Monday Musings - August 10, 2026

 1. I can hardly believe it, but today is the second Monday of August. We are in luck though because August has five Mondays and will linger for a few weeks yet. Remember though, there are only 20 Mondays remaining in the year. 

Dressed for our Anniversary Dinner
Tequesta, FL
August 9, 2026

2. Thank you for all the kind words about our anniversary yesterday. We headed off to Cooper's Hawk for a great meal to celebrate, even though we celebrated on the ship. It was kinda lonely though, just being the two of us, but we had a great time nevertheless.

Rear-facing Radar on Bike
Tequesta, FL
August 9, 2026

3. I have been trying to modify the attachment of my rear-facing radar to attach to my bike rack instead of the seat post. Patrick was kind enough to 3D print one solution that I found. I got it all installed on the bike, but I also had a flat tire. After replacing the inner tube, I rolled the bike upright and broke the attachment. Yesterday, I blued the piece and added a screw to provide more stability and hopefully make it stronger. Time will tell.

4. The Orioles are a frustrating team. They effectively gave up on this season at the trade deadline and continue to play mediocre baseball. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games, but continue to fall further out of first and also out of the wildcard. I saw this graphic the other day which expresses my frustration with the team and its management. 

Beck
Glen Burnie, MD
August 9, 2026

5. Cutest boy ever. OK, he's not a baby anymore, he is a toddler--and he does. Chris and I were thrilled to spend a week with him and his family during our recent cruise, but yesterday, in a Facetime conversation, he was so busy and cute that I could not help but to snap an image from the screen. I think I caught him.

6. An interesting thought from Heather Delaney Reese this morning: This is the pattern of authoritarian leaders throughout history. They start wars to project strength, discover they cannot control what they have unleashed, and then try to rebrand retreat as triumph. Argentina’s military junta invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982 to rally nationalist fervor and distract from economic collapse at home. The war lasted just over two months. They lost. The junta fell. The Soviet Union spent a decade in Afghanistan trying to project dominance across Central Asia. They withdrew in 1989 with nothing to show for it but devastation, a broken economy, and a radicalized population that would haunt the region for a generation. Wars started by men like Trump are never about the stated objective. It is always about the leader’s need to appear invincible. And when the illusion breaks, it is the people who bear the cost. Not the leader. (Hope for America)

7. Today in History. On August 10, 1977, police arrest 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitzand charged him with being the “Son of Sam,” the serial killer who terrorized New York City for more than a year, killing six young people and wounding seven others with a .44-caliber revolver. Because Berkowitz generally targeted attractive young women with long brown hair, hundreds of young women had their hair cut short and dyed blonde during the time he terrorized the city. Thousands more simply stayed home at night.

After his arrest, Berkowitz claimed that demons and a black Labrador retriever owned by a neighbor named Sam had ordered him to commit the killings.

Iran ties Hormuz reopening to US concessions on several demands - Reuters

In rural Wisconsin, frustrations over Trump ag policies heat up House race - Reuters

Ukraine kills 13 in drone attack on Russian city of Nizhnekamsk, officials say - Reuters

Trump has a Carter-style Iran problem as the economy drags - CNN

What we know about China’s moon-landing plans and why the US is so worried - CNN

The full cost of Elon Musk’s DOGE tenure is still being tallied — but a new report gives a hint - MS Now

GOP midterm strategy embraces Trump’s ‘communism’ fixation - MS Now

Chris Sale ejected before throwing a single pitch in wild Yankee Stadium scene - FoxNews

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL