I decided yesterday to make tarts for a snow day project.
So I hauled out my Cuisinart to handle the pastry. (You used to be able to use “Cuisinart”
to mean “any food processor”, because—back in the last century—pretty much any
food processor was a Cuisinart.)
I discovered that a piece had broken off the bowl, and it
turned out that that piece was what fastened the top to the bowl. A food
processor won’t work if the lid isn’t locked.
I was able to get the blade to turn by manually pushing
down on the top, so I was able to kludge the pastry, but I started grumbling
because now I’d have to buy a new bowl, and since this particular machine dates
from probably the 80s, there probably aren’t any loose bowls out in the wild so
I’m going to have to buy a whole new food processor even though the motor for
this one works just fine and I do not need that kind of aggravation…
But as I walked over to the computer to start that process,
I looked at the shelf above my washer and dryer, where I keep a couple of
excess things, and—looky what I found:
(At one time, probably in the 90s, I bought a spare bowl and lid. The lid since broke. But I kept the bowl.)
Yeah, it’s petty, but that’s my gratitude for today.
Well, alrighty then—big interesting news out of
Blighty: the Andrew formerly known as prince has been arrested “on suspicion of
misconduct in office”. Thames Valley Police (TVP) yesterday announced the
arrest of “a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in
public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and
Norfolk”.
TVP holds jurisdiction for Windsor, the former residence of
the former prince (who lost all his titles and his rent-free house last month
and is now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor), in Berkshire. Norfolk includes
Sandringham, the estate owned by Charles III, the ex-Duke of York’s brother. So
everyone in Briton understood who was being nicked.
The charge is believed to be related to information in the
latest tranche of Epstein Files, which included emails that looked a whole lot
like Mountbatten-Windsor was sending disgraced (and currently dead) financier
and trafficker of minors for sex Jeffrey Epstein confidential information related
to M-W’s work when he was a trade envoy for Britain.
A few years ago M-W settled a lawsuit by Virginia
Roberts Giuffre, who reported that he had sexually abused her when she was 17 years old, under the auspices of Epstein and his procuress, Ghislaine Maxwell.
(Maxwell is currently serving a federal sentence for some of her work with
Epstein, although the Kleptocrat last year had her moved from a high security
prison—in line with the crimes for which she was convicted—to a low security
one, where she enjoys yoga lessons and puppy visits. Her condition for
testifying before Congress is a presidential pardon. Gawd, this timeline.) The
settlement was in the millions, although M-W has denied all accusations. It is
believed that his mother, the late Queen, provided some to all of the money to
settle, because Andrew has never had that kind of dosh.
(You will note that M-W has not been charged with anything related to sex trafficking; it's about financial malfeasance in connection with official duties. However, there's still time to add charges. Please God.)
Well—I mean, it’s exhausting just to write that much.
Charles issued a statement supporting the arrest and “the
full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the
appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities.” Which is putting the
best face possible on the matter, as—Lord knows, the royal family has tried to
paper Andrew’s peccadillos over for decades. Pretty sure they knew he was
taking backhanders from countries he was trade envoying to, and he and Fergie
have not exactly been the best face of the monarchy with their feckless
lifestyle in general. But email evidence, man—too much at a time when the
royals are trying to justify their existence.
Anyway—I’m thinking about the police officers who passed
through security at Sandringham, knocked on the ex-prince’s door, showed their warrant
cards and politely intoned the British equivalent of the Miranda warning: “You
do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defense if you do not mention
when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say
may be given in evidence.”
I mean—when word came down there must have been a mad
scramble to be on the deputation. And on the search parties at Sandringham and
Windsor. Jeez—these people will be dining out (discreetly) on this event for
decades.
So here’s “The Policeman’s Song” from Gilbert &
Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance. Every once in a while, something
arises to make the daily grind worthwhile. Slapping metaphorical cuffs on
someone who was for a long time third in line to the throne would qualify.
The nearby golf course has been closed by snow since we got
the big dump on 25 January. I mean—you can’t really plough the greenways, can
you?
So a gang of Canadian marauders has pretty much taken over
the 3rd Hole. They’ve been there for several days and I reckon that
club management are going to have a difficult time dislodging them when the
snow finally completely melts.
Normally when I post about vanity plates, it’s a collection
of them. But this vehicle was so much more than a license plate—although that’s
what caught my eye at first in the library parking lot.
I mean—there was a whole theme going.
Then the driver came out while I was taking this shot:
Turns out there was a whole other bunch of dogs on the
other side:
All of them have been in her life; Bodhi, Diesel and
Vincent are still with her.
She also noted that the veterinarian sticker carries a
universe of truth.
Okay, it’s possible that I may have a new neighbor.
She appeared to be gathering leaves and then went through
the fence to where my neighbor has a wooden deck about half a foot above the ground.
I’m thinking she may be building a nest?
My current passport expires in August, which—in this
fakakhta world—means it’s functionally useless, because many countries won’t
accept your entry if your passport has less than half a year to go before
expiry. So last month I dredged around to see what’s necessary to renew online.
It was interesting to me to discover that—as long as it
essentially fits the frame—you can submit a selfie for your photo. JPG, TIF,
PNG—US State Department is happy to take them all. And since all the usual
suspects charge between $10-$15 for hard copies and extra for digital (??), I
thought, well—I can do that for free.
I would have submitted the photo that professional photographers
shot for my company badge seven years ago, but I was wearing glasses in it, and
they are strenglich verboten.
I hesitated on the declaration of hair color—I mean, it’s
currently pink, but it will change throughout the year to blue, green and
whatever else strikes my fancy. These days, you don’t know what’s going to get
you disqualified from citizenship.
Even though you put in the number of the expiring passport
at the beginning of the process, they don’t auto-fill for you, so you have to
go through the whole megillah, just like you’re a first-timer. That was
annoying. But I got it all together, uploaded the photo, handed over $130 in
Amex and hit submit.
That was 2 February and I was given a prospective turnaround
date of 21 March, because processing.
Imagine my surprise, then, to open a USPS Priority Mail
envelope yesterday and find this:
Yippee!
I am super grateful on many levels.
The process worked, and even delivered ahead of schedule. Way
ahead.
So far, I apparently haven’t been put on any Degraded Citizenship lists. I
can leave the country.
I went through all the pages—there’s no photo of that
asshole in the Oval Office on any of them.
Well, here we are, two-and-a-half weeks out from the Big
Dump o’ Snow we got last month, and some folks still haven’t dug their vehicles
out from the roadside.
\
This guy was out yesterday morning, after I shot this, trying:
Spaces are cleared from either side of this pickup, but
clearly the driver is just, “Nope, nope, nope. Not gonna.”
This one is interesting—in the cluster so really not all
that much to clear. But: nope.
