meltage and schooling by RUs

 so warm out today.....t-shirt weather.  mid 40's F.  loving it.  these are still in Homer, on the spit for these first ones.  the puppies love to chase birds...so fun to watch them just run and run out there.

 the lecture went well.  i think i was more relaxed doing my bits than i was last year.  not as packed as last year, but then the weather is crazy nice so i suspect folks opted out of the lecture they'd signed up for.  we still had 19 show up and they all seemed to have a good time.  so another success I'd say.  i did the video live feed.  not the best quality but if anyone wants to view it...it's there..

 can't figure out how to make that transfer to any other sites.

 lazy day in many ways today.  did get out for our walk.  we did a loop in prospect heights.  a bit tougher these days, up hill and slushy snow so more of a work out.  so great out to though.

 back home i tried to just chill on the front deck reading and playing games and mindlessness.  we all need that some days.  it's a luxury but i appreciate that i have that ability. the dogs were loving chilling on the front deck as well, watching everyone out and about.  i also tossed snow back onto the driveway for quicker melt and picked up poop in the back yard...the spring clean up begins.  as the snow melts back i tackle that area of yard.  I'm sure there are still some remnant poops of Blossom...she lived on through the winter.

 watched a bit of the press conference with Till and Rus ambassador.  not sure his title.  wow...we sure look like amateur hour as far as international diplomacy goes. it's pretty embarrassing.  hopefully, Till takes the lessons but it doesn't seem likely.  the Rus guy was giving longer answers and it really felt like he was attempting to school Til via his answers.  perhaps in their 1:1 he was discovering how clueless our administration is about such things....you know history, foreign affairs.  i mean clueless!!

 in one answer he was saying that Mr Till wants to like start fresh...he seemed to be letting him know with diplomacy one never starts fresh really, that there is a great deal of history, both historical and between nations that needs to be considered.

 Rus was also speaking about the US history of wanting to change regimes, he was going through our somewhat disastrous past with this, recent especially and the quagmire of current.  even if you remove the horrible Ass you have no real path to a stable government that could possibly take over at this point.

 iitoo must have spoken to Chin again and it sounds like he was hearing the same.  he made another one of those idiotic comments about this stuff being so complicated..who knew!! EVERYBODY!!!!!!  we all know it's complicated and delicate.  words matter.  it must be embarrassing to be actually having face to face meets with these people who you have offended by your stupid tweets and comments.

 the Rus guy even used the very American, "innocent until proven guilty" in regards to Ass and the chemical weapons.  where was proof that it was him and not one of the other god knows how many other groups battling there for power at present.  he also stated that one needs proof and facts...these are always lacking in this current administration of great lies.  Till also backed down about all those Naval ships moving in closer to N. Ko and the threat that is...he was all, nothing to see with that, just routine movements of our boats.  don't think anyone is buying that.

 Spicy yesterday was the best though.  what a moron! he was all comparing Ass to Hitler and saying Ass was worse because Hitler never used Chemicals on his own people.  considering how many poor souls were gassed with chemicals in the concentration camps ( which spicy called holocaust centers), and it was passover the day this happened...it's just astounding the very basic incompetence of this administration. amazingly spicer actually did make a formal apology on CNN..of course, as he apologized he stated that he didn't want to distract from iitoo plans to de stabilize the middle east.  oops!  amazingly, after this and so many other screw ups, he still has his job.

 one poor guy on Faux news attempted to bring this spicy thing up over there but it wasn't on the approved list of topics they want to call news...this guy brought it up anyway and he was quickly shut down.

 so much happens so fast in this nut house... this doesn't even get into all the crap his pen does each day.  we are rapidly losing our standing in the world.  we can't be taken too seriously, this admin changes it's mind on it's big plan depending on what tv show the iitoo is watching so it's all totally unpredictable.  apparently, his daughter was upset with the tv coverage of the children that died after the chemical attack in Syria so she encouraged her father to do something....so we have a clothing designer making decisions on war at this point.  it is sad, it's horrible, but right now in Syria there are 1000 horrible things.  there are also huge political issues and general mess.  helping the refugees, doing what we can inside...again pressure on Rus...

 more puppies running after birds.

 saw a butterfly today!  that was my first butterfly of the season.  have seen lots of mosquito's already though.

 did a few Blossom memorials out there, she really loved it in Seward and Homer.

 more cairns to build.  it is good though.  releasing her out places we enjoyed and having her be released with Rio Catalina and Baby Huey.  Huey was with her in the early days and Rio was with her for most of her days.

 the puppies are not always very helpful with this endeavor.

 Ivy is asleep at my feet.  such sweet pups.  I've been very blessed with a series of really great dogs.

 was looking up cairns on pinterest.  there are some pretty cool rock formations out there.

 enjoyed the lecture on walrus.  cool to see pics from Rus side.  big haul outs over there  as well with the ice melting faster and being slower to build back up.  so far food sources haven't seemed to deteriorate. i think on our side the walrus may have to swim further though...time will tell.  i suspect the things that will be most damaging for them will be increased shipping up north as the ice recedes and increased oil exploration.  both are just noisy and walrus are vulnerable to disturbance.  learned a few new things and now i can watch video again if i want.

 it can be tough to focus totally on the lecture when you are running the event and trying to film too, but i suspect the filming helped keep me focused.

 these are back at Bishops Beach for the sunset.

 not as philosophical of a discussion today.  politics...it's on my brain. i have to ramble stuff through my head in order to try and make sense of it all.

 another memorial for the girl.

 the other big news story yesterday i guess it was...United had overbooked as usual and wanted to get some of their crew on board so they asked for volunteers to give up their seats...when they got none they did a random drawing i guess and one guy refused to leave.  airport security were called and it ended with the guy being dragged down the aisle, his head was bleeding from a wound from being roughed up.  it was all pretty appalling.

 my first thought was that once security was there you probably just follow their request, right.  not sure of the whole story why he didn't but it was, as i said, appalling and United has really gotten slammed for this.

 it's easy, i guess to blame the guy.  i think though it also shows the general level of stress and anxiety that those flying are under.  the seats get smaller and smaller it seems.  you spend a lot of money, delays happen, food is crap often and now we have travel bans and threats of more travel bans and fears of ICE and that your paperwork will be deemed insufficient and you won't be allowed back home...i just suspect that the general flying population is a great deal more amp'd  up before they ever board a plane.  add to that some stressed and possibly over reactive staff and security...it could all go ugly pretty quickly i guess.

 dogs could have used a second outing this evening.  now that i have the light i really should have gone for it.  felt lazy and sleepy though.  may pop in a movie or i may just crash.

 the world is peculating and it's not a good thing.  steam needs to be released before all hell breaks loose.  everyone is more stressed because of it.  i have felt more stressed just because i feel we are all on this roller coaster ride thanks to this administration.  i generally have little concern for the general running of our nation..haven't under either party's rule...but now with this zoo, it's very stressful.  it's like we are all caught up in this cyclone and we all just want off this ride.

 reflections...

 guess i better get off this computer.  dreaming today of a truck and camper.  would be great for road trips...back to work tomorrow.  no more dreaming for the week.  just work.

 off to bed...

grateful for:  A.  season changes  B.  all things melting C.  sweet puppies that make me smile and keep me company on lonely days.