We Need Courageous Tracey Therits

The Tracey Therits of the world need to do the right thing. Therit is the Chief Human Capital Officer at Veteran's Affairs. She signed an order provided for her that fired over one thousand probationary workers at the VA based on their performance. Therit did not actually review the performances of these workers; she was merely carrying out an illegal order by the Office of Personnel Management, which did not have the authority to make such an order. OPM is indirectly run by Elon Musk.

When taken to court, OPM blamed Therit, claiming that each agency was responsible for their own firings. Therit would surely argue that she was just carrying out orders. She probably feels like she's damned if she does and damned if she doesn't.

People like Tracey Therit need to stand up and not carry out orders that they know are wrong. Firing those workers without actually assessing their performances was flatly wrong. In doing so, Therit contributed to the terrorizing of the federal workforce, the destabilizing of our country, and the shift one step closer to a political bureaucracy which will make winning elections a dire prospect for each side.

Tests of courage aren't limited to firings. Federal workers need to rid themselves of the fiction that if they do everything right, they will be spared. This administration will fire them over nothing if they can. It's paramount to stand up and do the job, ignoring the administration's noise.

It's also important to understand that the administration isn't playing chess. They've fired numerous essential workers that they've had to scramble to hire back. Musk and his minions don't actually know what they're doing. They're not secret spies; they just want to appear that way. It's time to stand up to them and ignore their illegal orders.

Misunderstanding Illegal Immigration

There are an estimated 11 million unauthorized (illegal, undocumented) immigrants in the United States as of 2022, a 5% increased from 2020, according to USA Facts. Most Americans agree that those convicted of violent crimes should be deported. It's important to note the difference between "convicted" and "arrested" though.

The National Institute for Justice, a federal government agency, produced a study asserting "undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crimes" than U.S.-born citizens. The new administration has hidden that report from the public. It doesn't fit their narrative on illegal immigrants.

There have been a few publicized incidents of undocumented immigrants committing heinous crimes. These events were horribly tragic. When they are highlighted, they give a statistically inaccurate impressive that violent crime among undocumented immigrants is a major issue in the country. These immigrants become scapegoats for the actual problems, such as an unfair tax code that leads to drastic income inequality.

It's important to note that the majority of undocumented immigrants overstayed their visas. A minority cross the border illegally. Thus, border security isn't even the main way to lower the amount of undocumented immigrants.

One area in which we must improve as a citizenry is being able to decipher information. A heart-tugging story like Laken Riley's can't be the basis of policy when the numbers suggest the tragedy was a sad anomaly. But we allow emotions to overtake facts and allow our leaders to distract us from the real issues.

Immigration is a net positive for the country, but undocumented immigrants are a problem. Not because they're here, but because they're undocumented. Opening up the process to immigrant legally will help mitigate the problem. It can be very difficult to make it here legally, so people come or stay illegally. Granting asylum more liberally to politic victims is another way to get people into the system. The problem isn't with the person immigrating, it's with the fact that their undocumented. As citizens, they wouldn't drive down wages because they'd be paid what's legal. 

Another solution is to provide aid to the country from which these people are emigrating. They won't come here if they don't want to leave home.

• Deport undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes
• Use facts, not emotions when voting and making policy decisions
• Make it easier to immigrate and receive political asylum
• Fix the tax code to cull income inequality
• Remember undocumented immigrants are human beings

The Banality of Jeffery Anoka's Evil

Jeffery Anoka is the acting Chief Human Capital Officer at HHS. On Friday, he sent a heartlessly cruel email to all those probationary workers at HHS who were callously fired regardless of their performance. In a form email, Anoka blanketly criticized the performance of all fired workers, disregarding their actual competence on the job. That critique may stay on their permanent government record even if their performance wasn't substandard in reality.

For the indiscriminate gutting of the federal workforce to actually work, there must be Jeffery Anokas, craven opportunists who stifle their integrity at the expense of their ambition. Perhaps if he stood up and said he wouldn't send the email, which is designed to gut the government's ability to fund health-related research, he would be replaced and someone else would send the email. But that's the point. If everyone stood up and refused to carry out these destructive requests, they wouldn't be carried out. Every evil system needs its order-takers to carry out the brunt work. It's the only way the leadership can assert its grip on power.

