May 24

 Sunny right now but the weather people predict rain for this afternoon and overnight. We are working through some more problems with our phones. Yesterday, for about four hours, we couldn't make calls or receive calls. Sometimes we could get a call but not make one or could make a call but not receive one. We went to where we originally got the phones (and the service) only to find that a technician was on site only a few days a week and yesterday wasn't one of those days. That was the last straw. We went to the Xfinity store, since they also provide our computer and cable service, to see what they had to offer. We got a pair of lower level Samsung smart phones that would serve and got a two-for-one package for the first year. That puts the cost for the service equal to what we had been paying for two separate lines til the year ends. Even then the full price won't be significantly more. Cancelling the one service and transferring our numbers to the new phones were a pain but it is all done.

We got most of the set up done this morning. That did take a bit for two old biddies who are somewhat technologically challenged.

Stray thought--well the NCAA settlement finally came. It isn't really a surprise but it solidifies college athletics (especially football) as a commercial venture. There is some equity (how much I don't know) when some of the money our supposedly educational institutions rake in has to go to the "workers" on whom that money rests.

Earlier this week I saw some reports on BBC about the Japanese town at the base of Mt. Fujiyama with the classic view of the volcano. The authorities are building some kind of structure to block the view. The residents have had it with rude foreign tourists trying to get their selfies with the mountain. EuroNews posted this piece.

Another stray thought--is anyone really surprised that Nikki Haley decided to vote for Trump after spending the primary season before suspending her campaign telling voters how utterly unfit former President Donald Trump was, and still is, for the office? I am not. She is simply another in the parade of "Republicans" (are they really??) whose ambition, partisan affiliation and desire for "relevance" force them to kiss the Trumpian ass hoping for some crumbs from the table.

Third stray thought--on the Supreme Court's decision on the South Carolina gerrymandering case: how do you tell the difference between racial gerrymandering (prohibited) and "political" gerrymandering (acceptable for the most part.) And why should we give the party with the power to draw the district lines and whose electoral power rests on where the lines are drawn a benefit of the doubt (a.k.a., not imputing bad intentions or motives)? If it quacks like a duck and waddles like a duck, we should call it a duck.