Momma And The Twins

From the Bushnell camera we host on behalf of Snapshot Wisconsin there was this.

Twins are growing-up..... 

 

The Red Rocket

Semi-obligatory photos of the coming and going of my sidekick.

Ruby - The Red Rocket.....

 

Indoor Pizza

Most of you readers know that we use our wood-fired brick oven to cook outdoors during the more pleasant months of the year.  This time of year we'll fire it up if we score a day above freezing and especially during daylight hours.  Baking or roasting in the dark at 20F is not appealing at all.

Recently we hosted guests for the weekend and one of the requests was for homemade pizzas.

So I prepared a batch of sourdough crust balls to undergo a cold fermentation in the garage fridge and prepped everything else with the exception of the firing the forno.  Too dang cold and I was disinclined to be traipsing from oven to house and back in the dark while balancing a pizza peel. 

So I used the new GE Profile range that I've been becoming accustomed-to .  

The bottom oven has a pizza stone and I can preheat it to 550F which will bake a fresh pizza in about 10 minutes - give or take.

And I never had to leave the comfort of my own kitchen.

Pizza!  Pizza!

Wile E. Coyote

And how about a little local coyote action?

Storm The Bastille

On December 4, Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed outside the entrance to the New York Hilton Midtown in Manhattan, NYC.  He was in town to attend an annual investors meeting for UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare.

Authorities believe the attack was not a random act and are investigating it as an assassination.  The shooting occurred early in the morning and the suspect, described as a white man, fled the scene. As of the publication of this post the perp has not been apprehended.

No arrest.

No interrogation.   

No motive.

Plenty of speculation to go around.

It is unclear what motivated the incident or whether it was tied to Mr. Thompson's work in the insurance industry.  The police have yet to identify the shooter who is still on the loose.

Nevertheless, social media has exploded with an avalanche of vitriol, and glee over the murder of the insurance executive.  Sure, I get it.  People have had negative experiences with health insurance companies at some of the most difficult times of their lives.  But in the absence of the facts and circumstances of this killing has anyone considered taking a moment to take a breath and not get over their skis? 

I tried on a Face Book group to counsel restraint and got hammered.  I was slammed for not embracing the notion that a man responsible for millions of deaths of people for money got his comeuppance.  

UnitedHealthcare denied 32% more claims last year than any other insurer, it's not hard to figure out.

Posting a photo of Albert Bouria, CEO of Pfizer, from Prophetic Memetics someone else suggested that he just thought someone else might might be curious.  

Anybody else, beside me, consider that a passive aggressive threat instead of your garden variety internet troll?

It is interesting to me the instances of individuals who have flippantly shared that their grievances (large or small, real or perceived) are justifiably resolved at the point of a gun.

It is a chilling observation to note that killing someone for a slight, a political difference or an insurance dispute is justified. 

Regrettably, this is what can happen when there are no appropriate channels for people to make meaningful change to a malign system.  The Supreme Court has allowed unlimited money in our politics and politicians are voting with their corporate overlords, including health insurance companies.  

My sense is that government is broken and simply does not work very well for the average American.  As a consequence they despair.

If this shooter becomes a folk hero it will be appalling; but not surprising.  I have shared many times that capitalism is messy business.  Perhaps we've arrived at a Storm the Bastille moment where the murder of both oligarchs or a neighbor with an offending bumper sticker becomes normalized.

I sure hope not....

Friday Morning Empathy

A long time pal of mine shared this with me.

Communication is more than talking, it's about listening. When we listen with empathy, we help others feel seen, heard, and understood. 

Turknett Leadership Group President & CEO Tino Mantella uses a comedic scenario to demonstrate how to listen with empathy.

Active listening skills are remarkably important when resolving someone’s disgruntled emotional state. Sometimes in order for someone to return to homeostasis, it requires empathy and understanding, not to attempt to solve their problem. A fragile emotional state is not the time for that. The time for logic and reason is later, once homeostasis has been achieved. 

You can’t efficiently fix a problem when you’re in emotional distress. You need to be calmed first before being able to apply reason.

Survival Of The Fittest

The gun hunt this year delivered a nice selection of antlered deer.  Four good-sized boys and one really nice, fat doe.  Which is unusual inasmuch as we generally shoot more does than bucks.

What is also unusual are the number of bucks showing on the trail cameras this fall - day and night.

 

I wonder how many of them survived the hunt to live another day?