Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

If you Google “What to do when I retire,” you’ll get lots of lists that include things like teach, garden, visit family, spend time with friends, mentor, buy a motorhome, and join a fitness group.

Excuse me, but I’m retiring, not moving into an assisted living facility.

My list looks a little different.

When my retirement from the classroom begins next week, literally the first thing I’m going to do is drive three hours to south Louisiana and sit in an historically restored Cajun cottage along Bayou Teche. My husband and I go there five times a year and it is our home away from home. I’m going to walk across the street to the grocery store, buy some fancy cheeses, some fresh veggies, and I’m going to spend seven days decompressing and uncoiling from twenty-five years of teaching tenth grade English.

More immediate things on my list include cleaning out closets, drawers, cabinets, and eliminating a whole lot of clutter. Get rid of those work clothes! Why do I have six Pyrex casserole dishes? Do I really need this antique waffle iron with the fraying cord? Those size three jeans in my closet? Yeah, they haven’t fit in fifteen years so it is time for them to go.

I am going to listen to podcasts. Got any suggestions? I listened to S-Town and loved that. So well done. I don’t really listen to podcasts, but I think I might try that while I start a walking regimen. My son listens to some podcast that sound far too much like Beavis and Butthead; I don’t want that. Something good. Help a girl out.

I am going to read that huge stack of books taking over my house; then, I’m going to put them in the Little Free Library on the corner.

Day drink. Why not have a cold beer at noon while I pull some weeds out of the flower bed? Why the hell not?

Stay up as late as I want to.

Finish my second book. I’m close. I need to get it off to my publisher so I can start on my third book.

Narrow down topic for third book.

Learn how to cook alligator. Not everyone can do this well.

Go to Monroeville, Alabama, home of my idol Harper Lee. See the inside of that courthouse.

Re-tile my bathroom. I have no idea how to do this and I think I need tools which I don’t currently own. Saws and things. I can do this. Right?

Spend days and days in the archives at the library doing research. I love this. This was the best part of writing my first book — the research! Love it!

Write. Write. Write.

Drive as much of the original alignment of Route 66 from east to west as possible.

Attend as many minor league baseball games in as many ballparks as I possibly can.

Find some way to move permanently to south Louisiana, to Cajun country, which has my heart and soul.

Brush up my French.

While this little list isn’t exhaustive, I think it is a lot more interesting than some of the suggestions for retirees that I’ve seen. Retirement has proven “boring” for my husband; when he retired six years ago he went back to school and got his BA and then his Masters degree, which was fabulous! But now he’s bored.

I can’t see myself ever getting bored. Maybe this is because I’m technically still working and the reality of retirement has not yet hit me. Maybe after a period of time, I will be restless and aimless.

I doubt it.

Pat Austin blogs at And So it Goes in Shreveport and at Medium; she is the author of Cane River Bohemia: Cammie Henry and her Circle at Melrose Plantation. Follow her on Instagram @patbecker25 and Twitter @paustin110.ing

Today at daily mass we celebrated the Feast of Mary Mother of the Church. Our Pastor informed us this is a very new feast that Pope Francis only instituted three years ago for the day after Pentecost. Given Her connection with the Holy Spirit it a good fit for the day after that celebration.

Just goes to show you that for all his shortcomings, on some thing Pope Francis gets it. Hey even the 62 Mets won 40 games.


Watched the latest episode of The Chosen that was released last night around (S2 EP 6). Other than the 1st episode of the series and episode 3 of season one it had the smallest direct biblical foundation of any of episodes I’ve seen.

I was very surprised that at the 2nd appearance of the possessed man all the hair of my arms stood up. There was no special makeup or special effect to make him seem possessed but something about that scene at that time really hit me.

I’ve recommended the show to others and recommend it to you but I’m holding back on financial backing until I see how they handle John Chapter 6.


While I haven’t been watching any baseball on the radio sports folks were talking about the glut of no hitters this year blaming it on batters swinging for the fences and MLB deciding what they want to do about it.

I don’t understand why they have to do anything about it, I’d worry more about long term fan retention from being woke than this type of thing. The only people who should be panicking are the insurance companies who backed the “throw a no hitter win free furniture” deals

On and for the record that seven inning no hitter should count, if it’s an official game it should be an official no-hitter


Is it just me or has a welcome side effect of the last year been some chain restaurants improving the quality of their food?

It seems to me A lot of such restaurants shrunk their menus during this time and seemed to focus more on quality. It’s been very noticeable.

Let’s hope that quality uptick is maintained as we open up.


Finally as you remember I’ve been predicting that in the end the fact that election 2020 was stolen in several states (and plenty of votes in others too) will come out before the next national election (2024) and likely even before then. I’d like to make a 2nd prediction.

When it does come out the same people who insisted that this was all bunk with change their narrative to say it was justified to stop Donald Trump and the media and even regular democrat voters will embrace this meme.

I’m hoping I’m wrong here but I don’t think so.