The Jeffery Anokas of the country should be named and shamed. It's the only way to hold them accountable and stop the internal implosion of the federal government.

The Makeup of the Federal Workforce

The current administration is attacking the federal workforce: firing vulnerable workers, shuttering agencies, and applying psychological pressure on those that remain. But it's important to take a look at just who makes up the federal workforce.

30% of the federal workforce is made up of veterans. Only 5% of the general workforce is made up of veterans. So the federal government is an important sector for those who have served our country. The largest agency in the government is Veterans Affairs, which makes up 21.3% of the federal workforce. 70.3% of the workforce is in national security related industries. The largest occupation is in the medical field, which boasts 15.5% of the federal workforce.

80% of the federal workforce is located outside the Washington D.C. area. There are more federal workers in California than in Maryland, which borders the nation's capital.

The federal workforce has a higher percentage of "people of color" than does the workforce at large (40% to 24%), but those jobs are more likely to be lower level on the GS scale. By the time you're at the GS 15 level or the SES level, the workforce represents the employed population at large.

Federal workers make up a tiny percentage of the population. Since 2010, they have made up between 0.57% and 0.61% of the population. Almost 50% of hires are at the entry level with a quarter unclassifiable.

While this administration has been trying to handcuff much of the federal workforce, there is one area that they could've made more efficient, if the people in charge knew what they were doing. The average hiring process takes three times longer in the public sector than in the private sector.

Source

When we talk about the federal government being bloated, we can see that critique really refers to the defense sector. The talk of "DEI" ruining the federal government is completely fabricated as higher levels of government, the decision makers, represent the same demographics as the workforce at large. The notion that DC is a swamp of bureaucrats also doesn't check out as 4/5th of the federal workforce don't work in the area.

This country has its share of problems, but the federal workforce isn't one of them.

Government Chaos

The new administration has ushered in a period of chaos within the federal government thanks to unclear and not well-thought out executive orders. One rescinded a an executive order issued by President Biden that capped the cost of prescription medication. Fortunately, some caps were written into the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, such as a $35 co-pay cap on insulin.

In American politics, voters are caught in an our side vs. their side mentality. We shouldn't base our policy positions on those of the politicians we support. It should be the other way around.  It's not that Trump or Biden are always right. It's up to us to learn the issues and hold politicians accountable. Unless you work for a pharmaceutical company that profits from high prescription medication prices, we're all in favor on reasonable prices for our medication.

Likewise, this administration has put a freeze on communication between the CDC and NIH and the public. Not only that, but many of their basic functions have been frozen. We all can support funding research that helps cure or manage diseases. The private sector often isn't willing to face the risks of investing in these type of grants that are designed to help the public. Workers now can't do their jobs that directly contribute to benefitting Americans' health. With the freeze, the public can't get the information these agencies collect.

Information is never bad unless you have an inflexible ideology and that information disproves your beliefs.

There's nothing wrong with having ideological differences, but we all want lower prices and cures for cancer to be researched. This is why it's so important to understand the issues and hold politicians accountable when they remove price caps for prescription medicine or halt the function of key agencies that contribute so much to the health of society.

Transgenderism and Fear

Transgenderism was a major issue this past presidential campaign with President Trump running a national ad on the subject. In reality, unless you're a transgender person, this is a minor issue that doesn't affect virtually all Americans.

Estimates by the Williams Institute place the percentage of transgender people at 0.6%, which is about a half a percent or 1 in every 200 people or so. I don't know about you, but I don't see anywhere near 200 people a week.

Conservatives have been worried about transgender women playing women's sports. It's good that they're concerned about women's sports, but this a non-issue. NCAA President Charlie Baker, a former Republican governor of Massachusetts, estimated that there are fewer than ten transgender athletes in the NCAA. In 2022, Politico reported that there were only four transgender athletes competing in high school sports out of 85,000. Only one of the four competed in women's sports.

Regardless of which side you're on,  the question of transgender athletes is really only an issue for the tiniest fraction of Americans. The issue really only comes down to: is it fair one way or another? There are much bigger issues that the vast majority of Americans need to focus on.

