What a complete circus the world was yesterday! I always knew the relationship between Trump and Musk wasn’t going to end well but I didn’t have yesterday’s feud going down like it did yesterday on my 2025 bingo card. Elon went full thermonuclear. Some are speculating it’s all political theater but I believe it’s nothing more than the clashing of two enormous egos. Politics is such a filthy game few who enter that ring survive without getting dirty.
Yesterday's fallout will likely be catastrophic for Musk’s businesses, especially SpaceX and government regulatory approval for Robotaxi, which was supposed to have a limited launch on June 12th. There’s a LOT of talk about Musk now putting substantial support behind a third US political party and if there’s any shred of truth to that at least something positive will come out of this mess. I’ve thought for many years that a viable third party is the only way to save this country. These days being an American feels a lot like living on the set of The Jerry Springer show.
Now on to what I intended this post to be about…happy thoughts.
Opening this suitcase and packing for a trip instantly brings me back to that 2016-2019 timeframe. This bag has some serious battle scars. In those nearly four years I crisscrossed the globe exploring places and things I’d dreamed of since I was a boy. Those were some of the most exciting years of my life and revisiting those memories—well, it’s impossible not to smile. I still have a decent stash of airline miles from that era that I’ve been using for trips back to Ohio for years. Those travel years are still paying residuals. The airfare for these round-trip tickets cost me a whopping $12 (they make you pay the taxes if you use airline miles).
Tomorrow I’m off to Ohio, way too early, for what will be a whirlwind four day trip. I’ll be flying into Columbus and then the next morning my mom and I will be hopping into the car for a three hour road trip to the Northeast corner of the state to spend two nights with the rest of the Walton clan.
These flights out of MSP to CMH on Delta are a little like political elections, there are no good choices. You either have to leave well before the crack of dawn and stumble around the entire first day in a zombie-like state or leave mid-afternoon and miss out on most of the first day of your trip. As you might guess I always choose the zombie-like state, which means I’ll be setting my alarm tonight for 4AM. This gets a little more difficult every time I do it. I never used to have difficulties sleeping but for some reason these last few trips sleeping the night before has become somewhat of a challenge. The minute I lay down my mind is off to the races.
We always try to extract the most out of these family visits because they’re few and far between. My mom will be turning 81 at the end of this month and uses a walker so the road trips and accommodations take a fair amount of preplanning.
I’ll likely be taking a hiatus from posting here on Hive until I return next week, that means no Sunday Meditation Series post this week for those who’re following that series.
I'm approaching my ninth anniversary on Hive July 5th. It's so difficult to believe it's been that long. We've all gone through so many changes together! So many bloggers (and good friends) have come and gone. My engagement has been on a serious downslide here for the past few months and I'm contemplating a longer break to re-evaluate things and regroup. I've taken breaks from blogging before and I believe it's healthy. No matter what I'll continue to support my favorite bloggers with upvotes.
Also, I’ve freshened up My Website and would love some feedback if you have time to take a look!
All for now. I wish you all a wonderful weekend.
(Photos are original.)
