Well, fall is here. We are getting hard frosts in the morning.
As the midterms get closer we are seeing some interesting things. The Tommy exchange:
Tommy is a staffer for Josh Hawley. A plant, in other words.
That exchange is getting a lot of airplay. CBS tried to reframe this:
Jan Crawford tweet:
"Tommy, Thank you. I had to watch this twice to catch Dr Abdul El-Sayed's nanosecond "yeah, absolutely" response. His subsequent uninterrupted three minute diatribe proving your exact point is the exact self own most people only dream of triggering. Congrats."
She is a CBS legal analysist. The resulting social media backlash saw her removing her tweet and apologizing.
WE DID THAT.
Trump has put the kibosh on the livestreamed execution due to the outrage.
(Sorry that link did not work. Try this:
15 more days before the midterms.
I have a strategy meeting for the toy giveaway due to some rumblings from people who want to be involved but want to turn it into something else (a church trying to play an oversized role to 'own' the event.) Another offer of help is a disguise of a group with an ax to grind with the venue.
I am lucky enough to have two people working with me on this who are very adept at sidestepping controversy. We will meet, we will discuss, we will write the article for the newspaper and organize our volunteers.
We are having the house in town sided, a big project that is keeping Tim busy. It is a $12,000 project (so far) but will add considerably to the value of it, assuming we have an economy left next fall and can sell it.
I have used the last of the venison from last year, so we are ready for this year's harvest. Hunting for seniors begins shortly. I guess there should be some benefit to getting old. Regular hunting season isn't until November.
Tim's cousin was killed in a farm accident.
All that to say posting might be a bit light this week.
Funny anecdote: I took Levi, Mattie and their oldest daughter to pick up their glasses. It is a mutually beneficial trip. Gas is 35 cents cheaper per gallon there. Milk is $2.66 a gallon compared to $4.80+ a gallon locally. There is a produce store there that has bulk produce deals. Long story short, when we go up to New York State, we come back with a well packed car and a full tank of gas, so, no I don't mind hauling them.
On the way hame, Levi asked where one of his purchases was. Distracted by driving, I said, 'I stuck that on the top in the trunk.'
Levi stared, shocked. I was confused. He had asked the question in Pennsylvania Dutch. I am not sure how I understood or how I didn't even notice the difference.
Sorry to hear there are those trying to turn the toy give away into something to benefit themselves vs the intended recipients - good luck managing that! Sorry to hear of your husband's cousin - farming is a difficult and potentially dangerous profession that is under appreciated in this country. As a non-hunter and a senior myself, "hunting for seniors" confused me at first. After some thought I'm less worried. Hope your freezer is soon re-stocked! Regarding language differences, walking by a construction site here one hears mainly Spanish; I was surprised in western PA to notice what sounded to me like German. Travel is indeed educational.
ReplyDeleteCeci
Lol. Nobody is hunting the likes of us gray heads, for sure.
DeleteI am very sorry to hear about Tim's cousin. Sad news and at such a stressful time for everyone there too.
ReplyDeleteVery sad. his son found him under a pile of fallen hay bales. He was taken of life support yesterday mrning.
DeleteSorry to hear about Tim's cousin. Hope the toy give away goes smoothly and those with ulterior motives stay out of your group's way.
ReplyDeleteI am not good at navigating through things like this without making people mad. Jill and Kathy are very good at this.
DeleteGlen needs to get out there and bring us some venison home too. He's bringing ducks but I have no experience with them and really don't care to. Perhaps I should learn.
ReplyDeleteBeware of churches. That's all I have to say about that.
These seem to be fundamentalists. They tend to demand everyone next their standards.
DeleteMany years ago I had a patient who was Hutterite and they speak low German. I don't speak German but I didn't have to, it was her tone of voice and body language that made me understand what she was saying. She looked surprised when I laughed, so did her husband.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if Levi is now thinking back to how much you may or may not have understood over the past few years:)
El-Sayed is a smart, well spoken young man. No wonder the republicans are afraid of him.
I'm sorry to hear about Tim's cousin, and the toy giveaway attempted hijacking as well.
The most astonishing thing to me was that it did not even register as a different language. That still is a surprise to me. I could not tell you what he said. But I knew what he said. Isn't that just the strangest thing?
DeleteEl Sayed makes me think of Mamdani. Two intelligent caring politicians.
ReplyDeleteMay the Toy Giveaway survive...independently!!
Sorry to hear about Tim's cousin.
I love to hear about your times with Mattie and Levi.
I think that you have soaked up Pennsylvania Dutch. (or Deutsch ) as any child would.
I love that he was so calm.
DeleteVery sorry to hear about Tim's cousin. Farming is much more dangerous than outsiders realize.
ReplyDeleteI love how you've learned the language by osmosis. They're probably going to wonder from now on how much you're picking up.
And yes, stand fast against people who want to coopt your toy drive and claim ownership and direction.
I don't know that I picked up the language. I just understood what he said. I don't know how to explain that. It never happened before.
DeleteI am so sad and sorry about the cousin and the farm accident. I hope Fr Tim is still doing well.
ReplyDeleteThe toy give-away doesn't surprise me. There are always those who want the credit while others do the work and don't even want credit. I am glad you have others to join with you to ignore this coup.
I can't see that clip enough! This is what happens when a well spoken, intelligent man is attacked. He answers rationally.
I thought you would like this. I was early to our No Kings protest on Saturday. I had a sign that said "No Kings". Two people had a banner that said "Please Vote". Another woman had a sign that said "Voting is a Right" A large pickup kept circling the block and giving us the finger. I don't know if he was pro-king or anti voting. He was greatly outnumbered the rest of the morning by honks and waves.
It was a perfect mastery of that debate. He controlled it from beginning to end.
DeleteA farm accident? That's one of my biggest fears for the folks in my community as I live in a fairly rural area. It's happened several times.
ReplyDeleteI watched the exchange with "Tommy" and thought El-Sayed's response was a masterclass.
He was crushed by hay bales. By the time he was found his brain had been deprived of oxygen for too long. A shock to everyone.
DeleteFarming is such dangerous work. I'm so sorry this happened to your family.
ReplyDeleteThere is also, in Australia at least, a very high suicide rate amongst male farmers. It is dangerous to not only physical health but to mental health as well.
We have a prominent far right wing parliamentarian here who publicly says that there are no good Muslims. She is an avid admirer of your president (lower case "p" intentional). Toxic political rhetoric is a world-wide problem and frankly breaks my heart. Some of those who opened up the interior of our country in the 19th century were Afghani Muslims and many of our doctors nurses and other professionals are Muslim. Many are active in their local community, supporting all who need help.
What are we becoming?
I have read about those suicides. So very sad. The struggles might be the same, but your farmers deal with isolation that we will never quite understand.
DeleteYou packed a lot into this post. Thanks for sharing the Tommy clip and good for El-Sayed recognizing what Tommy and others like him try to do. Great that he quoted JFK's response. Sorry about the death of TIm's cousin. And you will persevere and pull off another successful Toy give away.
ReplyDeleteI know the toy giveaway will be a successful. I just need to learn how to handle people without making them angry. Angry people run their mouths and people are quick to pick sides and criticize. That is the part I hope to avoid.
DeleteThe larger the toy project becomes, the more at risk it is of being taken over, and possibly its original purpose lost.
ReplyDeleteHow sad about Tim's cousin. Farming is dangerous work.
I endorse what Denise wrote above, and of course she is referring to the same person I wrote about a couple of days ago.
I had wondered what was happening with your big house.
That is rather odd about you understanding Levi. A bit must have rubbed off on to you.
I will take a picture when it is done.
DeleteI am so sorry about Tim's cousin, that is just heart breaking. Good luck with the Christians, they should just back off.
ReplyDeleteIt is just that I am not much of a diplomat. It is more about blocking people from overstepping without making them angry.
