It's just a lot

Greetings from the road, as I write this from the Nashville, Tennessee area, where I'm working for the next two days... 

Lots going on in the world and in my part of it, too, so here's a smattering of what I've noted and have thoughts about.

I'm still not ready to celebrate, but the "working group" of Senators may have come up with something they can agree upon in the area of revised gun regulations.  As the spearhead of this group, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said, it's not nearly everything that many wanted, but it's more than nothing, and the Senator was careful to say over and over that he would not reject good in search of perfect.  The group is supposedly now drafting the bill that the Senate will debate and potentially pass.

The House has been busy doing many of the same things, so there will be a reconciliation of the bills each house develops.

And the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection has now conducted two public hearings and both have been packed with details that are, shall we say, less than flattering toward our former President.  All the more damning is that most of the testimony that has been referenced or shown has come from people who were actually part of the Trump Administration, the Trump presidential campaign, or both.  There are to be additional public hearings, all televised on most news outlets (except Fox News, which persists in being the best friend that the former President ever had).

There was a lot of speculation on how the Committee would construct its telling of the story of January 6, but it seems clear now that their narrative is all about the President, what he did or didn't do, and what he knew about the election and how he chose to handle things anyway.

I'm a little fearful that my retirement nest egg is rapidly dwindling with the free fall that the stock market is experiencing.  But I learned a long time ago that you have to leave things in place and trust that all market fluctuation is cyclical.

The LIV Golf series began in earnest last week, and the PGA Tour did exactly what it seemed they would have to do, as they suspended 17 players for breaking away to play in these lucrative 54 hole exhibition matches.  This week's event was won by Charl Schwartzel, who won the Masters in 2012 but had not won a tournament on tour in about six years.  Seems that most of the participants are all in their 40s and have not won much lately, so the lure of big money in a smaller field is hard to pass up, I suppose.  That the series is funded by the government of Saudi Arabia is troubling, to say the least, but as I recall, there were issues with tournaments played in South Africa when that country still observed apartheid.  But this rift is one that won't heal easily or quickly as more established players opt to give LIV a try.

Medical update: my newly repaired eye is functioning well.  I am seeing better than I have in several years in the operated eye, and completed my ten days of eye drops over the weekend.  I go back to the ophthalmologist later in the month for a final check and a vision test.  Right now I'm on the fence about having the other eye done, as I'm not experiencing any real issues at the moment.  But having met my deductible for 2022 is a factor, certainly.

One more milestone to share.  My youngest granddaughter finished her first season of baseball, having played "wee ball" this season with her dad as the coach (big ups to him from all of the parents, not surprisingly) and an older relative who helped out a little.  Our girl showed pretty good instincts and a talent for hitting off a tee, and she seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.  Our son waited until the final game to award her a game ball (every other kid had received one by that time, so that was well handled) and last Saturday the league had its closing ceremonies, where every player received a small participation trophy.  She was beaming after receiving that!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by.