I'll just entertain myself

Thanks, I'll slow cook it for about 3 hours at 250, beef will be nice and tender. Might make some garlic bread to go with it.

Derek is German. Lots of German heritage in the Old West!

Can I come for dinner? I'll bring red wine. What are you seasoning it with?

Of course, I always make plenty. Actually I just buy this beef stew package mix. It has the same ingredients if I were to make it myself. You and the Puerto Rican can slit the bottle of wine, it gives me a headache

Yeah. Googling shows it. The name was pretty much discontinued but made a comeback.
There are lots of German Texans. One of my favorite uncles used to tell me stories of when he was young. He said some people liked to give him a hard time during the world war. He would hold his hammer in his hand, head of it inside his closed fist and sock a few of them with it. He said something about them saying "That German - " whatever. He was proud to be what he was and took no ****. When I knew him he spent most of his time fishing and growing earthworms. He was uncle by marriage but I loved him as much as any of the other uncles.

It's nice to wake up to 44 degrees this morning instead of 26. And the sun is bright. Yippee.

Just finished picking up street trash. Each time I pass a particular house on my way a curious event comes to mind. - I'm walking. What else am I going to do? = When I first set out doing this job a woman, often accompanied by her husband, would sit on her stoop any time the weather was nice. We are talking a few years. She would tell me thank you. Not much beyond that. I would wave at her with the hand carrying the pick up instrument. That was the extent of it. But one year when the heat was excessive, I bought a hat at the dollar store to shield my bald head. I wore it that next pick up day and she was sitting there when I came past the growth that obscured me from her line of vision. She took one look at me and jumped up, saying, as I recall, "Well." and went inside her home. I never saw her again, and it's been two or three years. The hat made me look enough Mexican that she decided to feel insulted that she had wasted so much good will on one. It's not the first time someone has made that mistake. I say Buenos Dias and de nada and keep going.

That’s really a shame…truly. Sometimes I despair forbour society and the direction away from civility and towards regression.

People are born territorial, which is the real core of racism, not education and the lack of it. That's the reason why the virulent strain of racism in this country that just needs a few Limbaughs and Trumps to be set in full bloom.

I read about all the different groups in the Middle East, Hittites, Assyrians, Sumerians, Egyptians etc, all sorts of different tribes.

They all looked different and would dress and style their hair to accentuate those differences. It was so they could tell if the person coming down the path was friend or foe.

It's hard wired, back then it made sense, now it gets in the way.

Why some are racist, non racist or in the middle is in my opinion that strains of genetics have evolved differently among groups. Eventually extreme territorial behavior will have to be weeded out if we are to make any real progress as a species.

Just found out a close friend's husband died yesterday of COVID. He was another of those Trump anti-vaxxers. Still, he was really smart and a good guy, but obstinate. She, BTW, was his opposite. Sad days are still ahead......

I can't blame people for how they react to this pandemic. There are enough uncertainties to make people react on a more visceral level. One of those things where you believe one way or the other and can't be argued otherwise.

Yet, I still believe in science - my little brother is the same way as this person was. I haven't said a thing to him. I try not to mention anything political to anyone.....

I had a brother in law like that who died. He was a good man despite a lot of non scientific stuff he believed.

CNN Runs “Feel Good” Story About Homeless Girl Scouts. No Kidding.

Didn't have the heart to read the story.

The trouble with people who are nonscience people is that they’re not scientific exclamation. They don’t know what they don’t know. And what’s worse is they’re often arrogant and even belligerent about it. What they then put in place of this is faith based opinions. There’s very little protection from an opinion. Facts stand up to scrutiny a lot better.

The trouble with people who are nonscience people is that they’re not scientific. They don’t know what they don’t know. What the put in place in stead of facts is a whole lot of noise. And what’s worse is that they often arrogant and even belligerent about it. What they then put in place of this is faith-based opinions. There’s very little protection from an opinion. Facts stand up to scrutiny a lot better. Facts you can work with and help keep things somewhat on the plus side or at least better informed so you can make better adjustments.

The anti-scientific people are anti-truth people and they reduce everything to opinion and replace truth with opinion. So if you have more access to the media and can control the media, then your opinion is more important than the opinion of others. You make the truth, which is just a matter of opinion anyway, so you control the truth. This is the basis of fascism.

Every time I read through my newest story I find new ways to improve it. This is maddening because it's a western, something not that many people read these days. I have other projects to get to.