dang you blogger!!

 they are making changes that might screw with my ability to load my pictures. you get used to things working the way they should and then they go and change it up.  so annoying.  the kitties eating together upstairs now.  i still have a place set up for Covid Cat downstairs.  hopefully this will eventually go away and the cats will just eat upstairs.

 i did get the other cabinets stained and the doors re-hung and the pulls put on...super glue for the lazy home owner. it was windy Monday so i ended up doing home projects.  got the shed door fixed, again, got some stuff put away...winter is approaching. fall is always quick here.

 Tuesday i did do the Spencer Loop.  i ended up doing it reverse of what i have always done.  i thought it might be a smidge easier, i think it was.  it does throw you off doing a trail the other direction though.  concern you will take a turn and get lost.  bear scat but no bears.  quite a few new bike trails through there so more bikers. 

 in some ways i feel like i wasted the week off, didn't go anywhere and didn't even drive out to do any bigger hikes. we did get out though.  in between i chilled with the furs.

 no human activities. i fear the rare human interaction i did used to have has been diminished even more so by the Covid.  tough to have any social life at this age, let alone try to start over re-building what little i had.  i am not the life of the party and  the invites tend to be few. i learned long ago my social skills were not up to par.  recluse, introvert, loud mouth, pain in the ass....not sure if it's one of these or a combo of all of them. i drive people away more than i pull them in.  charm has never been my gift.  i am an acquired taste i think and most folks don't have the time or inclination to take the time to get to know each other any more. 

 social is easier when you are in an all encompassing religious organization.  social was all done for you then, you were invited to every thing even if you lacked any social skills...i suspect that makes one not learn social skills as a rule.  the big world is a bit tougher.  still, i don't regret the choice to leave.  i just have to remind myself that since i walked away, this is just part of it.  thankfully, i have some core friends and family who seem to accept me with all my quirks...in the end what more does anyone really need. a few great dogs and cats too i guess. some folks don't even have that so count your blessings, right?

 started working on those shelves. i also have some tile in mind for the floors in the bathrooms.  probably get enough for both bathrooms so eventually i can get them both done.  need to do the floors in the main living area/stairs and upstairs hall. why do homes often have broken up flooring??? because it can be too spendy to do an entire house at once especially once you are living in it.  :-) 

 my crown got put on today so that is done.  i headed to the dog park after with thoughts of heading to either Talkeetna or Hatchers Pass.  i ran into a friend so we ended up talking for a bit. nice to catch up.  meet her new puppy, see how much her kids have grown up.  that was my social for the week, other than texting and calls. 

 got some stuff put away in the cabinets upstairs.  toss old crap.  re-organize.  we all have way too much crap.

 i see there is a new article about the visiting policy and Covid.  the citizens are rebelling.  i suspect that will open back up a bit sooner than later.  hopefully, we never get back to the crazy open door policy we had previously. it was ridiculous. people coming and going at all hours of the day and night.  kids running around. rooms filling with stuff, drugs being brought in and used in patient rooms.  sex in patient rooms...everything that happens outside, happens inside.

 news for trump gets worse each day it seems, not that his devout followers will care. they are an angry bunch right now..i'm wondering if a few of them are going through the stages of grief, they've been in denial of his incompetence and total lack of empathy and now they seem to be moving into anger stage. a few books are coming out.  Woodword has tapes of Trump saying he knew how bad covid was but opted to act like it was no big deal so he wouldn't alarm people...he kept it up though.

 cohen is pissed because he is the one getting the shaft for trumps bad behaviour, so he wrote a book.  Melanias old friend was double crossed, so she wrote a book. trumps niece was screwed out of family money so she wrote a book.  he's pissed off a lot of people over his life time and eventually those people will start speaking out.  the article in the Atlantic has been confirmed several times over about the insensitive/boorish things he has said about the military members.

 i suspect he doesn't really see them as individuals but instead sees them in mass as his military to show off to his heroes like Putin and NK. this is why he doesn't want to have veterans and especially injured veterans on display in parades...to him it makes his military appear weak. only, they are not his military. 

 the financial connections are closer to being released.  Barr is doing all he can to protect the President...he's supposed to be doing all he can to protect the constitution and the law, but he's chosen his loyalties sadly and it's trump over the law.  he's even intervening on a personal case of trumps...totally not what he should be doing in his role. it's crazy.

 the local wildlife have been snacking on the mushrooms. these seem to be a favorite.

 bunches of puff balls.

 the US is number one in Covid cases, India just overtook Brazil for the number two slot.

 opposition leader in Russia is waking up after being poisoned...gosh i wonder if Putin had anything to do with that.  silence, as per usual, from trump. he's also not come out to condemn Putin for the bounties or to even say that if this is found to be true there will be serious consequences...nope.  for sure he will never actually utter anything negative about Putin.  one wonders why? 

 trump has also never made any serious condemning statements regarding the death of reporter Kashoggi in Saudi Arabia.  the killers were just pardoned and will not receive the death sentence.  the Prince has been kept clear of any knowledge of involvement in this, though that doesn't really seem likely. his dismembered body was never found.

 the world can be a pretty terrible place some days.

