing…
Visitors – Disaffected Musings
Despite the fact that 2024 will be the first of the seven calendar years (!) of Disaffected Musings that will have fewer than 300 published posts and despite the fact that the number of views will decline about 17% from 2023 (no doubt, in part due to fewer posts), 2024 has already had the highest…
The New Realities Of War – Disaffected Musings
As reported here and in many other places, Chinese hackers stole large amounts of Americans' phone data from eight large telecom companies. What is even more scary is that appears their presence remains. Anne Neuberger, a deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology at the National Security Council, said, "There is a risk…
Toasty Tuesday – Disaffected Musings
Compared to 30 years ago or more, I probably eat only about 10 percent as much bread as I used to. My wonderful wife and I have stopped buying bread because we would almost always throw most of it away. All that being said, on those rare occasions when I consume bread--always in a restaurant…
As I Grow Older – Disaffected Musings
I prefer warmer to colder. The preceding, including the post title, is what I will sometimes tell people who ask me if Arizona is too hot. (In a related vein, sometimes I answer "I'm old and cold" to people who ask how I am.) For most of November we had well below average temperatures. On…
Saturnine Saturday – Disaffected Musings
Saturnine: Adj; cold and steady in mood, slow to act or to change; OR of a gloomy or surly disposition From renowned pollster/mathematician/poker player/author Nate Silver: “The Harris campaign folks are the most non-agentic people I’ve encountered in a position of comparable decision-making authority. They don’t even see themselves as victims so much…
A Change Of Plans – Disaffected Musings
A person is entitled to change their mind even if there's nothing wrong with the one they have. A link to a beautiful photo, if I may say so myself. ****************** Central bankers around the world are supposed to enact and to implement policy based on mandates such as price stability and full employment.…
Out Of Sync – Disaffected Musings
Henry David Thoreau wrote, "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." A college friend of mine, a beautiful young woman I met when she was dating my first college…
Six Days And Sunday – Disaffected Musings
For not the last time: PLEASE click on the tiny “Read on blog” link or the post title itself in the email notifying you of a new post. Thanks. ****************** Six Days And Sunday could describe the de facto publication schedule for this blog, Disaffected Musings, at present. It was also a suggested title…
Can’t Find My Way Home – Disaffected Musings
Once again I must begin with this: PLEASE click on the tiny “Read on blog” link or the post title itself in the email notifying you of a new post. Thanks. ****************** Today's post is not about the song written by Steve Winwood and first released by the group Blind Faith on their 1969…
Saturated Saturday – Disaffected Musings
I am sorry, but not sorry for starting posts with the following reminder: PLEASE click on the tiny “Read on blog” link or the post title itself in the email notifying you of a new post. Thanks. ****************** Today's post title refers to my intention to show more than one or two links to…
No Disrespect Intended – Disaffected Musings
To begin: PLEASE click on the tiny “Read on blog” link or the post title itself in the email notifying you of a new post. Thanks. Yes, today is the 61st anniversary of the day President John F. Kennedy died a violent death in Dallas. I am not going to write about my…
No Title Post – Disaffected Musings
Again: PLEASE click on the tiny “Read on blog” link or the post title itself in the email notifying you of a new post. Thanks. I was unable to think of a post title today without resorting to alliteration. Hopefully, that will not become a habit. ****************** Normally, the last time I check…
Goodbye, Motor Trend TV? – Disaffected Musings
In a world with so much turmoil, writing about the potential demise of a TV channel devoted to automotive programming might seem shallow. Nevertheless, here I am. This Hemmings piece by Tara Hurlin reports that the show Roadkill has ceased production, along with other Motor Trend shows such as Hot Rod Garage and Roadworthy Rescues,…
It Is A Jaguar… – Disaffected Musings
During an early morning breakfast run the F-Type exhibited its first hiccup in the 15 months I have owned it. I turned the heat on--the outside temp was in the low 40s--but the vent on top of the center stack did not open. The passenger cabin did get heat from other vents, but the main…
Fart And Sminal – Disaffected Musings
What do you expect a Spoonerism-addicted, OCD-addled person to do with the name of the grocery chain, Smart And Final?! Apparently, we do have these stores in Arizona not that I have ever seen one in the four years we have lived here. It is also my understanding that the chain is emphasizing online purchases.…
A Middle Finger To Diabetes – Disaffected Musings
I eat one or two Oreo Thins almost every day. Note that "a serving" equals four cookies. One cookie has just 5 grams of carbohydrates including three grams of sugar. By the way, for whatever reason(s) I think Oreo Thins taste notably better than the original Oreo cookie. This post could have been…
Throwback Thursday: The Dow Jones – Disaffected Musings
On this day in 1972 the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 1,000 for the first time. The New York Times likened the event to the breaking of the 4-minute mile. Yesterday, the Dow closed at almost 44,000. While the stock market has its ups and downs, over time it has always been the investment…
Everything But The Toast – Disaffected Musings
No, I have no idea why I chose today's title and lead topic. In those days when I used to be able to eat things like french toast and actually made breakfast at home, I would think about the leftover liquid in which the bread had been soaked. I would then put the liquid…
Trade-Off Tuesday – Disaffected Musings
"Statistics [data] are not truth, they are an approximation of the truth." - Bill James; data is the plural of datum "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - Attributed to Albert Einstein I am usually on the treadmill 70-80 minutes (4.5-5 miles) every other day.…
Veterans Day 2024 – Disaffected Musings
Depending on the source, it is reported that between 16 million and 18 million military veterans are living in the US. Regardless of your political inclination, we should all be grateful to those who have served us in the Armed Forces. ****************** I would be remiss if, again, I did not note that this was…
To The Brink, But Not Over – Disaffected Musings
Yesterday I came very close to buying the Supra that has been shown and written about in the previous two posts. After driving the car and returning home from the dealership, whose salesman I told the likelihood of my buying the car was better than 50-50, I placed an order to sell a small part…
Not Quite Full Friday – Disaffected Musings
Originally I was going to call today's post "Full Friday" because I was going to include A LOT of links to pieces from the Internet. Upon reflection, and since many of those were post-election analyses, I decided to change course. I continue to be amazed at how poorly I can predict how a post will…
Perspectives – Disaffected Musings
Again, Niall Ferguson is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior faculty fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard. The British newspaper The Times has called him “the most brilliant British historian of his generation.” In a post-election piece for The Free Press…
Belated Memory – Disaffected Musings
While my wonderful wife and I were driving to our annual eye exams yesterday something said on the radio reminded me of what I wanted to write yesterday. It is a thin line between confidence and arrogance and too many people are on the wrong side of the line. I have been accused of being…
The Aftermath – Disaffected Musings
I have to admit that the first thing I thought of when I heard of Trump's win was a 4-year pause in EV mandates and subsidies. Yes, Elon Musk has become an ally of Trump, but Trump has said that he would get rid of previous EV policies "on Day One." As every regular reader…