Today, I used the word lollygagging in a text to a friend. Then I started second-guessing myself, wondering if I had actually used the word properly. I continued to question how that word had even come to mind as I sent him the text. Lollygag: verb, spend time aimlessly; idle, or to dawdle. Yep, I had used it properly. Just one of those words from childhood that you pull from the far reaches of the very dated hard drives, that we carry, stuck between our shoulders. My grandmother would be proud.

I had my Olympic gold medal cut up into eleven pieces. Gave all eleven of my kids a piece. It’ll come together again when they put me down. Joe Frazier

The news feed said that there is one important toilet cleaning mistake we are probably making. Hmmm. I needed to know, especially since I clean five of them each week, three at the office, two at home. What could I be doing wrong? It is just a toilet. So, I Googled How to Properly Clean Toilets, studied it, and compiled my own list for Toilet Bowl Olympics. Hope you find it interesting. Maybe you can earn a GOLD, I did NOT.
1. Use gloves. Check. An easy 10.
2. Do not rush. It takes time to insure all the nooks and crannies are clean. Hmmm. I could always do better, and sometimes I get a little cranky. I will give myself a 6-7.
3. Do not mix cleansers. It can make the cleanser less effective, create adverse reactions, and harm your toilet bowl. Sometimes I dump some cleaner in at night, then come back the next day to actually clean. Then I might even add another cleaner like Lime-A-Way to clean the scale and hard water buildup. I shouldn’t do that, I guess. I give myself a 7.
4. Clean your toilets every day or two. Hmmm. I lost points here. I will never clean more than once a week, but I do wipe-downs when needed.
5. Disinfectant spray must sit on the surface for at least 10 minutes. Oops. See #2. No points.
6. Clean your toilet brush with hydrogen peroxide after each use. Oh, my gosh. I have never done this, not one single time in my whole life. And I am probably not going to start now.
Dang. I just lost at my own game, but I never did look good in metallics.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a fishy story floating around that no tuna DNA could be found in tuna sandwiches at Subway. Subway responded with, “DNA testing is simply not a reliable way to identify denatured proteins, like Subway’s tuna, which was cooked before it was tested.” Now Subway has announced they are changing most of their menu – actually, the biggest menu change in Subway history. Everything will have some kind of change except for…drumroll please… the tuna sandwich. Subwaytunafacts.com.  Connie and I picked up sandwiches last week, and our Subway store is no longer carrying rotisserie chicken, my favorite. Some things are just too good to change.

If I bring back only one gold, people are going to say it’s a disappointment. But not too many of them own an Olympic gold medal, so if I get one, I’m going to be happy. Michael Phelps

There is a new strain of a succulent red marine algae called dulse that grows extraordinarily quickly, is packed full of protein, and tastes like bacon when it is cooked. Dulse grows in the wild along the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines and is now sold at Whole Foods. I will let you know.

The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes and his soccer-star fiancée, are getting married. All of the groomsmen received a silver Rolex watch ($8000 and up), a flask, and a bottle of Fireball. The gifts came with a note saying to set your Rolex to island time. The bridesmaids were presented with Cartier Love bracelets ($8000 and up) and personalized robes.  I need to find me some new friends. 😊

Summer of Soul: New documentary. If you like music, you will love this. Just go ahead now and classify it as Must Watch. I promise. It was released this month in theaters and on Hulu (you can get a 30-day trial subscription). It’s the long-lost footage, filmed, but never seen, of 1969’s (same summer as Woodstock) Harlem Cultural Festival aka Black Woodstock. The 40-hours of footage sat in a basement, largely unseen, for five decades. It is now the winner of Sundance Film Festival 2021 Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize, with some saying it is a strong contender for the best documentary of the year. I was dancing in the kitchen while Gage and I watched it. Great music. The Black Panthers provided security, Maxwell House Coffee sponsored, and General Foods commissioned Hal Tulchin to film the festival. Money was short so they faced the stage west to save on lighting. Gladys Knight & The Pips, Stevie Wonder, Sly & The Family Stone, B.B. King, the 5th Dimension, and more, entertained about 300,000 people. The documentary was directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson from late night TV and the Roots, in his directorial debut. Four stars out of four.

Vehicle prices are being driven up by more people wanting cars, but there is a limited supply due to a shortage of computer chips needed to build the cars. Rental car companies, a key provider of used cars, sold off much of their fleet last year to raise cash during the pandemic, and now they do not even have enough cars to rent. Some year-old cars are being sold for more than they did new, during the height of the pandemic. Sounds like the stories of people paying over asking price for houses. GM will either halt or reduce operations at three plants across North America because of the global semiconductor chip shortage. Honda, too. According to Intel, the shortage could last until the middle of 2023.

The Lake Jackson Historical Museum will accept your worn out, tattered, or faded American flags. They will be held in safekeeping until the Boy Scouts conduct another retirement ceremony. Drop off Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 979-297-1570. I had my own ceremony at the fire pit recently.

