Remember when television schedules were populated with soap operas? They were all the rage when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s. Every afternoon folks were sitting down to watch their stories. My grandmother was fond of “The Edge of Night”. My mother was fond of “Another World”.

Have the soaps been gone long enough for a generation to get surly and start trying to turn real life into a soap opera? Ever since Trump took office I feel like I’m trapped into either a hideous Reality Show (what will the next ‘twist’ be?) or a soap opera.

This afternoon my Twitter feed started populating with something about Bezos Going After Mr. Pecker.

Jeff Bezos Says National Enquirer Threatened To Publish Nude Photos As Blackmail

Interestingly, the MAGA crowd, both human and bots, are going after Mr. Bezos on social media for being rich and allegedly having a mistress.

Because Trump is above all that?

Now I realize we are talking about the National Enquirer here, but there’s a lot of discussion around this story claiming this latest stunt by the Enquirer is being pursued as a favor to Trump because Bezos owns interest in The Washington Post. And we all know the one dipped in marmalade screams “fake news” every time he reads something in The Washington Post that he doesn’t like.

I’m a little worried that all of this endless drama has established a new norm for politics in this country. Now politics have never been that great to begin with, but we have firmly planted ourselves into the depths of the deepest septic tank with this administration.

I feel like the toilet is constantly overflowing.

I’m hoping that 2020 will bring about change and we will move toward some sort of civility in this country again.

Let’s leave the soap operas to Mac, Rachel, and Iris.

Earl and I have been talking about having a cat move in with us here in Chicago. It’s a conversation we’ve been having for the past month or so. I’ve missed having a feline companion since Tom passed away five and a half years ago.

I was a little worried about inviting another cat to live with us since in early 2014 we brought Scooter into our home and he wasn’t really happy. Looking back, Scooter was a barn cat that we moved into a suburban house and honestly, it just wasn’t the right fir for him. I’m happy we were able to find him a place to live where he’d be happier.

So we’ve been talking about finding an indoor cat that needed a good home here in Chicago. We’ve been looking online for the past couple of weeks and today we visited PAWS Chicago. It was there that we met Truman.

There was another couple considering adopting Truman when we first got there. He was super friendly in the room he was sharing with four other cats. The back half of the right side of his body, one of his paws, and under his chin is currently shaved. The Chicago Animal Control folks found him in an alley with a large cut on his right side. They stitched him up, made sure he was doing OK, gave him all his medications, and the brought him to PAWS Chicago for adoption. He was neutered, chipped, and his stitches were removed on Thursday.

The couple that was interested in adopting him decided to go look at dogs instead, so we visited with him for a bit, visited with some other cats as well, and then decided that Truman needed to come home with us.

The records were reviewed, the paperwork was signed, we made a stop at the PETCO across the street to pick up supplies and then we brought Truman home.

We were advised to introduce him slowly to the home but if he felt comfortable just let him do his thing. As soon as we let him out of his box and started calmly walking around the condo mapping out every nook and cranny in his head. He then went back around and did it again.

He helped me put together a five foot high cat condo perch arrangement thing so he has a nice view of the city. He’s plopped himself on both our laps and various times during the night and he’s run around this place at 100 MPH. He’s very curious about every noise he hears but he never runs and hides. He’s very inquisitive.

He also loves chasing the laser pointer light.

The thing that strikes me most about him is he feels very grateful. He’s already showing off a big personality and I like that. I wonder what brought him to that alley to end up with a big cut the runs up his side.

I hope he’s as happy to be here as we are to have him here. Earlier today I had a brief “impression” of our old cat Tom rubbing up against my leg, like it was OK for us to help another have a happy life .

Welcome to the Truman show.

When we first moved to Chicago, we were repeatedly warned about the winters here. They’re cold. There’s snow. They’re long.

Score one for Global Warming.

We are in the midst of our second winter in the Windy City and it’s not nearly as bad as what we experienced back in the Lake Ontario Snowbelt of Upstate New York. And honestly, I’m grateful.

It’s snowing today. It’s probably the first “substantial” snowfall we’ve had this season, but it’s really not a big deal. One of the things that I love about Chicago is that things haven’t really slowed down during the few snowfalls we’ve had. The CTA is still moving, traffic is still moving on the streets, folks are shoveling sidewalks, and no one is raiding Jewels (grocery store) for bread and milk.

I’m finding that folks are sensible about snow here, and that’s a great thing. Earl and I used the weather as an excuse not to eat at home tonight. We met up with Jamie and Chris and ate at a place called Wabi Sabi.

It was wonderful.

Earl and I went out for dinner this evening. We went to a nearby Lou Malnati’s. This fork sitting on the window sill caught my attention. I got to wondering as to how long it had been sitting there. Minutes? Hours? Days? Why would someone put this fork on the window sill? Why did the folks cleaning up the dining room not notice it? Is it a symbol to a pedestrian hanging out on the street? Is it a secret phone? Should I speak to it?

So many things to ponder.

This is one of my two niece cats. My mother calls her “Sissy”, according to my sister and my nephew, her official name is “Skippy June Jones”. She’s a bit of a hellraiser. I met her for the first time last month and quite honestly, some days we just need a cute cat photo, right?

I mean, I could write about the state of the country but I think I’m better off with a cat photo tonight. So please, enjoy this photo of Sissy with me.

I Googled the various ways one can order a martini and I was led to a website called “Mantelligence”. The title of the article in question was, “How to order a martini like a man”.

I found the article very helpful. Unfortunately, I don’t know if I’m suppose to appreciate the information that was shared or horrified because of the gender bias in the name of the website and subsequent article.

The Age of Outrage is so very confusing.

Honestly, I’m happy I found the article and I look forward to reading more of this website at my next opportunity.

I guess I left my clutching pearls at home.