In my quest to regain my health I am taking Cujo for long walks. Unbelievably, I have somehow lost a few more pounds. 152 pounds (69 kilograms) is... shrug. I have no goal to lose more weight. I am eating healthy and had no alcohol in weeks, perhaps months(?). I am back on caffeine a little: Kiley left great coffee pods that I use sparingly. In other words, I allow the coffee to brew slowly in a large glass of water, refrigerate it and drink half of it the next 2 days. Since I've been off caffeine so long that little amount gives me quite a boost.
I have been meaning to write a post about Ozempic (the new wonder weight-loss drug)... I really have to get that done.
I am enjoying the compressed VP sweepstakes. The only candidate who excites me is Pete Buttigieg. If you are limited on time simply watch the first minute of his appearance on Monday's The Daily Show.
Obviously, I am not his only fan. His greatest strength is that he is unflappable in interviews. He went on Fox on Sunday and more than held his own in hostile territory.
In 2020 Pete's husband Chasten and Kamala's husband Doug became close friends. (Spouses have nothing to do backstage at the cattle-call events.)
So will Pete be selected? My Magic 8-ball says "Not Likely." He has everything going for him except that he's gay. Is there a person who would be willing to vote for a Black-Indian woman but wouldn't because she has a gay running mate? Probably not. Homophobes and bigots run in the same circles so choosing Pete is not as risky as it may seem.
Who will she pick?
Arizona Senator and former astronaut Mark Kelly would be the most logical choice. He is straight out of central casting and, as a border state senator, he has a position on border crossings that could help the ticket on their weakest issue. The problem? He's boring. I've watched several interviews and speeches. He is every bit as exciting as Tim Kaine. Who is Tim Kaine? He's the guy Hillary chose in 2016 who nobody remembers.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz introduced us to the term weird to describe Republicans. I like the way he comes across.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is the front runner AND the Harris campaign has announced that they will introduce the VP selection in Philadelphia - causing some to speculate that Shapiro is the choice. If there is anyone I am rooting against it's Shapiro. He hurts the ticket on the Palestine issue. (If Democrats lose Michigan this year it will be because of this issue.)
Tesla reported awful results for the second quarter and the stock unsurprisingly dropped about 15%. Shortly after CNBC's bombastic Jim Cramer said it is a time to buy. I won't bore readers with details, but I'm in the camp that this stock is still over-valued. Jim's has made many good and bad calls over the years. I agree with the first comment on this post:
The "Reverse Cramer" advises investors to do the opposite of whatever he recommends.
For future reference the stock was at $222 when Cramer made this call.
Related: The buyers of Teslas tend to be relatively affluent liberals. I wonder how many of them want to buy from a company whose CEO has endorsed and pledged millions for Trump.
You don't need a degree in economics to see that both employment and inflation are better in 2024 than it was in 1984. Will Democrats be able to go on the offense on this issue? I'm skeptical.
With the recent news that the economy grew at 2.8%, it's safe to say the economy is chugging along and we will most likely see the Fed slowly begin to cut interest rates in September.
My mentor and his wife adopted a daughter who became estranged and in and out of alcohol rehabs for many years in adulthood. She had three daughters and was in no state to be able to care for them. The father wanted custody but was not capable either so it went to court and eventually custody was awarded to Grandparents Bill and Donna.
The girls ranging in age from 3 - 9 were pretty messes up. One (the one this post is about) was a classic fetal alcohol syndrome child. The emotional baggage they carried was tremendously sad.
Doc came to accept that he was never going to get the Porsche he had always wanted and went out to get a minivan. "I felt my dick shrink as I drove it off the lotc," he quipped.
Unfortunately, after a few 3(?) years of providing the basic levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs Spellman had a heart attack and died a few months later.
Donna was left with the unenviable task of raising 3 girls whose biological mother constantly tells the girls how evil Donna is... not ideal. As adults the two oldest have cut off contact with Donna. I end this post on a humorous story about the youngest (stay tuned).
So before that one here is a lighter story. Dakota Crosswhite is Doc & Donna Spellman's youngest adopted daughter. In 2007 she was crowned Miss Teen Iowa. Here is a news story from the time:
My story is from a decade earlier. Doc was dropping 1st grade Dakota off at school when a boy said to her, "I think I am going to steal your ball."
Dakota's immediate response, "I think I'm going to kick your ass."
With a teacher overhearing the interaction, Doc had to move Dakota away and try to explain how she shouldn't say things like that...
...but deep down he was beaming with pride. He loved her fierce independence.
*****
Dakota doesn't knows me as "Mr. Tater Tot" man. Once I babysat the kids. I offered to make Tater-Tot Casserole. I had run it by Doc... well turns out, the only thing the girls liked about it was the tater-tots. Doc knew they would hate it but thought it would be fun to see me try.
At my heaviest I weighed in just over 230 pounds. For most of the past 20 years I've yo-yo'd from 200 - 220. Thanks to the Covid lack of taste I made it all the way down to 170 in 2020. I vowed then to never hit 200 pounds again.
As I was dealing with gout basically March - June I removed alcohol, red meat, fatty foods, etc. from my diet. (Even removed caffeine, but I don't think that had any effect on weight loss and is a story for a different post.)
The result?
For any non-American friends, this is the equivalent of 71 kg.
I haven't been in 150's since 1992. Back then I was in grad school and exercising (jogging or swimming) every day at the Fieldhouse at the U of Iowa. This current weight loss is not at all due to exercise. Thanks to the gout I haven't been very active.
The good news? All signs of gout pain have been gone for a couple of weeks (knock on wood) and I'm taking Cujo for long walks. I am purposefully eating more because I don't want to be in the 150's.
A year ago my friend Abdelrahman got married. He was my tour guide to Egypt back in 2012 and we have remained close friends. I am very happy for the couple.
Abdelrahman noticed I wasn't being myself so last week he drove down from Dubai and we went out for dinner. As I have become a recluse, I very much needed his visit.
Soon, like any day now, they are expecting to welcome a son into the world. Seeing good people have children warms my heart. I know he will be well taken care of by loving parents.