Deletethis election will be tense because one of the guys is not going to accept the outcome.
ReplyDeleteIs this guy large, loud, orange and a self proclaimed stable genius?
DeleteJust keep on doing the good things that you do in the way that you want them done.
ReplyDeleteThat is my instinct, but this is a very big project that relies heavily on the goodwill of others. It can't work if feathers get ruffled. I am a burr. I don't mean to be, but I often am.
DeleteHave fun with the toy drive, no matter who tries to "help" - and so sorry about Tim's cousin. Of course you need to put your energies into other things these days...completely understood.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand your experience in the car. Many years ago I was working in Holland when I burnt my finger with a hot glue gun. The young guy who treated it was asking me questions. I don't speak Dutch at all, but I understood every word and (like you) it didn't even register that he was speaking Dutch. It was only after several yes and no replies that he finally asked "Are you English?" and then, of course, switched into perfect English.
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to have seen Levi's face when you answered him!
That was a delicious moment with Abdul El-Sayed. So sorry to hear about Tim's cousin! That must have been a shock.
ReplyDeleteYes, sadly farming is far more dangerous than people realize. El Sayed is a truly impressive young man, I certainly hope Michiganders realize that and send him to the Senate. Sometimes you need to not be a diplomat, especially when confronted with disingenuous attempts such as the ones you describe.
ReplyDeleteMy sympathies on the passing of Tim's cousin. Sadly, these accidents seem to happen every year. A moment of inattention and something horrible can happen.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the toy drive. It sounds like you've got some good folks to work with who will deal with those who wish to sabotage the good efforts of others.
I’m so sorry to hear that Tim’s cousin died in a farming accident. Such a shock for his family and community.
ReplyDeleteMy sister lived in a Spanish-speaking country for 2 years. Twenty years later, we were tourists for a week in Mexico. Within 10 minutes of landing at the airport, she was engaged in getting luggage and ground transportation, chatting with locals with ease. Within a couple of days, I was holding weird 3-way conversations. I couldn’t follow the locals, but due to her inflection and phrasing, I could get the gist of the conversation and ask questions or clarify vocabulary from her. I could see the confusion on the natives’ faces; it was just as perplexing to me!
Bonnie in Minneapolis
I saw the exchange with Tommy but had no idea he was a plant. Thanks for sharing that information. My condolences on the loss of Tim's cousin.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Dr. El-Sayad's grandparents are featured in a wonderful ad that came out recently. They are of course adorable.
ReplyDeleteCeci
Oh, Debby, I am so sorry for your and Tim’s loss. What a terrible tragedy. Please take good care of yourselves.
ReplyDeleteNavigating local political drama around the toy drive while handling a major siding remodel is no small feat—glad you have a strong team to help deflect the noise so the kids get what they need.
The story about answering Levi in Pennsylvania Dutch without even realizing he hadn't spoken English was wonderful. You're officially an honorary speaker! Sending you and Tim peace and strength this week.
So very sorry about Tim's cousin. How awful. Larry is brushhogging right now, and that makes me nervous, especially given our very sloping land.
ReplyDeleteCool that you understood him! Pretty amazing really. I ran into two little Hispanic girls, under 7 years old, and both switched back and forth from English to Spanish, not even thinking about it. It just amazes me, people who can do that.
Nice to be back reading you again. I have been so busy and distracted. Oh what a line... Tim's cousin was killed... Puts things in perpsective I guess. I have been thinking a lot recently about my trip to the US last year and decided that, with good luck and good health, I will ride next year from New York to LA. Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteCondolences to Tim's family for the loss of his cousin. When I was with 'Salina's father I spent a lot of time absorbing Hrvatski (Croatian) - I was a terrible student of the language in a formal setting (they tried) but I could generally get the gist.
ReplyDeleteAre you okay, concerned about your absence. Miss you. Ellie
ReplyDeleteFarm accident? Oh gosh... I'm so sorry. I can't visit to talk to blogger friends very easily now just because life has gotten more cramped with caregiving and etc.
ReplyDelete