Conservatives are also worried about transgender women going into women's bathrooms.  They see it as a safety issue. Of course, bad people don't need permission to do bad things. But let's look at the issue of violence and transgender people. While transgender people are not more likely to commit crimes, they are four times more like to be victims, according to the Williams Institute. According to Congress, the murder rate of transgender people has doubled in the last four years. So it's far more likely that the transgender woman in the bathroom will be a victim of a crime than will commit one.

While I wish we all had more compassion for one another, the reality is, for over 99% of Americans, the transgender issue doesn't impact them. It's a fear-mongering diversion tactic to avert our attention when the cap on our prescription medicine costs are lifted and our access to affordable disease therapy is removed.

The Fraught Issue of Abortion

Fundamentally, we need to understand that Americans of all political persuasions want what's best for America. We may not agree what that means or how to get there, but we want America to succeed.

On the issue of abortion, we all want the same thing: fewer abortions and lower infant mortality. We disagree on how to get there, whether it's a national ban, the decision of the states, or the individual's choice.

If we understand that we all want fewer abortions, we can then look at the data and see what works and what doesn't. Some of you might be yelling at your screen, "I don't want fewer abortions, I want no abortions!" Please understand that zero abortions equals fewer abortions, so we're all on the same page here.

In the 18 months after the Dobbs Supreme Court case that erased Roe v. Wade and sent the issue of abortion to the states, infant mortality has gone up 7% as compared to the previous 18 month period according to a paper published by the AMA. This doesn't feel right, but if we think about it logically, it makes sense. Most of the 7% of babies who died had congenital abnormalities or birth defects.

Confusingly, the number of abortions has risen 11% from 2020 (the last time there was comprehension statistics before the Dobbs decision) and 2023, according to the the Guttmacher Institute. It's at its highest since 2011. Dobbs may or may not be a reason for the increase, but importantly, the ruling, which has resulted in reduced access to abortion, hasn't had the desired effect on reducing the amount of abortions.

Sadly, the maternal mortality rate is 7% higher in states that have restricted abortion access, according to a Tulane University study. The more restrictive the policy, the chances the mother dies increases dramatically.

So the current policy of states determining abortion rights has caused a higher death rate for babies and mothers and resulted in more abortions. We certainly don't want the government to police our morals, so let's take a look at better ways to get what we all want: fewer abortions,

We need to address the root causes for why abortions take place. Increased access to contraception and better sex education are two practical and obvious ways. More fundamental is to address the pervasive issue of poverty. An increased standard of living and improved safety net will make abortions less necessary. Reducing poverty is a giant issue, but it's one that will have the consequence of reducing abortion, something our post-Dobbs reality has failed to do.

The Department of Government Efficiency Instantly Kills Promise

The advisory committee, called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is a good idea led by successful businesspeople Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Unfortunately, the pair is hellbent on haranguing federal workers and committed to blanket policies of rolling back "federal regulations," buzzwords that could mean anything.

The government has some inefficient regulations. At NIH, HR decides which scientists are qualified to be certified instead of the scientists who actually know the science. That's inefficient and the kid of stuff that should be changed. 

Most federal workers take pay cuts to work for the government out of duty to country and belief in a noble cause. Some do take advantage of the job security and don't carry their weight. It can be hard to get rid of them. The president, however, shouldn't have that authority, but their apolitical direct bosses should. The government, of course, doesn't want to be tied up in ongoing litigation, but empowering those managers is one way to make the government more efficient.

Instead, Musk and Ramaswamy have called for federal workers to go back to the office five days a week. This is the opposite of the supposed innovative ideas one would believe they'd bring to the table. A recent study by Nicholas Bloom argues that a hybrid system is far more effective and efficient than forcing workers into the office five days a week. The report states, "[H]ybrid working improved job satisfaction and reduced quit rates by one-third. The reduction in quit rates was significant for non-managers, female employees and those with long commutes."

