Social services suck. This reminds me of social workers. Social workers suck. This reminds me of non-profits. Non-profits suck. They are private businesses in all but name. They give themselves very large salaries and help people in need in a nominal way. Charities suck. Same set up. They give themselves very large salaries, etc There was a St. Pete con artist who started a non-profit LLC to manage $100,000,000.00 in pooled trust assets for the disabled and their families. He walked off with $100,000,000.00. He was sued but the money was gone. The disabled individuals and their families recovered nothing. I can easily see social services abandoning a child. I'm not buying the stupid non-explanation. Fwiw, I think about how much money non-profits take in and consider the fact that society's problems they are meant to mitigate if not solve not only continue unabated but continue to worsen. I'm reminded of when hospitals dump patients in the street under cover of darkness. We seem to live in a vicious society that feels the need to hide its true nature with a false veneer of caring for its own sake. Social insurance programs are what work and those are being attacked here and in Europe in various ways. Why? Greed, once again. I'm not trying to be cynical. This is only what I have observed over several decades.

What a great concept!

I love higher order insects.

@Steve-Miller said: But the garage would be so worth it!

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Bless him. May he rest in peace. And all day I thought it was this damn time change. Huh.

@Steve-Miller said: Have you visited that store, Al? Yes, I have. I was in Philadelphia on business once and finished in time to visit the store and meet Rich in person. A second visit was a piano party that he hosted there a number of years ago. Big Al

Even though the angles are set by the block, the angle is really determined by the steadyness of the hand. The other thing with rods is that they are good at maintaining an edge, but tend to introduce a wavy edge more than a flat over time. I didn't notice until I started using the rolling sharpener. One issue with the rolling ones I didn't think about was that many thinner knives won't stick up over the magnetic block without some fooling around. Not a dealbreaker, but something to work through. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJRF3S7T?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1 I went with a cheap one first to see if I liked it. The better ones offer the option to replace grits.

I'd take one of the grand pianos. I'll have my private secretary call them Monday. Upright & grand pianos https://share.google/nUhoCgM4ODZUqqQuQ 🤪

Darn. I like his stuff less now that I know that.

Not exactly a bloom, but we emerged from winter this week and I found this little tree. Yikes! [image: IMG-5311.jpg] It’s a dwarf weeping Altas Cedar. It came through the winter of ‘24-‘25 just fine, but the cold snap this winter may have killed it. What? Don’t cedars grow in Alaska and stuff? Nursery guy says it’s probably fine - that it will drop the brown needles and grow new ones. Sure enough, the branches are still pliable so maybe there is hope.

I'll read this! I couldn't sleep, at all, last night. It was insomnia, not a disturbance in the neighborhood. (My neighbors on their best behavior). So, I took two naps today. I had to do it. But how will I get to sleep tonight? And then tomorrow we have that stupid time change, meaning it will be in effect tomorrow morning.

Apple and justme were the two people who welcomed me to the old Coffee Room so many years ago. It's been quite a trip since then. Big Al

@Steve-Miller said: @Mik said: Bad Bunny. Kennedy Center. The stupid never stops. The “Bad Bunny Kennedy Center” does have a nice ring to it… What did I miss re Bad Bunny and the Kennedy Center?

Great stories! Thanks!

I can't follow this. RFK, Jr. Is deranged. He has some good ideas in general and some good analyses of the beuracracy related to the COVID debacle but his rides on Epstein's plane and his complicity in the actions of this administration render him entirely unfit for office.

He's said he's sending ground troops. Or at least I think I recall that. He says something new every ten minutes. An official of his government said, "Turkey is the new Iran." At least, I think it was his government official. It could have been an official in Netanyahu's government. They sound the same same. I'm not being snarky. What happened to the old Iran? Is it not still there? Demanding Iran surrender unconditionally shows a complete disconnect from reality.