if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...it must be a chimpanzee!!

 

at least that seems to be the way many on the right see things. the idea that all these insurrectionists were actually antifa and blm....? 

seems the ultimate in gaslighting.  you saw them there, at the rally being spurred on by trump and his buddies.  you saw them all wearing their most treasured maga gear and/or white supremacist gear. you saw them there with gas masks and zip ties and yes, even pitch forks.  you saw all their video's and selfies. you saw the reports of those  who were picked up days later..and released by the way...they had computers and phones full of right wing conspiracy crack. they were egged on by the president and the nuts at parler and qanon.  they were known by the fbi as white supremacists. they screamed into cameras that they were having a revolution and storming the capitol....and yet...many will tell you that what you saw and heard was not a duck at all...it was a chimpanzee!

even my n95 mask looks beautiful in the sunset.  haha. 

have had a few beauties this week.  i came home today instead of hunting it down.  looked like it may have been a good one though. 

this week, Ivy seems to be non-weight bearing on the left.  plan is for one knee...which one will it be. they called to confirm surgery for Monday and that my hope is to bring her home the same day so she is not alone.  i told her that Ivy is limping more on the left at this time and that perhaps once they have her out they do an exam and decide which knee is worse and then fix that knee...or they could give me a discount and perhaps just do both.  on the tplo site on facebook, many dogs do get both done.  i hear the insurance won't pay for two...so we shall see what happens Monday.  she does seem more miserable so i think it is the right thing to do. 

lots of happy videos on that page of several months post op happy dogs.  that makes me feel hopeful. 

put up some of the fencing tonight.  figure it's good for her to just be used to having it out there. some friends can hopefully help me get her home.  hoping some will pick up tusker a few times and just get him out.  these first few weeks will be stressful i think.  she is a highly motivated dog though.  

i picked up some cbd oil..so my first cbd purchase is for the dog!

it has been a busy week.  

i was between shifts so i only caught part of the inauguration.  just happy and relieved to have the nuclear codes in safe hands.  i have never worried so much for our nation.  all the other presidents in my life time, no matter what their political beliefs, all seemed to support the basic tenets of our constitution.  i have never believed that with this iitoo.  this has been proven out over these past several months especially. 

many on the right keep screaming unity...even as many of them still deny the results of the election...we have to get past the lies in order to even have any hope of unity.  they have conspiracy crack addicts at such high levels of their party...until they are weeded out there is little hope for unity.  i'm really hoping that trump is convicted in the Senate and steps are taken to assure he never runs...of course, there are others in his family set on running but hopefully, they do not have whatever it is that makes these maga folks crazy about him....hate to use the word charisma  as i have never seen him as charismatic or at all appealing.  it's just baffling to me...except that he screams the hate they have in their hearts but fear letting out.  he releases them to feel the hate. 

the truth is it is racist to assume that an angry mob that is clearly trump supporters and easily identifiable as such are something totally different.  like there is no way to believe that this mob doing this horrible stuff, beating a cop with an American flag for instance, could possibly be on your side...they must be those other terrible people...the blm folks and the antifa people.  they just can't fathom that the duck is the duck. they certainly had no problem assuming that all the mayhem of this summer past was blm and antifa. truth is most of the protesters were peaceful.  why is it hard to say that those who take it to the next level on either side are just wrong. that there is always a possibility that there are the occasional infiltrators on both sides...but to assume that the entire crowd is...well that is just non-sensical really. 

if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...it's a bloody duck!!

got to enjoy part of the evening inaugural festivities, which were virtual.  i actually hope that is something they do again for these. they usually have private parties for the big donors and the new President and partner go from gala to gala...the rest of us are basically out.  i ended up on call that night, and never called in, so i did get to enjoy quite a bit of it.  Tom Hanks hosted, there was some great music and it was also great to see 3 of the past potus's together in support of Biden and Harris.  

of course, trump slunk off.  he had a farewell gathering but there were struggling to find people to actually show up. they are in Florida. he had refused to be a part of the inauguration and in truth nobody wanted him there anyway.  there is a huge mess left for the new administration.  Fauci seems elated to be working with people who actually listen to and respect science.  trump and company did everything they could to make the transition and chaotic for the incoming administration as possible. petty and dangerous for our nation. 

it's coming out...as i expect tons more will come out, that he was trying to install someone in the DOJ to help him overturn the election.  thankfully, those in the DOJ refused to participate.  

he did quite a few pardons but even those it sounds like he screwed up.  Manafort and a few others were pardoned for very narrow things so they can still come up on other charges and i hope that all of this enablers are worried and uncomfortable in these days. he did not pardon any of the Capitol revolutionaries.  i have heard he was enjoying the show and delayed calling in help despite many pleas by those hiding in the capitol.  i have also heard that ultimately he was embarrassed by his own rag tag group of followers..i guess he expected and hoped they would look more like the N.K. army going in there instead of like a bunch of crazy maga fools.  he also did not pardon himself or his family as far as i can tell. 

i suspect more and more horrific information will filter out as to what was actually going on these last 4 years. petty and vindictive...but thankfully for all of us, mostly ridiculous and stupid. i do hope we put in some more guard rails to prevent a more intelligent insurgency from ever happening. 

