Everyone is afraid of the government shutdown. Or, at least, we’re being told we need to be afraid of the government shutdown. The coverage I’m hearing (and it is varies from outlet to outlet) mostly agrees that the battle is over ideological bullshit–the GOP wants to defund Planned Parenthood, the EPA, and financial regulation, and won’t budge on these points.
I have nothing but respect for you, sir, and the difficult job you have taken on. That been said, I have one word of advice:
Take the skirt off.
Your predecessor, a talentless, entitled rube, surrounded himself with a kennel of feral attack weasels and let them shank their enemies while he feigned an “aw, shucks” persona and hid out on his ranch. You’ve taken a higher road in the first half of your term, and while I appreciate the brief return to civility, I’m afraid it’s time for a change. You need to feed your staff some raw meat, issue them some bayonets, and start fighting back.
The high road is not going to work anymore. The GOP doesn’t give a shit about compromise. Neither does the Tea Party, who might as well be running the GOP; they want their agenda followed and they don’t care how they do it or who it hurts. My impression of your presidency so far is one of lofty ideals and a genuine desire to make things better through debate and compromise-a dream that recalls the middle of the last century, when politicians fought each other ideologically, but had the good sense to get together for cocktails and barbecue after work. Your opposing team doesn’t want to pour you a beer; they want to drop you down a mineshaft. They’re still playing like it’s 2004.
You’ve brought a notebook and a pen to a helicopter gunship fight. Cut the shit, put on your body armor, and start knocking some fucking heads together.
Respectfully,
The Idiot.
PS. Don’t budge on Planned Parenthood, the EPA, or especially financial regulation. You disappointed me on that last one, but anything is better than nothing.
It’s somewhere in the high 60’s/low 70’s today, and so last night I hand-sanded the entire floor with 00 steel wool to knock the bumps off. This morning at 7 the second coat went down, and it looks more even already. I’m using a satin finish so the gloss won’t be too bright, but the goal is to have one solid, even look across the whole thing. If we can get one more warm day in the next week, I can put the final coat down and be done. Compare and contrast with the shot below (and I realize the lighting on the first day was not as bright, but wow)
And just for kicks:
Finn decided we all needed another cup, so she made a new pot. Listen carefully for the whisper.
I’m suffering some new starting woes this week, which have me in the dumps. I swapped out the positive battery cable on Sunday thinking I might be able to fix my intermittent starting issues, but when everything was hooked up and ready, I got no juice to the starter at all. I’ve been getting loads of help from the Binder Planet from guys who have much more experience than me, and I’m slowly making progress on a diagnosis. Tonight I’m going to try jumping the solenoid to see if that might be my issue, and the troubleshooting will continue.
→ This is a syndicated post from my Scout weblog. More info here.
I almost forgot to post this one: I finally took the plastic off the windows after two and a half years. It completely changes the vibe in the living room.
Here’s the first coat of polyurethane down on the floor in the den, as of 8AM this morning. I made a final push to get the rest of the door trim installed (successful) and then moved everything into the bathroom before sweeping and vacuuming the whole space. After an early cup of coffee, I put a fan in the window and got to work.