Random ramblings (or A little knowledge is dangerous)

There is no one thing at the top of my noodle, so here are some random ramblings about things I should probably know more about than I do.

I keep vacillating about privatizing the state liquor stores. PA is one of the few (maybe two?) states that operates this way. The prices are high. The selection is minimal, though for someone like me whose buying consists of one box/cube of margaritas every month, I don't notice it as much (well, I have noticed that my usual brand has been MIA the last two times). And the service I have received at my local store is rather lacking. For those reasons, I have supported privatization for years. Yet now that it seems as if we are getting closer, I can't help but think that a year or two after the state gets the initial windfall from selling off the licenses (which you just know will be spent ASAP), PA will be in really bad shape. Won't the state be missing that revenue that comes for all the sales? I don't think the sales tax will be enough.
I wish I better understood the debt ceiling conundrum. From what little I know, the issue seems akin to people who spend more money than they have rather than cut back, but I am sure it is not that simplistic. What is worse is that I am not as concerned about this as I probably should be. I know so many people who live above their means, so why not the government?! (For the record, sometimes I do worry about where the US is going to be in a few years. I don't think the future is so bright for generations ahead, but hopefully I am wrong.)
Litter still bugs the crap out of me. I just don't understand what goes through the minds of people who see fit to dump their empty chip bag or McD's cup on the ground. One of these days I am going to confront someone about this. I just hope you don't see me on the news because I finally decided I could no longer take it. :-)
After spending a couple of days with my three nephews, ages 1, 3, and 5, I am happy to say I felt no yearnings to have another baby. Nope, the oven is off and is going to stay that way as far as I can tell. (I do, however, love those guys to pieces and wish they lived closer.)
How about them Buccos? For years I have been hoping for the team to break .500. Aim high, I know. But I really think this is going to be that year. I am not ready to get excited about the possibility of playoffs just yet, but I can be happy that the Jolly Roger is being raised with regularity.
And on that note, I will end on a request to be kind. Try to preform a random act of kindness. You may be surprised at how much better you will feel about doing something nice for someone else.

What a year 2021 has been (Day 7)

I have almost no words for what happened yesterday at the Capitol. Protesting is one thing (though I truly think it is and has been time to move on). But to storm the Capitol? A friend on Facebook said, quite simply, " Almost 20 years ago a group of people on an airplane sacrificed themselves to protect the Capitol. How far we have fallen!" Indeed. And, yes, it IS storming the Capitol. I have seen numerous videos of people knocking down barricades/fences, pushing police officers, and breaking windows and climbing through them. That is beyond protesting. And even if a protestor did not do those things, if they followed those seditionists past those barricades and into the building, they are just as guilty. I did not support the violent protests this summer that resulted in damages to businesses and public property (I was in full support of the actual protests). But I also acknowledged as a white person, I cannot truly put myself in the position of a black person who is angry a

Melancholy and Gratitude

A few days ago, I decided to do gratitude posts on FB. I was good the first two days. Day 3 I got a little snarky as I posted about "doing the right thing" in regards to Covid. The Covid cases in Allegheny County have been on the rise. For a while, we had daily counts between 50 and 100. After July 4, we saw a spike for a few weeks, and then cases were back below 100. Unfortunately, other than one "low" day this week, where "only" 288 cases were reported, we have had between 500 and 620 daily cases. Fortunately, only a few people have died this week. But of course, any death is too many. I started to keep track of cases, deaths, and hospitalizations on 6/12/20. On that day, since 3/12, Allegheny County had had 2,034 cases, 352 people had been hospitalized, and 172 people had died. On 11/19/20, the county has seen a total of 22,042 cases, 1,724 people have been hospitalized, and 465 people have died from Covid since 3/12. In just over 8 months, we have had

What, me worry?!

Although I don't like creepy, crawly things, I am not afraid of them and am perfectly able to kill them when I see them. I like the dark, heights don't bother me too much (though I don't love them), and ghosts don't concern me (not sure if they are real, but have not ruled them out either). So what worries me and sometimes keeps me awake at night (or infiltrates me dreams)? This first one is really, really strange, and kind of gross: overflowing toilets. This goes back to a time when I was in high school, and upon flushing the toilet in the "big bathroom" of our house, the water starting pouring over the seat. I freaked out! I can still picture it happening and my subsequent panicking as water flowed onto the floor. I don't recall who was at home who came to my rescue and, presumably, turned the water off. What I do recall is being afraid to flush the toilet when I was home alone after that for weeks if not longer. Fortunately, I have never overflowed a

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