Musk and Ramaswamy don't seem to be interested in actually making government more efficient. They want to force essential workers out by making their jobs more difficult and less enjoyable. The problem is the U.S. government, despite its faults and bad reputation, does a tremendous amount for its citizens. Michael Lewis, in his book The Fifth Risk, explains what different agencies actually do and how that helps Americans and saves lives.

DOGE, which is not an actual government agency, seems set up to be a missed opportunity. The workers themselves should be surveyed for the inefficiencies with which they have to deal and those inefficient regulations can then addressed, not a heavy-handed approach from a couple of ideological outsiders. 

Trump and an Uninformed Electorate

A twenty year old, mostly dormant blog isn't going to slow Trump's march towards turning this country into his own personal fiefdom at the expense of all Americans, including his supporters. But it might help me process what has happened.

Why did Donald Trump win, even after inciting an insurrection, being convicted of felonies, facing two impeachments, and all his other excesses? It was combination of factors with one that stands out above all the rest.

There is a segment of voters who would've voted for a Democrat who wasn't a woman or of black and Indian descent. It might have been large enough to swing the election. Kamala Harris was also at a significant disadvantage jumping in the race three months before the election. Trump has been running for nine years, which makes it harder for others to define him. Harris, who ran as a centrist, was more easily defined as a radical leftist by Trump. Both points suggest it would've been wiser for the Democrats to stay with Biden, who actually won the primary, than to switch to Harris. Biden may not have won, but he wouldn't have done any worse.

The biggest issue is with the electorate. There are far too many low information voters. That allows Trump to get away his constantly lying. Voters don't know enough not to believe him. It enabled Trump to define Harris as a radical leftist despite all evidence to the contrary. Trump can play on people's fears about trans athletes and illegal immigrants, who don't have any impact on the lives of almost every American. Rural and suburban dwellers fear cities even though crime is way down.

Most Americans don't even know how the government or the economy works. So if the price of eggs rises, they believe the president is at fault. Yet, when policy makers work to deregulate water safety and people develop diseases and die as a result, they can't comprehend the government's impact.

Fundamentally, the electorate needs to become more knowledgeable at the very moment it's becoming much less so. This is the main issue that needs to be solved.

Top 10 NBA Players

Top 10 NBA Players 1

 Top 10 NBA Players Now

While this list consists of the top 10 players now, the past is taken to account, but it is not a list of the best players who happen to be active. Previous ranks posted on June 27, 2023.

.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	Jokic (2)	Jokic (1)
2	Antetokounmpo (1)	Embiid (2)
3	Embiid (3)	Doncic (6)
4	Doncic (4)	Antetokounmpo (3)
5	Tatum (7)	Gilgeous-Alexander (10)
6	Gilgeous-Alexander (NR)	Durant (8)
7	Brunson (NR)	LeBron (7)
8	A. Davis (NR)	Tatum (4)
9	LeBron (8)	Curry (NR)
10	Durant (10)	Brunson (NR)

Top 10 NBA Careers Among Active Players
You're making a list of the ten best players in NBA history, but there's one caveat; you can only include players who played during the 2021-22 season (injuries excepted). These are our choices, taking the players' entire careers into account. Previous ranks posted on June 27, 2023.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	LeBron (1)	LeBron (1)
2	Curry (2)	Durant (2)
3	Durant (3)	Curry (4)
4	Antetokounmpo (6)	Paul (3)
5	Jokic (7)	Harden (5)
6	Westbrook (4)	Antetokounmpo (6)
7	Harden  (5)	Jokic (7)
8	Paul (8)	Westbrook (8)
9	A. Davis (NR)	A. Davis (9)
10	Kawhi (9)	Kawhi (10)

Top 10 NBA Franchise Players
This list is about which players you would pick to start a franchise right now. They must have played in an NBA game. Previous ranks posted on June 27, 2023.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	Doncic (1)	Wemby (NR)
2	Wemby (NR)	Doncic (1)
3	Gilgeous-Alexander (3)	Gilgeous-Alexander (6)
4	Antetokounmpo (4)	Jokic (2)
5	Jokic (5)	Antetokounmpo  (4)
6	Tatum (2)	Embiid  (5)
7	A. Edwards (NR)	Tatum (3)
8	Haliburton (6)	Brunson (NR)
9	Maxey (NR)	Haliburton (7)
10	Jalen Williams (NR)	Sabonis (NR)

Top 10 NBA Players

 Top 10 NBA Players Now

While this list consists of the top 10 players now, the past is taken to account, but it is not a list of the best players who happen to be active. Previous ranks posted on June 28, 2022.

