"I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out my nose." - Woody Allen

I really don't want to hear non-stop coverage of the Pope, but there's no escaping it.

On a related note, I realized while in Costa Rica that we think of Communism as dead and gone. Ever since President Reagan and the break up of the Soviet Union it's pretty much disappeared from our consciousness.
Not so in Central and South America, or Cuba. There are still a few nations where a Communist, or at least a Socialist, is in power, and in many (most) of those countries there's a strong Communist element active on the political landscape. Corporations of any size are evil, the poor are unfairly oppressed by the rich, and the answer to all social problems is economic egalitarianism.
I had a conversation with Juan, my host while there, who is involved in community politics. The council in Belen (one of the suburb cities outside of the capital San Jose) had a groundwater study done that determined all the water from a certain street south to the city limit was contaminated by pollution from factories and businesses located in that area. Right across the street - a poor residential area - the groundwater was perfectly fine. Juan said the party in power is made up of communists and has an agenda: close down all those businesses and force them to give back the land they currently occupy to the council.
A citizen's group Juan belongs to raised the money to have another study done, this one by the leading geological firm in Costa Rica, and they reported that there is no contamination above acceptable limits anywhere in the area.
The battle is joined.
I suppose the same thing could happen here, but according to Juan the CR version in the city of Belen is driven by the Communists.

It will be interesting to see what this South American Pope has to say about economic forces in the U.S.

This morning I finished fastening the bed bolts and then installed four new shocks. That involved taking off the wheels so it wasn't quick or easy, but that's another task completed. This afternoon I ordered the hardware to install the tailgate and the parts and pieces for new door windows - the flat and the vents. Pricey.

This evening I disassembled our 5.1 sound system and its amplifier, which will go in Saturday's moving sale. So will the IKEA cabinet it was in. And the lamps, chairs, dining table & chairs (with two leaves), a china cabinet...
But wait! There's more!
Jewelry, kitchen stuff, cabinets, a desk, file cabinet...
Wanna come to our sale?