"In politics, stupidity is not a handicap." - Napoleon Bonaparte

From friend, Sue

Sanding drywall mud is not the funnest thing to do on a Monday afternoon. But I got it done, and the third and hopefully final coat of fresh mud is now on. A light sanding tomorrow and it should be ready for primer and paint. That assumes I don't find areas that need more work. There's no room for flaws when I'm not using texture.

While working in Fred I listened to NPR's coverage of the President's visit to Cuba, including comments from both analysts and regular folks with ties to the island nation. I also caught some of the event coverage while eating lunch, including the very odd press conference.
Roughly half of the NPR interviewees supported improved ties with Cuba and half were very opposed. Their respective arguments weren't especially complicated because the issues aren't. The Castro government is repressive and disregards basic human rights. The embargo of 50 years hasn't worked, but rapprochement will.
Those on both sides of the issue made a very good case for their perspective. After listening to almost two hours of discussion I decided I don't know which group is correct. I don't even have an inclination because they both made rational, sensible arguments.
Fortunately, it doesn't make any difference what I think. But thinking through the situation was a good way to pass the time while I was covering myself with a very fine white dust.

Last night we met Bob & Marla for dinner. They were in our church in Prunedale and we count them very good friends. Don, Bob, and I went running six days a week and did dozens of 10 k races together. Don died several years ago; he was a good guy and lots of fun. Bob was the fastest by a wide margin.
They recently sold the beautiful big home in Hollister, CA where they raised their kids and are looking to downsize (at least as compared to the monster they sold) and building a new home in Florence, OR, just 50 miles west of us, is an option. So they're here for the week looking at lots and talking to agents and builders.
We sat at the restaurant for three hours and it went by very quickly.
We'll see them again before they leave, maybe here on Baker Rd.

This morning we were back at that same restaurant for breakfast with Sherwood and Maureen, friends from our days in college. They now live in Seattle and are headed south on a trip to Phoenix (!). Same thing: easy conversation catching up on life. It was good to see them.

Hulk Hogan made more money having sex with his "best friend's" wife than he did in his entire career as a wrestler.
There's a whole long list of bad lines here, but I'm going to pass on all of them.

Why do they call it plumber's butt? Why do they get the bad rap, and not electricians or framers?

I leave one week from tomorrow (Tuesday). It's time for me to start pulling things together - my passport, notes, electrical adapter....
It's also time to do things in anticipation of being gone for a little over two weeks. I've put off things like getting a haircut and trimming my nails (yeah, I know, that sounds silly) until just before I go.
I'm allowed two suitcases with up to 50 lbs. each. The second one Pam bought at Goodwill for something like $10, and it looks like it. But I'll leave it behind because it's loaded up to its limit with things I'm taking out to Cory and Kim, filled with stuff they can't get in Mbeya. Everything from chili powder to home school curriculum to a wireless mouse for their Mac. So I might not have room or weight in my suitcase for nail clippers.

We got our first political phone call tonight, a robo-call from the Ted Cruz campaign. Pam hung up on it.
I hope I get the opportunity to hang up on the Donald.