.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	Antetokounmpo (1)	Jokic (5)
2	Jokic (2)	Embiid (3)
3	Embiid (7)	Antetokounmpo (2)
4	Doncic (5)	Tatum (4)
5	J. Butler (10)	Harden (NR)
6	Curry (2)	Doncic (4)
7	Tatum (NR)	LeBron (5)
8	LeBron (3)	Durant (8)
9	Do. Mitchell (NR)	J. Butler(NR)
10	Durant (6)	Gilgeous-Alexander (NR)

Top 10 NBA Careers Among Active Players
You're making a list of the ten best players in NBA history, but there's one caveat; you can only include players who played during the 2021-22 season (injuries excepted). These are our choices, taking the players' entire careers into account. Previous ranks posted on June 28, 2022.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	LeBron (1)	LeBron (1)
2	Curry (2)	Durant (2)
3	Durant (3)	Paul (3)
4	Westbrook (4)	Curry (4)
5	Harden (5)	Harden (5)
6	Antetokounmpo (6)	Antetokounmpo (NR)
7	Jokic (10)	Jokic (NR)
8	Paul (7)	Westbrook (6)
9	Kawhi (9)	A. Davis (8)
10	J. Butler (NR)	Kawhi (9)

Top 10 NBA Franchise Players
This list is about which players you would pick to start a franchise right now. They must have played in an NBA game. Previous ranks posted on June 28, 2022.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	Doncic (1)	Doncic (1)
2	Tatum (6)	Jokic (2)
3	Gilgeous-Alexander (NR)	Tatum (4)
4	Antetokounmpo (2)	Antetokounmpo  (3)
5	Jokic (3)	Embiid  (5)
6	Haliburton  (NR)	Gilgeous-Alexander (NR)
7	Adebayo (7)	Haliburton (NR)
8	E. Mobley (NR)	Do. Mitchell (9)
9	D. Fox (NR)	E. Mobley (NR)
10	La. Ball (8)	Zion (NR)

Museum and Souveniers

It was raining in the morning so we ordered breakfast. My bagel and pastrami sandwich was very good. When it stopped raining we went to the National Museum of Scotland again.

This was Candace's first time. She was very excited to see Dolly, the cloned sheep. The kids played their games again while I ran around the museum checking out the other exhibits. I saw all the Scottish exhibits. There was a menorah in one display dedicated to the diversity of Scotland in the 21st century.

We left the museum and Tali started to whine. We got the kids drinks and then went to get souvenirs. That was a long expensive frustrating process. Then we got some hand pies. Tali started have a meltdown. We bought some treats. That wasn't good enough. We got back to the hotel just before it rained again.

We watched out game shows, The Tipping Point and The Chase. It was hard.to put the kids down and the weren't behaving great. Abie became sad that we were going home tomorrow. He said he really enjoyed his time here.

Garden and Dean

We got a late start and everyone was grumpy because they were hungry. We ate at an Italian chain restaurant and the kids really liked it. Candace liked her fancy pizza as well.

We made the long walk to the Botanical Gardens. I had a panic attack on Dean Bridge. It's not a scary bridge, but I peaked over and my fear of heights took over. In eroding park gave us nice views of the city. The Botanic Gardens were a nice place, a little too commercial for my liking.

We searched for treats, but Edinburgh is a little weird. Some places close early and others open late. So you find a great place online and it's invariably closed. Candace got some coffee and we searched for Dean village.

My feet and legs were aching and the sidewalk situation was not good for Candace's scooter. I've seen people who use wheelchairs here and it must be very frustrating for them. Edinburgh infantilizes disabled people. Candace has lost some independence. At home or even during our Brisbane trip, she was completely independent. Edinburgh has been very rough in that regard.