There is one vital thing worth noting concerning our issues with Russia and China and it’s something that President Trump noted during his first term in office.

He noted that both China and Russia were acting in the interests of China and Russia and that he didn’t expect them to do otherwise, but the real issue was for the US acting in the interest of the US.

Now in fairness Russia acting for Russia while making sure that the two largescale invasions of Russia, one each during the last two centuries (Napoleon & Hitler) are not repeated often means acting to preserve the power of Putin in general and the oligarchs who support him in particular while crushing those who oppose him and China acting in the interest of China means not only making sure China is not simply a servant of foreign powers (see Japan circa the 1930’s & the various great powers in the 19th century) but primarily propping up the communist party state and apparatus while crushing any who might stand up for human rights.

But however you look at it both states are acting in their own perceived interest which is what having a state is all about.

However under the Biden administration the US is not about defending US interests or principles or people. It’s become about advancing the agenda of elites who are by and large being rewarded & supported by our foes and rivals.

Under Donald Trump this gravy train was stopped and the average American did better than he had done in decades.

Under this administration the average American is an afterthought at best and an obstacle to be pushed out of the way at worst

Again I don’t blame Russia, China or even Iran for working toward these result, I would expect them to do no less.

Alas there was a time when I expected more from those who supposedly serve America, I no longer do and until enough people get angry enough to do something about it these non-existent expectations will be met on a regular basis.

Unexpectedly of course

Disagreements Under the Fedora

Posted: May 22, 2021 by datechguy in Uncategorized

I’m a fan of the Gatestone Institute but I have to disagree with this line in a piece about Hamas and the support they apparently have around the world as they launch rockets at Israel.

These Arabs evidently understand what the anti-Israel activists around the world fail to see — that Hamas has brought nothing but disaster and despair to the two million Palestinians living under its rule in the Gaza Strip

I don’t think the anti-Israel activists fail to see this, I think they don’t care, I think their goal is dead Jews and no amount of Arab suffering in the process is too little.


There is something missing in the premise in this article on the Silence of Chuck Schumer

One pro-Palestinian demonstrator launched a firework at bystanders, reportedly causing burns to a 55-year-old woman. Pro-Israel demonstrators were beaten in the street, and pro-Palestinian demonstrators spat at diners at a local steakhouse. Fox News added that a Jewish man was chased in a parking lot by pro-Palestinian demonstrators in a truck, flying Palestinian flags.

Yet Schumer has said nothing about the violence in his own state.

Ironically, Schumer has been voluble about other forms of bigotry, and other riots, celebrating the signing of a bill on anti-Asian hate crimes, and pushing for a bipartisan commission on the Capitol riot of January 6. But he has been silent about antisemitism in New York, and similar attacks in cities around the country, notably Los Angeles, where pro-Palestinian rioters attacked Jews.

Schumer not only understands that this is the base of his party and he can’t lead by attacking them, but he also understand that not only would the violent types he’s been condoning for a year would turn on him like a shot but he also understands that as a Jew he and his family would be targeted and killed with glee.

That’s why the left is easy on this violence because the only thing these folks hate more than us is an apostate.


On twitter yesterday I pointed out the left should be happy about these audits as they should prove how wrong we on the right are about the election and got this response from a lefty:

The number of falsehoods in this reply are considerable and I’ve presumed that our friends in the left know this to be the case but this piece at the American Mind suggests there is something else at play:

The same holds true for Democrats. When it comes to the legacy media, well-known technocrats, or leftist politicians, they will default to an assumption of truthfulness. Reporters can repeatedly report lies, Anthony Fauci can flip-flop constantly on health policy, and Andrew Cuomo can lie about sending elderly New Yorkers to their deaths, but they are all still trusted. Collecting the evidence and doing the work of finding and accepting the truth is much harder than simply trusting them, so people ignore the red flags and contradictions. Conservatives can safely claim that they had no part in these disasters, but progressives are forced to account for their misguided support of such people. It’s much easier to ignore the evidence and accuse the other side of being crackpots and bigots.  

To acknowledge reality is to acknowledge responsibility. As Prager said he now understands how so many Germans were willing to pretend the Nazi’s were not what they were.


I wish this was a surprise:

I have no idea why baseball executives think it is appropriate to celebrate an armed robber, drug addict, petty criminal, arrest resister and sometime porn performer, or why they think this is what their fans want to see. But I have no intention of patronizing a business that does something this clueless.

The reality is they’re not worried about John Hinderacker going to the park they’re afraid of it being burned down, particularly when the size of your police force continues to drop.

If I owned the Twins I’d move them.


Finally yesterday I went for breakfast with my wife. I had the check book with me and was writing out some water bills. Apparently this got the attention of someone at the next table and his wife who said about 15 minutes he wanted me to run for mayor.

It was very odd and slightly flattering and the look on my wife’s face was interesting but I think that in a city that voted for both Hillary and Biden in a deep blue state a public Trump fan like me is not likely to go anywhere when it comes to elective office.