And if you take more of those, you will get an overdose.

  I really don't have anything tonight, but what the hell. I had thought about doing something on the quality of the Hohner harmonicas I've bought recently, but I think I'll wait on that until Saturday. I was waiting on the Big River harp. It came - and it's a pretty decent little harp, for the record - but I have some thoughts I think need to marinate a bit.

 I'm half tempted to give this a miss. I picked up some Actual Paying Work, two more of those dull-as-dirt lawyer pages. I'd meant to just knock out the easy part of both but wound up finishing the whole kaboodle. So, of course, it was 9 a.m. before I finally went down this morning and all day has been a struggle. There's not much to them, but they're so tedious. I'm finishing up the proofreading while I write this, just to prove I can multi-task.

 Okay, that's one down. I could've picked up more, but man, those things are like pulling teeth. Describing suburbs is bad enough, but when I have to figure out different ways to explain why people need lawyers without repeating myself, whew boy. I enjoy having paid work, but man, I wish I could be doing something else.

 Frankly, I wish I could write something else besides the News. I haven't messed with any fiction since the last stuff came to me in a dream. Maybe I should roll with something from Stellar Tactics because I like that setup. I know I've said it multiple times, but I prefer fiction where the protagonist isn't the Chosen One or the Only One Who Can Save Us. It's one of the reasons I like Rincewind from Terry Pratchett's books. He's just a guy caught up in big things and would really rather not be there. Same thing with Arthur Dent, heroes are overrated. Now, back to work.

 All right, that's all I'm fooling with. Maybe more later, but what the hell. I'd decided to get some harmonica repair tools, but an official kit costs anywhere from $120-$350. So, I got some little screwdrivers for glasses and, boom. I was able to fix the Midnight Blue that was dead on Draw 3 and I'm very happy. Also, thanks to this guy, I was able to figure out how to keep from have a dead sound on Draw 2. I'd thought for years I was blowing out harps, but no, it's just persnickety. Ain't that a thing?

 That's a good site, too, by the by. Lots of neat stuff there, so check it out. It's comparable to Jake's site, but there's no end to good harmonica info on the web. I've said it before, but approaching this from the perspective of learning why things sound good when they're used in the proper place is a lot of fun. Learn an instrument, it's the best thing you can do to rewire your head that won't get you arrested.

 I don't know what else. I may come back, but I probably won't. I may call it an early night because I still sort of feel crappy from last night. What a drag it is getting old, indeed.

Maybe she just has to sing for the sake of the song.

 I swear, I'm not buying another damn thing from eBay. I finally got the Paul Butterfield book I ordered over a month ago, but at least two harmonicas seem to be lost to the aether. It's irritating because, frankly, you can get better prices on eBay for a lot of stuff but the damn mail is no longer trustworthy.

 There are a lot of pieces on the internet about how the U.S. Postal Service is crumbling, mostly written by conservatives ignoring the ongoing effort by conservatives in Washington to make it do just that. It's more than the 2006 pension law passed by Congress, it's that Congress has crippled its ability to be self-sustaining on a number of levels. Why I don't know, but it really has nothing to do with Amazon, and current Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, by his own admission, is trying to make it worse.

 I honestly don't know if there's a solution or a way to save it, really. It has gotten exponentially worse in recent years, partly due to Trump's spat with Jeff Bezos. Ironically, Amazon's deal with the post office means stuff ordered from them is about the only thing to not get lost or take forever to get to you. Cynical Matt says the post office will be a thing of the past within, say, fifty years. FedEx and UPS - both of which have their own problems apart from price - will probably be your only options unless it's owned by Amazon. Thomas Pynchon had no idea how close he was.

 Anyhow, the News. I've been bad lazy this week, and that reflects in the News. For the most part, I rarely posted anything before 8 p.m. No real excuse, apart from I've been staying up too late playing video games and sleeping through the evening. I still put out some good stuff, though, or at least I think so. Monday and Wednesday were focused on Mississippi, with local elections across the state highlighting the former and the massive amount of rain we got all week for the latter.

 We did some more weather Friday but most of it was focused on the revelation the Trump Administration's Department of Justice was acquiring phone metadata on Democrats looking into Russia's possible intervention in the 2016 election. Of particular note were Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, both of whom are Public Enemies for conservatives in general. Bill Barr and Jeff Sessions are implicated in it, though they're denying everything, and Apple pretty much rolled over when the DOJ asked for the data, including stuff on the Congress critters' families.

 For what it's worth, if Trump ever sees any sort of legal repercussions to anything he's done, I figure it'll come from the Attorney Generals of New York State and City. Merrick Garland is blocking the investigation into some of his rape allegations and the whole Russia-Ukraine business got him impeached, but I doubt much will come out of it. People seem to forget the federal government's more interested in covering its own ass than anything else.

 But that all needs to marinate so it's for a later date. GOG.com is having its summer sale, so I decided to pick up a couple of indie games as well as some history. Being a fan of fantasy RPGs since the Ultima days, I've had my eye on Spellforce so I decided to give it a shot. Interesting game, sort of a mix between a classic RPG and community builder. I may go ahead and pick up the sequels since their on sale.

 The other two are the indies. I'd played and enjoyed Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulator when it was part of EA's subscription service. However, I'm letting that go and, in any event, it was fairly quickly pulled. It's an after-the-end apocalypse survival simulator where you have to keep a community of survivors alive and thriving. Sort of like Frostpunk, which is highly recommended. The twist is, however, is the apocalypse was caused by or just involves demons. I don't know if it's the Biblical Apocalypse, which I've always considered a great source for fiction. And no, the Left Behind books don't count, mainly because they're crap. More like, say the Dominionist Christian apocalypse happens as they say and the main character is a Buddhist or a Janist or just some poor bastard.

 The other game I bought was Stellar Tactics. It's sort of a Shadowrun-type game based in a galaxy-spanning human society. I don't think there are aliens, but there are augmented humans and mutants. There's also a 2D space simulator that reminds me of Rebel Galaxy in play if not designed. I've only got through the prologue/tutorial, but I'm digging it so far. It's a better-looking Galaxy Squad.

 However, it is still in Early Release and has been so since 2016. It's regularly updated - the last one in March - but I've had bad luck with Early Release games. I'm still put out that Objects In Space was abandoned just after I jumped on board. Let's cross our fingers.

 Finally, I've been watching some late '90s/early Aughts remakes of '50s horror movies, specifically 13 Ghosts and The House On Haunted Hill. They're not as wretched as their reputations would have one believe, but they are a bit of fun. Especially thanks to the gonzo nutball portrayals by Matthew Lillard and Chris Kattan in the two films, respectively. They're good enough to have on in the background while playing video games. I'll probably watch The Haunting Of Hill House remake tonight. That might be a bit trickier, as I love the Shirley Jackson book.

Anyhow. Have a nice weekend.