It was too difficult to get the scooter down to the iconic view of Dean village. It was nice, but felt like many European cities. We went back to the hotel and ordered some Japanese food. The chicken was good, but the beef was the worst I've ever had.

Football in the Rain

 Today was the last day of Canada's conference. The kids and I went to a used bookstore. Then we saw the statue of the great Scottish boxer Ken Buchanan. We got some pizza and went to see a Hibs soccer game.

The crowd was 16,334, so it's not the biggest stadium. It had more of a minor league feel. It took me a while to figure out how to scan the ticket because I'm an idiot. I scanned Tali and she pushed the gate to go through. I scanned Abie's  but he didn't pushed the gate fast enough and it locked. I did my ticket and tried to get Abie through but we didn't do it fast enough.

This was a floor to top of the doorway rotating gate, so Tali couldn't come out and we couldn't go in. I scanned the tickets again and they were declined. I told Tali to wait right there. Abie and I ran to the handicap ticket taker and told him what happened. The tickets were declined again and he told me to go to support nearby. So I ran there and told her what happened. She reset the tickets and told me to go first. I did, but then the gate got stuck with Abe's ticket. A couple of tries later he got in. We ran over to Tali who was waiting by the gate. She told me later she was just a little scared.

The kids didn't really pay attention to the game. We were in the front row in the corner. Hibs was up 2-0 at the half. The kids wanted food, but I wanted to wait until the second half. Turns out the food stalls close after halftime so they were pissed at me.

In the second half, one middle aged man maybe had too much to drink and kept yelling fucking every third word. His accent was so strong I could only make out "fucking" and the occasional "cunt." I couldn't understand anything else he was saying. I was hoping the kids couldn't either, but they heard all the fuckings being dropped. The constant f bombs spread. Soon everyone near us started tossing them around.

At the end, the other team scored a cheap goal and the lead shrank to 2-1. After some nervous moments, Hubs pulled it out 2-1 just as the rain picked up.

We made it to another book store where I got some books on Scotland for us, drawing much ire from the kids who wanted books we can get anywhere. Then we made the long walk back to our area and the rain pelted us. The kids have effective rain jackets. I have a fleece that does well in the rain, but had left it in the room next door during the power outage fiasco. The fleece I had on attracts rain, so I was soaked.

We got takeaway for dinner and brought it to the hotel, hoping the paper bags of books and dinner wouldn't disintegrate in the rain. Luckily they didn't and we ate dinner in the hotel room.

Parliament

I helped Candace get ready for her conference at 7:30am and fell back asleep at 8:30. The kids woke me up a little after 10. We were able to visit Candace at the conference for a little bit. Talk wanted to stay so I suggested Candace take the kids in so that they would become bored. That was a mistake.

The kids were bored, but Candace is very important in her field so people wanted to talk with her. I waited outside until security said I wasn't allowed to wait there for so long. So I had to come in. I taught the kids about various charts and graphs. Then the kids and I ate at Jollibees. They enjoyed it. We found a playground nearby.

Then we took a long frustrating walk to the Scottish Parliament. The kids would go so slow or just hang 20-30 feet behind me. We got into the parliament and saw the exhibition and the debating room. The SNP is the current ruling party. Talk lost her parliament sticker, so Abie asked for another one for her.

We then walked to the Scottish National Museum. The kids loved it. It was a total mishmash, but they enjoyed the interactive exhibits. We only got to see the first floor.

Then we got some treats from the grocery store. On the way back, I made a mistake I've made a few times. On the map, it's not clear that the bridges are 100 feet higher than the crossroad that takes us to our hotel. We rested in the hotel for a bit and watched The Chaser, a game show we also watched in Australia.

We met Candace and headed for dinner. We ate a Kurdish restaurant, because that's what you do when you come to Scotland. Abie broke a glass. Kurdish food is a close to Middle Eastern. We had pomegranate mousse and saffron and cardamom ice cream for dessert. We went back to the hotel. The kids have not gone to bed easily tonight.

Sleepless Nights and Arthur's Seat

The power didn't come on until the morning. I had trouble sleeping and went down at 4:30am to complain about the lack of power. The night shift worker tried to help. He let me charge our stuff in the room next door, which was a much smaller room. I tried to sleep there with a noise machine, but this hotel requires a keycard to close the blinds and it gets light at 5am.

