Yeah. Another Jan. 6th-like moment, wherein I realize that if something THIS simple and obvious isn't enough to meaningfully turn the tide against these hilariously idiotic, dangerous political leaders, we're cooked. I have no doubt Abbott will win re-election this fall.

Your neck of the woods was nice. Can't yet really afford to own property there, though, or most urban places near either coast. Even after a few years of building equity in a mortgage, the cheap cost of living here is like crawling out of a financial well. Might have to go at least quasi-rural, but suburbia is lame. If there's no way to move somewhere without losing 1,000 sq. ft., dunno, that's looking like a more and more feasible sacrifice. I would miss my music studio terribly. We'd not have much real income anywhere overseas, paying double taxes, but we live at least semi-modestly, so I dunno. My wife and I (and these damn, ungrateful kittiez) are so very fortunate, at the personal level, and it's not fair that I have the option of leaving, but I can't figure out what staying put would guarantee besides further deteriorating social conditions. Leaving's probably the best way I can still meaningfully vote, right?

My biggest concern is the grid going down. And soon. That's the one that'd instantly bring the entire state to its knees. The largest disaster in modern U.S. history, save (perhaps?) covid, which was international anyway, and all it would take is a small series of missteps or mismanagement during the process of instituting rolling blackouts the next time instantaneous demand for electricity exceeds supply. A condition we flirted with, not during winter, but earlier this May, during a heatwave. In May. May. Uh-oh.