300,000 year old footprints of human ancestors in Germany.

Creepy experience with a MAGA store owner today.

There is a small store near me that I often pass on my way to other places in the neighborhood. It sells t-shirts, odds and ends, and scented wax warmers. So I wanted to ask about the wax warmers which were in a window display and marked 20% off.

I continue to wear a mask due to underlying health issues. I barely stepped inside the door when a loud voice from the back yelled at me that masks are not permitted in the store. It was the owner, who then ordered me to remove the mask or leave.

I wish that I could say that I handled it with finesse and a clever comeback, like congratulating him for such a successful business that he could afford to turn customers away. The store rarely has people inside and I do wonder how he stays in business.

Instead, I was so startled by the abrupt, loud voice and craziness of being barred for wearing an N95 that I got angry and dropped a few curse words at him while flipping him off. I left and turned the corner to head for a convenience store.

I have a hiatal hernia which causes acid reflux into my mouth sometimes. I also have asthma which means that in anxious, emotional situations, my bronchial tubes spasm and cause me to cough, bringing up clear fluid and acid reflux into my mouth. When that happens outdoors, I turn my head to the side, and bend out to spit away from my body to avoid "blowback" onto me. When I did that, I was on the side of that store and a couple drops hit the exterior of the MAGAt's store window. It was clear, like drops of water.

Suddenly he was outdoors screaming at me that I had just spit on his window and that he caught it on camera. He said that he was going inside to report me for vandalism. I asked what his problem was with the fact that I need a mask and he screamed back at me that he did not have to answer that question.

I went on to the convenience store and then to a branch of the local library which was just a couple blocks away. When I returned, two guys who live in my apt. complex were outdoors. They are both RWers so I never mention politics to them and have kept a superficially friendly passing acquaintance with them. I asked them if they knew the name of the guy who owns the store on the corner. They not only knew his name, but said that they personally know him. Then, without me mentioning it, they brought up the mask issue and told me that it's the owner's prerogative to ban masks in his store. I said yes, it is, but he's still a wacko for doing it. I also said that it was political fanaticism and that I considered myself lucky that he didn't come after me with a gun.

That store owner must have a closer relationship with my 2 neighbors than I realized. (Same RW organizations?) He must have told them about the mask incident after I left.

Time to look for a saner neighborhoid.

Sunday, May 14, is the one year anniversary of the racist mass murder in a Buffalo supermarket.

Buffalo media are covering the anniversary.

My church has been engaged in an anti racism action and discussion series for the past several weeks. Sunday's service is dedicated to the victims of the mass murder, not only the people who died or were physically wounded, but also their family, friends, the community, and all who are affected by this country's pervasive racism.

We are all responsible for ending racism and violence.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Buffalo_shooting

Steve Schmidt in Frontline interview

Schmidt discusses the rise of Trump, the dangers Trump poses to democracy, and Schmidt's own views about the two parties today. I strongly disagree with his assessment of Democrats, particularly his claim that Bill Clinton set the stage for Trump. Steve says that Clinton made it possible for Americans to say, "Well, Bill did it," when Trump came along. He totally ignores the Republican propaganda and false claims and vilification of the Clintons. He does some bothsiderism even while he denounces Trump and the current Republican Party.

But, since Steve Schmidt is so often interviewed or quoted as an anti Trumpist, I thought it was worth posting the interview here for people to see where Schmidt stands politically. He's an ally as an opponent to Trump, but not on anything else.

I am also allergic to aspirin.

Not a common allergy. You are the first person that I've come across who is also allergic to it.

Ember is going through a closed door phase.

I noticed it first last week when looking for her. I checked both of her tunnels, the top level perch of her cat tree, and glanced at her carrier, which I keep on the floor in a corner of the living room so that she can nap in it if she wants to.

But the door to the carrier was nearly closed. If she was inside, she'd have to pull the door toward herself to get it nearly closed. Certainly possible, but Ember usually prefers to push things outward rather than tug them toward her. So I kept looking.

Finally, I said the magic words that always get her attention. "Treat, Ember?"

Whoosh! Faster than an Olympic track star, Ember burst out of her carrier and reached me in record time. So, she HAD tugged the carrier door shut. But why? Was she showing me that she wanted to go somewhere?

She's done it several times since then. Crawl inside, close the door, curl up for a nap.

Then two days ago, I noticed that my bedroom door was nearly closed, leaving only about a two inch gap. There's no one else here besides Ember and me. And I knew that I had not closed the door. When I peeked inside, Ember was curled up on my bed. This has happened a few times since then.

So I guess Ember's new closed door policy is her equivalent of a "Do not disturb" sign. Probably has some weighty concerns to meditate on. Who am I to interrupt a philosopher at work?

Anyone get text messages from the USPS?

I keep getting text messages supposedly from the USPS that they tried to deliver a package to me but were not able to. The text has a link for me to click on for further instruction or explanation.

How would the USPS have my cell phone number to text a message to me? No, I have not clicked on the link. I don't even read the texts any more. I've received about 6 of them so far.

In the past, I have had packages sent to me that were too large for my mail box. The post office left a card, like a post card, in my mail box to notify me.

Oh dear. Ember meant well, but.....

Ember was crouched at the edge of her litter box during a bowel movement, so consequently the stools fell just outside of the box, onto the rubber pad that sits below it.
She noticed that when she got out of the box, so she went back into it and flipped litter out of the box and onto the stools sitting on the rubber pad.

Sigh. Even as I cleaned it up, I had to respect her clever solution to the uncovered stools.

How many people have had wisdom teeth versus those who never had them?

I never got any wisdom teeth (my excuse for foolish mistakes). My dentist told me that the evolutionary trend is to not have wisdom teeth. They are a "dying" feature of human anatomy, according to him.

Ember was feeling especially communicative this morning.

She is very non vocal, meows maybe 2 or 3 times a year, and some years not at all. She communicates through stares, knocking things to the floor, face rubs, and purrs. So when she meows, I listen. Must be important.

This morning she meowed, once, quietly, while standing in front of the microwave cart. Such an unusual sound startled me. I walked over to see what prompted her to speak. Found nothing. 10 minutes later, another meow followed by a more drawn out sound. Both sounds were quiet and soft, but any sound from the silent Ember is so unusual that it's the equivalent of booming shout.

So, again I went to see what it was about. She was seated in front of the microwave cart, staring at it. So I pulled it away from the wall while Ember paced back and forth next to the cart, tail wagging back and forth, too. (Ember wags her tail like a dog when she's happy or excited. It's an Egyptian Mau trait and she's 1/4 Mau.)

Under the cart were a small whiffle ball that she'd been playing with yesterday and two pipe cleaners that I hadn't seen for a while. I pulled them out and tossed them in her direction. She whacked the ball across the room like a golfer, then picked up one of the pipe cleaners and ran off with it.

Problem solved. No more meows. For reasons known only to Ember, it was very important for her to have the ball and pipe cleaners retrieved this morning. As her servant, I naturally complied with her wish.