Tuesday, September 3, 2019

 I always used to hate coming up with headlines when I was in the newspaper business. With this, since I don't bother with headlines (just the date), the onus is on the opening paragraph to grab reader's interest. Honestly, though, I'm tired & my head's not firing tonight. Make your own damn introductory paragraph.



 The Sleep got me today, again. I'm starting to wonder if there's a pattern with all of this. Mondays & Tuesdays are days I have to drag myself through & the closer I get to the weekend, the more energy I have. Thursdays especially are the ones where I get a lot of stuff done. I wonder why that is or if it's just all in my head.

 On those draggy days, I really don't start to get going until after supper & that's usually around 7 p.m. or so. Doesn't matter how much sleep I do (or don't) get or even if I use my CPAP, I spend all day either in a dead sleep or trying like hell to stay awake. Forget getting anything done or books read or games played or what have you.

 Now, if I have to do something like go to the doctor or whatnot, I can. I function just fine, take care of business, until I get home & I crash out. This is again on Mondays & Tuesdays. I spend three hours having my gums sandblasted on Friday & I'm still up for it. In any event, I'm glad I'm not having to work a 9-to-5 with all this going on.

 Been feeling sort of ratty, too. I don't know if it's connected to the Sleep or not, but I have not felt right the last couple of days. My blood pressure's been a little high, but not terribly high for me. Remember, I have hypertension & my blood pressure generally runs a bit higher than you normies.

 I don't really know how to explain it well, but it feels similar to how I felt between Daddy's death & going to the hospital. However, I don't have the "mud in my veins" sort of sluggishness & the headache isn't the vice-like feeling that put me in that uncomfortable bed & eating that bland food. So, if nothing else, something to keep an eye on. I've got to make an appointment with my primary care physician anyway.

 Well, since I am dragging & want to go lay back down, let's get into the news. Dorian is apparently on the move again after spending a day-and-a-half pounding the shit out of the Bahamas. It's still a fierce bastard & people from Florida to North Carolina are trying to get their shit together to get out of the way. Even better, Tropical Storm Ferdinand is getting together in the Gulf & looks to be headed for NE Mexico & SW Texas. Don't we all feel better about Trump pulling $155 million from FEMA for his dumbass wall? Sure we do.

 While we still don't know anything about the motives of the Midland shooter beyond "pissed off white guy who thinks he has the right to decide who lives & dies," there have been a few new wrinkles thrown into the story. Turns out the shooter bought the murder stick in a private sale, which doesn't require any background checks. There's been a lot of talk about closing the loopholes concerning private sales & gun shows, which the NRA has fought against like rabid weasels.

 Another interesting facet is how this & the plethora of shootings recently affected how businesses relate to the shooty-bangs. Back in March, Dick's Sporting Goods quit selling firearms all together following the ban on assault-style weapons after Parkland. Now, Kroger's announced it would no longer allow people to carry firearms in their stores. Also, Wal-Mart will no longer sell ammunition for assault-style weapons. I really don't know how much, if any, affect this will have on the epidemic of pissed off white guys deciding they have the right to decide who lives & who dies, but it should be noted Dick's sales are doing pretty well, if not better than ever.

 In local news, a man died in the custody of the Lee County jail. So far we don't have much to go  with as the fuzz is still getting a-hold of relatives. The guy was apparently raising hell at a hotel when the county mounties nabbed him, & within 24 hours he was dead.

 This comes on the heels of the local chapter of the NAACP asking for more diversity in the Lee County Sheriff's Department. The NAACP has a little cache in this as the got an apology out of Sheriff Jim Johnson for making a racist remark against African-Americans about a Hispanic county supervisor.

 Finally, I must note the metric ton of shade Jim Hood threw on Tate Reeves on Twitter. After a contentious primary race between the oleaginous Reeves & Judge Bill Waller, where among other things, Tate called Waller a liberal & god knows that's the worst insult you could give in Mississippi Republican politics.

 The end result is Waller refused to endorse Reeves in the general election, probably because he didn't want to get slime on his hands. Reeves is in an unenviable position right now, as even though he won the primary, the state Republican party isn't too cool with him & threw support to Waller. Of course, being Jim Hood is primary for the state party but there's no enthusiasm for Reeves, so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

 And that's that for tonight. Tomorrow's another day & we'll see if my idea that there's a pattern has anything to it.