In an editorial published in today's edition of the Scranton Times-Tribune, radio personality Alex Jones is described as a "provocateur". You can find that editorial HERE (warning, paywall). The "provocateur" is in the news over his latest court loss. One of the many related story links posted is below.
As a side note, the Howard Stern Show has made some of the best parodies of the "provocateur". Here's a sample:
Anyway, in case my response to this editorial is removed, I've decided to capture it here. Now in fairness to the Scranton Times-Tribune, I've rarely, if ever, had a story comment taken down. Just in case though, and for the sheer joy of noting again just how horrible of a human being the "provocateur" really is, I've included my editorial comment below.
A "provocateur"? Wow, that's rich. How about this instead: Remember that time when you stepped in gum that was laying on the ground, and hours later, after taking your shoes off, discovered the flattened wad with all matter of detritus stuck to it? That dirty wad of flattened gum has more value than "provocateur" Alex Jones. Yes, by all means, Mr. Gum Wad has a "right" to say what he wants. That includes, as horrid as it sounds, literally tormenting parents who had their LITTLE CHILDREN MURDERED. What he doesn't have though is the "right" to be from the consequences of his words. As a parent, I want this "provocateur" to have no wealth...and no peace...no shelter...until the day when he truly feels, if that's even possible for a wad of dirty gum stuck to the bottom of a shoe, a 10th of the horror experienced by these parents.
This space has a long, rich history as it relates to posts about October, and while I'm not going to re-hash what has already been written about before, I can't help myself but write something appropriately themed for this current month.
Moving on...
I usually "close up" the backyard at the end of October, but for some reason, it just seems to make sense to do that earlier this year. And so it goes, with this weekend being filled with a lot of colder weather preparations. I still have some of the front flowers in the ground, but they are definitely on borrowed time. My marigolds have already made their way to the yard waste container, but in all fairness, their fate was sealed while we were on vacation in Maine, having been halfway water starved. There are still things yet to do, such as closing up the gas grill, but that will come. My only real deadline is November 17th.
Segue to the hand story.
After two doctor visits, with the second being to a hand specialist, it's been decided that I need to have surgery on my right hand to remove a cyst that apparently isn't going anywhere on its own. This is truly a self-inflicted wound, as it comes after I managed to spear the palm of my hand with an inch-long shard of pressure-treated lumber. I will note that I own about 5 pairs of work gloves, none of which were in use when said shard speared my hand. Anyway, while I took out the shard, either part of the wound did not heal properly or there is some small piece of lumber still in my hand. Or both. Regardless, I either get this cyst removed or kick the can down the road a bit until it gets worse. The former seems like the smarter move, which is pretty ironic given the fact that this whole mess is the result of a dumb move. Either way, on November 18th the cyst and me part ways.
Looking back over the years, I can point to maybe a dozen other battle scars (figurative and actually) resulting from my home improvement and other (mis)adventures. One of my "Greatest Hits" included the time I managed to filet my leg, which I was using as a makeshift table to trim ceiling tiles with a boxcutter. Most people would have regrets over such things, but me? Nahhh...I think of them as souvenirs.
Road Trip.
Call me crazy (see above for a good reason), but I've wanted to take a trip down the area of the southern anthracite coal fields for a while now. See THIS POSTING from 2015. That trip happened last Sunday, with my brother Rich. The weather was pretty terrible for a trip, so I didn't take much in the way of photographs, although we did have a great lunch at the Lost Mined Brewing Company and Restaurant in Shamokin. You can link the place HERE. Of course, no trip to Shamokin would be complete without a visit to the town's most important place, Dunkin Donuts.
That clip, and especially the outstanding contribution of Mr. Dutch Smith (skip to 1:30 in the video) is nothing short of a classic. No legal work was performed during the trip.
It was nice to spend time with my brother, and I was left thinking about how it would have been fun to have Chris (as in my late brother) come with us. That's the thing that is hard to explain to someone who has not lost a sibling...namely, the times when, just out of the blue, you really and truly miss that person.
And finally...
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the following about this corner of the Internet: Sometime in September, I went over 1 million page views. You can link to my very first posting, from October 27, 2008, HERE. I'm not going to claim this as any kind of accomplishment, but I will take this opportunity to thank those who have taken the time to read what I've written over these past 14 years. While my output has dropped pretty significantly over the years, I still enjoy this, and who knows what the future holds.