 Covid cat is never full it seems.  after he eats his food, he slides over to see if Miss Breezy has left any food, then he moves downstairs to see if the pups have any interesting food items to be shared.

 overall, he has been around a bit more this week than previous weeks.

 he still likes to wander though.  hoping that slows as he ages a bit.

 i think this month will put him at 11 months old. 

 love his fluffy tail.

 tiny purple mushrooms

 shelf fungi. i always love the purple in this type.

 Denali has had a strange year, they are contemplating increasing winter access, which could be good.  we do get more winter tourism...maybe not this winter but other winters for the northern lights.

 our local restrictions have softened a bit.  there is dining in at half capacity.  our numbers have remained fairly stable. 

 blue wood. always a treat.

 this pair grew together.

 more shelf fungi

 fall colors coming in more and more.

 the pups always enjoy their outdoor time.  they had extra throws today as my friends kids had fun with the chuck it. 

 haven't put the bag up yet, Covid Cat seems to enjoy sleeping there.

 it's all about keeping the animals happy.

 i sleep contorted at times, but it's worth it if they are happy.

 my back yard cup fungi.  simple joys in life i guess.

 the critters seem to enjoy life here as well.

 i have three sleeping critters in here right now...where Covid Cat is....hopefully not too far off.

 fall is my favorite but i really haven't even made any adventures out. 

 this was a good week for it. perhaps my next stretch off i will have more ambition.  i did get some stuff done around the house so not a total waste. 

 back to work again for the next stretch. 

thankful for A. those that take the time to keep me in their lives B. the pets who are always loyal and happy to see me...they don't realize i'm a social flop. C. mushrooms and all the variety and beauty of this earth. 

over and over and over again...

 these are from a walk up Arctic Valley and another walk looks like North Bivouac. 

 another mass shooting occurred.  i went to bed early last night.  had though of writing a blog last night, actually sat at the computer but i was too tired so i just crawled into bed. i had my appointment to get my permanent crown.  that is all done...but the day started with the bleeps on the phone for news

 at this time 59 are known dead in a Las Vegas attack and over 500 people injured.  many of these critically so the death toll may increase. i do hope not for these poor folks.  they were attending an outdoor concert and a shooter from 30+ floors up in a hotel just started unloading his assault rifle...what type of gun or how it was re-built...details for later.

 it's so sad, that these events happen over and over again.  nothing changes...with this iitoo and the GOP in command the only change is to make it easier for people to get guns.  they are so convinced by our friends at the NRA that the left wants to take all guns away that they collect more and more and work harder and harder to make it easier to obtain guns.  fear is like that.  this was never how the law was meant to be interpreted.  the gun rights advocates are rabid though.

 guns before life apparently.  someone on a friends page was upset that he had brought up the gun laws so soon after this attack..said that we should at least wait for the dust to settle on this attack...i pointed out that the dust settled after columbine, nothing, the dust settled after children were killed at Sandy Hook, nothing, the dust settled after the club attack in Florida, nothing.  it happens over and over and the right just digs in deeper and the dust settles and nothing improves.  not sure why they are so good with living with these mass attacks over and over again. 

 these happen far more often than terrorist attacks but they live in fear of the terrorists and have no concern it seems about all the guns here and the nearly continuous mass shootings.  it's so frustrating.

 so nobody wants to speak of it and nothing happens and then another shooting...nobody speaks of it and nothing happens....and then it happens again. 

 no idea what this guys motive was.  he's dead.  I've heard he was shot and I've heard he shot himself.  no idea which it is.  there is still much to investigate...that won't bring back all those lost though.  one of the band members that was on stage came out and said that he has always been a supporter of guns rights, but this has made him change his mind. 

 the right seems to be content to just say prayers about this.  pray for vegas, pray for columbine, pray for sandy hook... i would like to see action taken to prevent this from happening.  most of the GOP congress/senate get money from the NRA.  we really need to get all special interest out of the process.  we need to put limits on the money spent on campaigns.  we need to put limits on the number of terms these folks serve. 

 Colbert...he is doing a great job tonight. have the courage to do something.  offer thoughts and prayers, fine, but do something.  anything. 

 those people at the concert were forced into a horrific situation.  they found courage in their souls, many found a hero in their soul and put others ahead of their own needs and their own lives.  the police and paramedics and all responded quickly and with courage and bravery...they found the source of the shooting and ended it.  the medical folks at the hospital reacted bravely and with courage in treating what should have been an overwhelming number of patients and doing the best they could, no doubt, with the mass casualty situation that was put on them. 

 those who lost loved ones will go forward bravely and with courage and those who are injured and fighting for their lives will go forward bravely as well. 

 wouldn't it be better if we could just prevent this in the first place though.

 this isn't normal, we shouldn't be allowing this to become normal.  we shouldn't accept this.  we should fight with all we have to prevent these events from happening over and over and over!! 

 the base won't go for it.  they love their guns.  so don't expect anything to change.  deranged white guy, dead, end of story. 

 the comedians are doing what they do best...explain what is actually happening in our nation. speaking truth. they are your best news source.  watching Kimmel now.  an emotional plea to do something...

 watching Seth now.  they all handle it differently but all have done a great job speaking truth.

 first Monday walk started today.  KR and i did a meandering walk.  the pups mostly behaved....Ivy had a few leaping incidences.  no walkers were injured...how do you solve a problem like Ivy?  how do you stop a pup from jumping up and down? ....

 speedy joined us for coffee and the Monday walks are officially on again.  we must be at year 8 or 9?  had a memory show up on my feed from 7 years ago and i don't think that was the first year we did it. 

 gun rights over peoples lives...too many ignore these mass shootings done by American citizens but over react to possible terrorist threats. 

 it all just pisses me off.  thoughts and prayers for the victims and then...back to protecting their right to bear arms. 

 worked all three nights in the ICU.  not bad.  actually got through the PALS video's.  have all that education stuff coming up.  thank you work for giving me a few days off to compensate for all the hours of education. 

 working in medicine you never know when one of these mass casualty events will happen on your shift or you'll be called in to try and help.  heard one lady that was sitting in the ER waiting to be seen for a minor injury watching staff stream in to help out with the mass casualty. 

 was chatting with someone the other day about Puerto Rico and the exchange between the iitoo and the Mayor.  he's such a baby.  he went after this woman.  i could tell this person was about to defend the iitoo.  stop...don't even go there. 

 even if you feel she was totally wrong in what she said about the response, she is the one in the horrible situation, trying to deal with  things we can't even imagine really.  he should have sucked it up and behaved rationally.  i suck it up all the time.  nearly each day as a nurse i suck it up.  why?  because i know that when my patients get angry or irritated or behave irrationally, it's most likely because of their stress in their situations..the same for their family members.  we suck it up for the most part because that is what decent humans do when lashed out at by a person who is under extreme distress.  so suck it up!! 

 response has been slow.  they are in a devastating situation.  they are trying to do what they can but days and weeks into this they fray, they unravel, it becomes too much for anyone. 

 there is a lot going on that is stressful in our nation right now, sadly we have this weak and ridiculous potus who is incapable of doing this job and who is like the emperor with no clothes.  the GOP refuse to acknowledge his failing and instead pretend that all is well. 

 all is not well.  again..i would admonish these folks to suck it up.  think of what is best for our nation.  hell, think of what is best for him.  he is not fit for this job.  get him out of it.  let the poor rich man return to playing golf every day.  he hates this job. you hate him in this job...make us all happy by just putting an end to it. 

 I'm sure other things happened this week but it's hard to recall them all after a day of another mass shooting. 

 the mushrooms are nearly gone and we had frost the other morning.

 i had put bricks out front  to mark where the no dig line was so i could work on getting my little free library out there....the bricks were stolen.  i think i will leave a note out there.  i leave free shit out there all the time.  this wasn't free shit.  i leave a sign that says free when it's free.  jerks!

 these puppies make me smile. 

 they aren't perfect, I'm not perfect.

 they are way more perfect than i am though.

 remember those who are in pain tonight and those who are fighting for their lives in the ICU's in Las Vegas.  they do need our prayers, but our nation needs prayers too.  we need to have the courage to take action and make our nation safer.  we need the courage to stand up to the NRA and the courage to make those in positions of power stand up for us all.  we need to not just move on and forget these lives that are gone...

 the puff balls are no more. 

 still have some bear bread. that stuff is tough

 peaceful pictures on a less than peaceful day. 

 love the purple in these below. 

 came home from the dentist and took a nap...with a towel under my head since my mouth was still numb.

 pairs.

 loads of puffballs.

 from those cool turquoise tiny mushrooms.

 and there they are.  i shall retire.  hug your family, hug your friends, hug your cats and hug your dogs...it's that kind of night.

grateful for:  A.  those who step up and do what is right in the worst of times  B.  to be a nurse and be in a profession which helps others every day.  i am a better person for having become a nurse  C.  the first responders, the police....all who serve to protect and aid us.  we do not give them enough support or salary.  our society is so messed up.