The New Coffee Room

Every visit, I try and spend a moment or two playing the Roland digital piano they're selling at Costco. I'm waiting for someone to recognize Bach's Art of Fugue...

I wasn't there at the time, but in hindsight, I wonder what would have happened in 2016 if it were Bernie vs. Trump? Essentially, the Republicans "crazy" guy vs. the Democrats "crazy" guy - both populists appealing to the disaffected.

I purchased windshield insurance on my Subaru - because I'd gone through 3 windshields on my last one. It's expired and the windshield is intact. Any day now.... My first house had a warranty with it - and it came in handy when the pump on the heating system went out on the third day I was in the house. It was -10 real temp outside, and the house temperature dipped to the low 50s. When i called into the warranty company, they tried to suggest it wasn't an emergency; however, I convinced them that they were mistaken - and all was taken care of in prompt fashion.

Speaking of furnace issues - my nephew once had an issue with his newly installed furnace. The contractor told him "let this be a lesson to you" which ultimately turned out to be a suboptimal choice of words since my nephew was close friends with someone known in mob circles as the "enforcer". A short conversation between the contractor with a couple of representatives of said family friend, and all was resolved.

Trump has a loyal following - so there's that. And he lies with an effortlessness that is truly a thing of wonder; however, like his predecessor, he's old. At his age, his mental and physical abilities could plummet in a matter of weeks - and render him incapacitated. That could work for Biden as he wasn't always on stage - but much of Trump's strength and popularity comes from his ongoing communication with the world at large.

Most Politicans are just actors doing dinner theater at the direction of their handlers. The handful of principled congress critters from both parties is pretty modest. Biden had a nice smile and worked off the association with Obama. Newsom has a nice smile - so there's that - big state, not-Trump - but looking back at the last few elections - both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump had wide appeal to those Americans who feel disenfranchised and recognize at some level the amount of deception, malfeasance and legal theivery that goes on in the US government. Who are their successors?

While he has enough self love to make him the most beloved President of all time, for all the stones thrown at him, it is probably safe to say that he is the most transformational President since Reagan, and possibly since FDR - and he's not done yet. If he is able to reinstitute slavery, deny women the right to vote, he may pass Lincoln - his goal.

I"m counting on blueberries and broccoli to be my saving foods.

That's stuff we studied in the sleep lab I worked in 50 years ago.

Thankfully, the President is emptying the prisons of white collar criminals - making more room for true felons such as this woman who purchased baking supplies and then sold the baked goods to others.

@Horace said in Hay Horace:

Not to be a h8ter, but I'm not 100% sure that weights on that machine translate to free weights pound for pound. The word "lever" and the holes I see that allows you to adjust the lever makes me wonder.

Yup, with good thumbs and true free weights,
it would likely be 30 lbs or so less

This is my favorite piece of equipment. I have a preacher curl attachment that I use with it. It lets me do incline/flat/decline bench, lat pulldowns, rows, etc. All-in-all, it was a great investment. For most of my life, I worked with free weights, but they were helping to injure my thumb joints so...went to using Smith Machines and subsequently, to the Powertec Levergym. I like that I can use real weights, but I don't have to destroy my hands with gripping the barbell.

Be careful - do make sure you've done your warm-up sets - AND remember these 20-40 year olds are gearing their workouts for 20-40 year olds. That's not to say it is bad counsel - just keep the grain of salt nearby. I do look at some of the work of Jeff Nippard who does some research into which exercises work which muscle groups most effectively. I don't lift for a max lift - and I use a levergym rather than free-weights since I'm working at home. I do also use dumbbells for biceps/triceps work.. I do upper body including biceps/triceps on Fridays. I start with Incline bench, then flat bench. Flat bench I work up to 275 lbs x 12 reps. That's pretty close to my max. With dumbbells I work up to 35 lb weights 3 sets of 12+ - slow and controlled.

Social Security increase is supposed to be 2.8% for 2026.

@jon-nyc said in $1,000,000,000,000 last year (one trillion bucks):

Seems like our fiscal problem is beyond the capacity of our form of government to fix. At least in polarized times. We probably will need a large external shock to get there.

Someone is working as hard as he can to nurture that "shock".

This is just provides further justification for the annexation of Canada. It is our nation's destiny to liberate those poor folk who live under the oppression of a dysfunctional government.