no drama at the various capitols or at the inauguration.  there is a photo of one maga fool at one capitol.  many are even a bit confused why the big dramatic take over didn't happen.  how was it that trump had just boarded a plane bound for Florida instead of participating in the big take over? 

so i worked the cardiac icu the first night.  not bad and my co-workers helped me look at my retirement stuff a bit.  i need to arrange a consult with fidelity. i am in much better shape than i had known. i  made some good choices i think but now i can slow down the amount i take out pretax and  actually live a bit more comfy, pay off bills, work towards buying a new car and perhaps that camper van i would like.  

so that is good news but oddly a little scary.  i really have to start planning for retirement and all that. i think i kept putting off thinking about it as it always just seems so impossible...not working? how does that happen? also put some names on there as beneficiaries...i hadn't even done that.  so they are both happy and i told them to be generous.  i need to re-do the will, just cause it's out of date at this point. adulting must happen...i really am not a fan of adulting. 

so fun to start to dream a wee bit. it's not like i'm a big spender really.  so a positive week overall. 

still walking the girl.  figure why not at this point. hoping all goes well with the surgery, which ever knee gets done.  several weeks of rest may help the other knee heal a bit as well. anxious about it all because it will be tough to see her hurting and scared. 

i have arranged a pool day tomorrow....well today i guess now.  wanted to get her bathed and do a trim of her hair since it may be tough for her to groom herself over the next several weeks/months. 

dog park today.  a dog tried to hump her which i could tell hurt.  so i put her on leash.  she did great just leash walking by my side with Tusker running around us.  will just have to hide all the tennis balls for a bit.  it was a good sign for recovery walking in the months to come.  

i was a sitter in pediatrics last night.  so not a bad week really. now i'm off for two weeks.  

the goals are dog care and figure out the retirement stuff.  figure out how to decrease the money i take out...i did drop it some the other day but i think i want to drop it much more so i can enjoy some of that money now. pay off lingering debt...and dog surgery hopefully. save towards new vehicles...flooring...my dreams and my life are actually not huge.  simple is where my wheelhouse is.  

i'm happy with the beauty that exists in this place i live.  love just driving around with the dogs and seeing what we see. renting a few public use cabins and enjoying that with friends.  kayaking, photography....i have always felt like there is so much to see and enjoy in this state. 

the big dream aside from what i have mentioned would be a little land/small cabin on the Kenai?  start with the other stuff first and see what the financial folks have to say about where i am.  

i do feel lighter with having that idiot out of the white house and also with having the vaccines...and the hope of retiring. 

i got the dog crate out but i am leaning towards not using it. i think i can gate her in.  seems like it could be tough to get her in/out of the crate and she's never been a big fan.  

will try to hit costco for another dog bed or two.  so we can both be comfy. 

otherwise...i think i'm as ready as i can be.  Ivy doesn't have to prepare... one perk of being a dog is no anticipation. 

i even bought frozen bags of peas. 

i do not expect any US President to be perfect. i do not expect to agree with everything they do or say.  i do expect them to have decency and respect for the law.  i do believe the last fool must be punished for things he did.  there are those on the right who like to say he's no longer in office, what does it matter, let it go...we can't make it normal for an outgoing potus to behave criminally in those last weeks in power.  we can't give them a pass for whatever crap they decide to come up with in those weeks.

we especially cannot allow them to use the power of their office to attempt to overthrow the election results.  this must be met with the full force of what the law has to offer just to make sure this is not repeated. no one is above the law.

i also hope that if any of the current members of congress had any involvement or continue to with these conspiracy crack lies that they are also met with action.  we must return to a nation where truth rules over fiction.  the tea party crap morphed into the conspiracy crack of Qanon....it's time to find ways to counter lies with truth.  

for the moment....there is the hope of the new administration and the peace of having those fools out of the office. 

what happens next....we shall see. 

Miss Breezy is back to her baseline.  she is currently in the cat tent.  they do like those.  she moved from the dog toy box...always funny when she naps in there.  anytime she moves, the squeakers sound off. she loves those little toy filled boxes though. 

hoping the pool is fun for both dogs.  hoping swimming is a little easier on her joints...will we do the water rehab...might be nice to schedule her for some of that considering how much she loves water. allow the incision to heal first . 

i still have loads of never seen photos that i can share on the blog since i doubt i will get the usual walks in these next several weeks. 

Tusker may get some surrogate walkers to keep him entertained.  maybe i'll put in some dance/exercise video's.  dancing may be the best since the entire downstairs will be rehab central. 

gotta get those steps in!!

out enjoying the winter. i do love winter.  especially when we have nicely packed trails to explore

and ice comes in so many forms...it never bores.

guess i should try and crash for the night.  still some stuff to do to get ready....get ready for early rising on Monday.  no food after 10pm and drop off by 7:30...wanna be there early so she can be first case.  

will get Tusker out for a walk that day and i have the dental appointment scheduled. 

ready to sleep...

thankful for A. reporters who will keep digging....the story of the past 4 years is just beginning to emerge.  B. that the iitoo is finally out of power and no longer in control of the nuclear codes.  whew!  C. that i have retirement plans to make...:-)