I charged our phones and tried to sleep back in our room. I finally fell asleep at about 6:30am. I had to wake up at 7:30am to help Candace ready for her conference. I went back to sleep at about 9am and slept until noon. The kids had slept in and were playing nicely.

Candace had sent me messages that things were not going well at the conference. The rooms at the convention center were too narrow for the scooter and the food was terrible.

The kids and I walked to Arthur's Seat, a mountain a couple of miles from the hotel. It was very windy during the entire day. Talk wanted us to take a certain path that was closed due to possible me rock slides, steep cliffs, and general danger. it was fenced off, but Talk insisted that was the way to go. While getting yelled at, I pushed through until we found an acceptable path to Tali.

The wind blew dirt in Abie's eye, so he was suffering most of the walk up. We got very high when I realized we were close to the edge and the wind was trying to push us off. I started to have a fear of height-related panic attack, so we decided to head back down.

We wanted a fish and chips restaurant but couldn't find a good one that was open. So we went back to the hotel and looked for one nearby. There was one on Victoria Street. We had delicious fish, chips that were like fry a shaped mashed potatoes, fried haggis, a fried Mars bar, and sticky forget pudding. We loved it. We got back to the hotel to find Candace waiting outside our door. She told us about her tough day due to Edinburgh's poor record on accessibility. We got Candace the same food for takeaway but she didn't like it as much. In retaliation for Edinburgh's lack as accessibility she has been calling the city "Eden-burrow" in the streets as loudly as possible.

In Edinburgh

We had a relaxing morning in the hotel. I woke up hours before everyone and booked our tickets to the castle. The castle was not great for Candace. The path is mostly stone, which makes for a jarring ride on the mobility scooter. Stairs prevented her from seeing some of the exhibits.

The kids like it at the beginning. The love climb iron cannons, a habit they picked up from visiting Civil War battlefields. They liked how high up we were. But the exhibits didn't really capture their attention. There were roo many people. And I think they became tired and hungry. Candace heard the one o'clock salute, but we missed it. We saw the prisoners quarters which is shielded from the sun. They got hammocks to relax it and got to play games like dominos. They even had meals prepared and served to them. Maybe I missed the point.

We then walked to get hand pies for lunch. Cheap and delicious. I had the haggis pie, which was quite good. This place was accessible, but Edinburgh has a big problem with wheelchair accessibility. Many stores and restaurants have one step to get in. The curb cuts are there, but sometimes very steep. They're definitely not uniform. Of course, the stones on the a Royal Mile are no fun. It's hilly, so there are lots of stairs. So Candace has been frustrated.

After the pies, we got ice cream. Then we went back to the hotel. Candace mapped and the rest of us watched gameshows. A few hours later, the kids and I went for a walk that turned into an arduous trek.

We climbed up Granny Green stairs to the castle. Then we made our way to Princes Street. We walked to the National Monument and Talk had a meltdown. She wanted to wall a long way out of the way to get a view of the city that we already had where we were. She kept screaming at me.

I managed to calm her down. She fell and I carried her for a bit. Then we bunny hopped down some stairs. Abide wanted attention too so I carried him a bit too. Then we all had bathroom emergencies.

My stomach had been acting up and that haggis pie wanted out, so I darted into a fancy hotel. I apologized and asked if I could take the kids to the toilet. The receptionist was showed up to the loo. It was one of the nicest bathrooms that I've even seen. The kids were thrilled.

We walked a long way to the grocery store and picked up some food and and treats. We came back and ate. I went to heat up Candace as food and the kitchen lost power. Then the TVs went out. So that's where we are.

DC to Edinburgh

 We had an overnight flight from DC to London. Only Abie slept at all. I watched The Godfather and Creed. We didn't have much time to catch our connection to Edinburgh. The scooter came up late, and the kids were freaking out because they were overtired. It came and then we weaved our way to passport control. There was one officer there and a very long wait. There was a second shorter line for people with flights departing soon. We were put around that line. I eventually just slithered into line and we didn't have to wait too long.

