I hadn’t noticed until yesterday, but all four of us living at the house are bus riders. I’m the only one of us who owns a car, and my car doesn’t run.

CRANKY OLD FART #245 leftovers & links   Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022

A few times I’ve been waiting at the southbound stop near our house, and been joined by L, on his way to work. He’s never said more to me at the bus stop than “Hey,” but yesterday he was suddenly and insanely talkative.For several minutes while we waited, he wouldn’t stop talking about Wednesday, and at first I thought he was talking about tomorrow, the day after Tuesday, but it turns out there’s a TV show about the goth girl from the Addams Family movies.
As we were talking, down the street we saw another flatmate, Dean, walking toward the northbound bus stop, which comes on the other side of the street and around the corner. On his way to work, I guess. We waved at him, and while we were waving, our fourth flatmate Robert crossed the street to join me and L waiting for the southbound bus. “Fancy meeting you guys here,” he said, and told us he was beginning a long bus trek to WalMart in Renton.”Did you check the burners before you left?” I asked Robert, an oblique reference to Dean’s habit of cooking stuff on the stovetop but forgetting he’s cooking stuff on the stovetop.”I check the stove whenever I leave,” he said, “and also whenever I pee.”
“One of these days,” L said, “Dean will burn the house down.”

I was headed to lunch at Mrs Rigby’s, where they make a damned fine hamburger, but something’s always been missing — peanut butter.Peanut butter goes great on any kind of meat sandwich, and hamburgers should always be slathered with it. The PB melts into the meat and makes it even more delicious.The diner doesn’t do that, but my bright idea this morning was to fill an empty prescription bottle with peanut butter, and take it with me to Mrs Rigby’s. They provide the knife.
And indeed, PB made my already excellent lunch even better. I am permanently adding peanut butter prescriptions to my go-anywhere bag. Even as I continue to be unemployed and watching my savings dwindle away, I might eat at Mrs Rigby’s more often. It ain’t smart, but it’s tasty.

All that was yesterday. This morning, Dean announced that he’s making stew for the house tonight, using the roast beef left over from Thanksgiving. “If I don’t do something with it soon, it’ll go bad,” he said. He made our day-after Thanksgiving dinner on November 25. Today’s December 7. That’s 12 day-old roast beef. “USDA recommends using cooked beef within 3 to 4 days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less).”Dean and I share a refrigerator, but I try not to look at his shelves because they frighten me, so I haven’t followed the aging or rotting of Dean’s beef. Possibly, he froze it?But whatever, I’ll skip the stew.

Here’s the news you need,
whether you know it or not• San Francisco condemns drug abusers to death as policy • One day of Warren Buffett wealth gains could cover rail workers’ paid sick leave • Vanguard quits climate alliance after Republicans’ pressure • CVS’s diabetes scheme A customer that tapped “Donation $1.00” likely believed that their choice meant the ADA would have an additional dollar it could use to support its mission. In fact, that dollar simply reduced CVS’s obligation to the ADA at the conclusion of their corporate sponsorship agreement. Rather than supporting the ADA, the customer was subsidizing CVS’s operations. • For 17 convictions, the maximum penalty the Trump Organization could pay is $1.62 million, a drop in the bucket • ‘If your dog died … prove it to us’: Olive Garden manager fired after time-off rant • Scientists thought carbon emissions had peaked. They’ve never been higher. And it never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, because climate change isn’t ‘coming’, it’s underway. It’ll kill billions, and we’re not doing squat about it.• ACLU lawsuit claims grandmother’s home was illegally raided by SWAT team searching for stolen iPhone 11 And it never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, because all cops are bastards, or they know who the bastard cops are and do nothing about it, which is the same thing.• Republican Chairman Rick Scott: Herschel Walker “will continue to be a Leader” in Republican Party for “years to come” And it never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, never stops, because Republicans are the enemy of common sense, common decency, simple truth, and democracy.

Links I liked• Why is everything unsustainable now when things were easier 20 years ago? • Outdated lyrics • Dog Suicide Bridge • World’s littlest skyscraper 

Mystery links
Like life itself, there’s no
knowing where you’re going• click • click • click 

♫♬  Mix tape of my mind  ♫• Conquistador — Procol Harum • Going Down — The Monkees • Mama Told Me Not to Come — Three Dog Night • Rockaria — Electric Light Orchestra • The Wall — Pink Floyd 

The End• John Hadl • Susan Kikuchi • Henry Rohland