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It’s been fourteen months since my very successful cardiac ablation for Afib. For the third and, I am told, final time as a follow-up, I’m wearing a heart monitor.

I wondered how some random lady, the “Door Dash Grandma,” was able to walk right up to the White House to deliver Donald’s comfort food.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-doordash-mcdonalds-tax-tips-iran-pope-cdec935afd68b86b264ed1b0de772e1d

The answer is, she isn’t some random lady. Once again, Republicans play the game of accusing everybody else of what they’re doing. That wasn’t the first time she’s been planted for a photo op.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2026/04/14/has-doordash-grandma-appeared-with-other-gop-leaders-what-to-know/89602972007/

On a whim, I looked behind the new dryer and, to my dismay, saw there’s no strain relief clamp^* on the power cord. Argh. If the guy who installed the dryer didn’t have the part on hand, he could have used the clamp from the old dryer. It’s a standard UL-listed part.

Recalling that I have a clamp somewhere, I decided to do the job myself. I pulled the dryer out from the wall, unplugged it, and removed the wiring access panel.

But, of course, the clamp wasn’t in the toolbox. (Had I already used it for something?) After too many minutes spent in fruitless searching, and not wanting to hunt down a clamp, I contacted Best Buy and arranged for a service call. At least that way they’d know one of the guys at the sub-contractor they hired is doing sub-optimal work. (The team that Best Buy sent to install the dishwasher two years ago was excellent.)

That keeps me stuck here, looking at today’s newspaper, while waiting for a call with an expected arrival time for the service technician. It should take him all of two minutes to secure the power cord.

Most days, I get a suburban Boston newspaper. Yes, an actual paper-paper. I feel my connection to the National Cartoonists Society demands it. The paper has the Jumble puzzle.

Some days, like today, I instead get a copy of The Boston Globe. It has a Jumble variation that’s a lot easier to do, but it’s better than having no Jumble. (I sound very retired, don’t I.)

Which takes me to this video with Globe reporter Emily Sweeney, who articulates a genuine Boston accent, with its “hahd ahh” sound.

@bostonglobe Authorities are still searching for a masked intruder who broke into a Beverly mansion early Saturday morning, assaulted and tied up the home’s caretaker, snatched several valuable items, and fled in a stolen Porsche. As the case remains unsolved, questions are swirling about the heist and its mysterious aftermath. Globe reporter Emily Sweeney explains what we know so far. Head to the link to read more. Reporting by Emily Sweeney and Lea Skene Video by Raphael Chinca #localnews #beverlyma#massachusetts ? original sound – The Boston Globe

^* The technician has been told it’s okay to hand me the part (that they call “the butterfly”), and I’ll install it myself.

She could sing and act, too!

Note: At the moment, this is on a home page with six posts, none of them with overtly political content, and not by accident. I’m sure it won’t last for long.

Lately, I prefer this to watching the news.