We had our picture taken, went through security, had our picture taken again and we made it. They took Candace a different way onto the plane, but it all worked out. Abide slept a little.

We waited for the scooter for a while again in Edinburgh, but we weren't in a rush. When the scooter came, a worker escorted us through the airport. He said we were the first Americans to check only one bag. He took us to the tram and the tram workers gave the kids paper trains.

We made it to our stop, but Tal had a meltdown on the walk to the hotel. The hotel let us check in early and it is very nice. It's two rooms and we can see some of the castle from the window! We all took a nap and forced ourselves to wake up.

The plan was to get groceries, mostly treats, and then Indian food as it's Candace and my monthiversary. The kids rode on the scooter, but there was a rocky curb cut and the scooter tipped over and they all fell. I was joined by several people who helped get Candace untangled from the scooter and we put it right and helped her up.

The kids were only hurt a little, like a normal fall, but Candace hit her head and felt nauseous. Then we realized Tal's  jacket that had been on the back of the scooter was gone. I ran to retrace our steps, and the kids followed me, leaving Candace alone. We found the jacket on the sidewalk by the hotel and ran back to Candace. She was ok when we got back. She didn't want to go back to the hotel. We got snacks from the grocery store and found the Indian restaurant. The most positive gregarious woman took my order for takeaway. We made it back to the hotel and ate the delicious food and tried n the snacks, a great ending to a tough day. So far, the people here have been so kind.

Last Day in Brisbane

I wasn’t feeling well again today, but we had to check out at 10am. I had trouble sleeping and could’ve used a few extra hours of relaxation.

We left our bags at the hotel and Candace took the kids around South Bank. I tried to find a spot to relax in the Modern Gallery of Art. I did see one security official talking into her earpiece as she watched me, so I left.

I found a nice spot in the Gallery of Art and read and look at my phone. At one point I sharted in my sweatpants and scurried to the toilet. Lucky the damage was reversible. Every time I felt a little gas, I waddled to the toilet.

The family met me in the gallery where the kids love to touch the forbidden art. We walked over the bridge through the Queen Street area to the Post Office food court, which underground. We had underwhelming grilled cheese sandwiches in the underground food court.

Candace and the kids searched for souvenirs while I slowly made my way back to the hotel. Reception closed at 5, so we had to get our bags before then. I waited in the hotel coughing as I had all day, feeling guilty.

We left for the train station and I put more money on my go card, which I recommend. They canceled a train to the airport, but we were so early they could’ve canceled a few more. The kids were insane on the train, which is especially bad because people don’t really talk on the train.

An older guy asked Abie what was his stuffed dingo’s name, “Is it Ernie?” I had seen a commercial for Ernie Dingo’s travel show and had to fill in Candace on the joke. I got a refund for the kids’ go cards, our first Australian cash.

In the airport, Abie and Candace went to get drinks. At some point Tal wanted to go with then and started out on her own. I told her she couldn’t wander around the huge airport looking for them. Tal tried to assure me that she was an expert on this airport that she had been to for fifteen minutes. We caused a scene, but I got her to come back.

We made it through to the gate and are waiting to board. Hopefully we can sleep on at least one of these two 14+ hour flights.

Coughs and Bagels

Tal and I went to the pool in the morning while Candace and Abie went to the grocery store.

Today we had brunch at a bagel place in the West End and thick shakes. The bagel was good, but the chocolate shake was bitter.

The kids and I got slurpees and stopped in a park. We watched a rugby practice. AFL is supposed to be bigger than rugby here, but the so called battle of Brisbane between the Broncos and Dolphins boated twice as many fans as the AFL game we went to on Friday night. Both began at the same time.

Then the kids played on a playground. I watched some kids playing basketball behind them and resisted the urge to teach them how to shoot. They all shot two-handed.

We made it back to the hotel. Tal and I developed bad coughs and I kept feeling nauseous. We all chilled out for a few hours and then watched Australia’s Married at First Sight. Duncan did the right thing declining to continue with the American woman.

We went for a nighttime walk along the river. I was feeling bad, but otherwise it was a nice walk. We leave tomorrow.