Monday--

We are taking it easy today. I have four quart jars of tomato chunks that I need to reprocess but everything else sealed nicely including the three pints from the day before. Now that that burst of activity is over we will be taking it easy. Shortly after writing that line I found Nimue Brown's latest post on Druid Life which makes pretty much the same point. Mom just found an article which proclaims today "Leisure Day." Nice timing!!

Tuesday--

One of my quart jars didn't seal so it is in the freezer. Not bad for a novice canner. We have had heavy rain since yesterday with more expected through tonight. I looked up the precipitation stats which say we normally get about 4.5 inches in August. We have had 3.8 over the last week. Almost a month's worth in one week. Since it is too wet to work in the gardens I am getting some of the straightening and cleaning done in my plant starting/craft/storage room. I can almost see the top of the table. Ah, progress.

I do love Margaret and Helen. Helen posted this on what we have found out about Donald Trump in the year since he entered the political fray.

I have become very skeptical of studies like this one featured in Bloomberg. Do retirees really need $130k just to cover medical costs? That amounts to $6500 per year for 20 years assuming they retire at 65 and kick off this mortal coil at 85. Ok, lets think a bit. Right now I have $110 taken out of my Social Security for Pt. B Medicare. That comes to about $1400 per year. I don't have drug coverage. I don't need any prescription meds. Over the last 15 years I have spent (maybe) $200 on such drugs. I have no debilitating conditions that require treatment or monitoring so I have seen a doctor twice (for total of $150) and a dentist once (for about $3000 to cover a couple of crowns, a couple of fillings, and a tooth extraction). That amounts to $3150 over the last 15 years and all before I went on Medicare. Now my mother does have prescription meds she has to take daily and a couple of conditions that do require careful monitoring. Her needs are very different and her costs are much higher. Thankfully, she does have good insurance in addition to medicare and which, again thankfully covered her dental treatments a few years ago. She might come close to the $6500 a year in medical expenses. It is nice that the study authors note that they are citing averages and costs/needs vary widely. But on the whole I think the whole article is designed to get people into investment/insurance schemes they won't necessarily need. That only lines the pockets of the insurance/investment companies.

Rudi Giuliani has has become a caricature of himself--or he is suffering from early Alzheimers. The Repthuglican strategy seems to be "throw the shit and see if it can stick."