This is déjà vu. The stock market has had some less than perfect days lately, but we might be just a little spoiled. Truth is… investors are scared of the Delta variant and what it may mean for global economy. Rightfully so. It has been stated that most Americans who have not previously been infected or received vaccinations, will likely contract the Delta variant, the most transmissible Covid-19 strain yet. In other words, it sounds like you have two choices now, get the vaccine or get Covid. This week’s headline said, “Four months ago they were celebrating. Now doctors are once again preparing for the worst.  Inside the state’s biggest hospitals, doctors say a surge of unvaccinated COVID patients is almost too bewildering to believe.”  My personal feelings are, if you cannot find a way to do it for yourself, now we need to do it for the kids 12 and under that do not have access to the vaccine yet. You do NOT want to infect a child. Your child. Your grandchild. Any child.

“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…”  Peter Benchley, Jaws

This is Groundhog Day: Yes, 57% of Texans are still unvaccinated, and 99.5 % of those who have died of COVID in Texas since February, were unvaccinated. On May 16, our state recorded its first day without a COVID death in more than a year. Here we are two months later, and Texas’s seven-day average for new cases was just over 4,500 – 177 % increase over the past two weeks – and recording 25 deaths per day. 

This is a Flashback: Public health officials in Austin have raised the city’s COVID threat level, advising even vaccinated residents to now wear masks. Hospitalizations doubled in July in Williamson County, which is home to Georgetown and Round Rock, and in Dallas County, while quadrupling in Tarrant County, whose seat is Fort Worth. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo this week upgraded the county’s threat level as public health officials began to issue stark warnings about the possibility of hospitals becoming overwhelmed by COVID patients. Please take this seriously.

Roundup: Studies have found that Roundup can alter the normal bacterial content of soil, as well as organisms such as earthworms, monarch butterflies, and honeybees. Even where Roundup is fully allowed, it is recommended that contingency plans be formulated, beginning now. Even without limitations, the growing resistance of weeds to glyphosate, will likely result in the need for alternative methods of weed control in the near future. verywell health

For athletes, the Olympics are the ultimate test of their worth.  Mary Lou Retton

An enormous 1,174-carat diamond has been unearthed in Botswana. It is unofficially the world’s third-largest diamond, and so pretty. It fits in the palm of a man’s hand. I wonder if they cut up diamonds that are huge or leave it as is. President Biden says that the federal government is considering making vaccines mandatory for all federal employees. The Department of Veterans Affairs, which runs hospitals and clinics around the country, announced that it would mandate coronavirus vaccines for more than 100,000 frontline healthcare workers, making it the first federal agency to do so. Snoring, “unless all bedroom windows are closed and securely locked,” is prohibited in this state of Massachusetts, by an old law still technically on the books. Tokyo set a daily record for Covid cases just days after the Olympics opening. Bruce Springsteen’s 29-year-old daughter, Jessica, is competing in the 2020 Olympics as a member of the US Equestrian Team. Jessica is ranked 27 in the world in show jumping.

Arguing is the Olympics of talking. Stewart Stafford

For those of you that care, World Emoji Day just occurred.  The laugh out loud face is officially the world’s most popular emoji, the thumbs up emoji came in second, followed by the red heart emoji. The flirtatious wink and kiss and sad face with a tear emojis respectively rounded out the top five.

I wouldn’t say that there’s ever been an Olympic champion that didn’t deserve to win an Olympic Gold Medal. Dorothy Hamill

Johnson & Johnson is voluntarily recalling five of their sunscreens after internal testing identified low levels of benzene in some samples of the products. An independent lab tested 294 samples from 69 brands of sprays, lotions, gels, and creams designed to protect the skin from the sun or care for the skin after sun. Of those, 78 samples tested positive for benzene. Benzene is a carcinogen, a widely used industrial chemical found in crude oil, and is a major part of gasoline. It is used to make plastics, resins, synthetic fibers, rubber lubricants, dyes, detergents, drugs, and pesticides, but it is important to note that it is NOT an ingredient in sunscreen and never has been. These benzene levels are likely due to contamination. I could not find out what kind of contamination. Benzene is also found in nail polishes, nail polish removers, nail hardeners, and fingernail glue. Manicure, anyone?

The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, died at age 73 on Christmas Day 2006. His family just settled their 15-year battle over his estate. There was a former partner claiming to be his wife, more than a dozen lawsuits by people trying to lay claim to his assets, even a fight over what to do with his body, which remained inside his gold casket in cold storage in a funeral home, for several months, before eventually being buried in South Carolina, at a daughter’s home. Justices ordered a circuit court to “promptly proceed with probate of Brown’s estate in accordance with his estate plan,” which outlined creation of a trust that would use his music royalties to fund educational expenses for children in South Carolina and Georgia.

Thanks for taking the time to read us. We do SO appreciate you. Be sure to place an ad, sell something, buy something, so we can all add to our economy. I found the following, decided not to use it, then changed my mind. The virus will not go away because you want it to or because you are tired of it. Get the vaccine, wear a mask, have a clue, give a damn.

LISA