Dispatches from Vilnius

I spend a lot of days at home, not so much because of the ongoing pandemic, but because I prefer to work at home.  The office lost its appeal to me a long time ago, largely because of the distance that has developed.  There was nothing more to be said when it came to talk around the coffee maker, which funny enough became a point of contention, or going out to lunch.  We had all pretty much retreated into our private worlds.  Still, my wife prefers me coming into work with her, I suppose largely to have someone else in the room with her, although most of the time she is asking me to be quiet.  Our office is in an old convent, and we all have our cells, two or three persons to one of these little rooms, which further imposes distance between us as an office. My wife tells me that part of the problem is my sketchy grasp of Lithuanian.  I'm not very good at conversing in this language even if I pick up most of what is being said around me.  It takes me too long to form a sentence in m

My wife got upset with the image of grubs I posted on facebook the other day, under which I noted how they had invaded our yard.  She said it was like letting everyone know you have head lice or something.  I suppose it is a little too close to home, but the image drew a lot of reactions, ranging from how others had the same problem, to ways of cooking grubs and whether you can use them for fishing.   For me it was kind of a watershed event, as I finally figured out what happened to the decorative almond tree we gave up on a few years ago and replaced with a magnolia tree.  One side had died and there seemed no way to get it to grow back leaves.  Turns out these little grubs love grass, plant and tree roots, and had eaten away at one side of the almond tree.  Hoping to keep the magnolia tree clean, I dug them all up around the tree roots. It also explained the brown patches in the grass.  My wife was convinced it was the result of the dog peeing on the lawn.  I said if that was the cas

 As I look over my posts, I realize I sound a bit too much like an MSNBC pundit lashing out at the tomfoolery on the right, without really adding much to the conversation.  I post links, but this is information anyone can find if they make a small amount of effort.  There really is no point wasting time on these rightwing talking heads, as they will say anything to boost their television ratings. So where to go with this blog?  With the old gang reduced to the rare appearance of Trippler, there is nothing left of the former reading group.  Most new comments are spam, which I delete as I try to keep this blog clean of viruses.  I've had complaints in the past from persons who have tried to read my posts only to be hit with virus alerts.  Of course, these days viruses disguise themselves as virus alerts.   The internet has become a virtual war zone.  You don't know what to take seriously, what to make fun of, and what to simply avoid.  Everyone is looking for their 15 minutes of

Emma Raducanu is thoroughly enjoying life, making a stunning entry at the Met Gala.  Normally, I wouldn't think much of such events, but in this case it was proof Emma was vaccinated, as the organizers required it.  You won't find Novak Djokovic or Daniil Medvedev at the Met.  Both have refused to take the vaccine, as have many other professional tennis players on the WTA circuit.  Why?  That's anyone's guess as they refuse to give details other than saying it is their "choice." Djokovic was steamrolling his way through the tour this year before his highly public meltdown at the Olympics.  Novak had won three grand slam events, and if he had won the Olympics and the US Open, would have won a "Golden Slam" as they call it, the first man ever to do so.  Alas, it was not to be.  He got ousted in the semi-finals and pulled out of a mixed-doubles match without consulting his partner, Nina Stojanovic, after an apparent shoulder injury from throwing his ra

For years now, we have been told we are sheeple for heeding the advice of government, but there is a breaking point .  There is so much foolishness that it is hard to hold the contempt I feel for persons like Joe Rogan, who uses his social media clout to peddle ivermectin .  Of course, the irony is that the same people that call us sheeple are now taking sheep anti-parasitic medicine specifically aimed at worms. Still, the level of stupidity is too much to take.  This was never anything more than a stop-gap solution when medical researchers were looking for anything that might effectively battle COVID.  Most of these "cures" have since been discredited, but they resurface when conservative talk show hosts look to boost their ratings.  They know that they will not only attract a sympathetic audience but also a fair amount of nay-sayers anxious to set them straight.  It's a fool's errand to try to do so, as these persons love nothing more than taunting the establishmen