Apologies to the tea drinkers of the world for the possibly garrulous, but definitely loquacious, coffee talk today.

I don't expect any trick or treaters. I think I've had three since 1989. But, if we do get some, I hope they like oatmeal packets and Ritz crackers.

Had to renew my library card today. The librarian told me that people are coming in daily to ask if there is anywhere they can get some food, including an unusual number of young people in their early 20s. We discussed putting nonperishables in the free little library over near the trailer park. (Thank you to the people who suggested that.) And, of course, we need to support food banks with whatever funds we can. No donation is too small. The fact is, in the U.S. we are on our own. We are going to have to help each other. We are plunging headfirst into a clear and present crisis. #SNAP #FoodInsecurity

Book Outlet just suggested discounted bundles of "The Prestige Collection" by Paper Mill Press. (Apparently not overstock or anything.) Even looking them up, I'm still not sure what is being offered of value. Are they just pretty display versions of the classics? Are they valuable collectibles? It's hard to tell if this is a good offer or just repackaging with fancier edges and covers. I get the feeling that these are the Hummel figures of books: something people collect and put in glass cases. #books #Bookstodon #Collectibles

I hate that anyone named Melissa will now be associated with this potentially deadly hurricane. I have a friend named Katrina who changed her name to Kat after the 2005 hurricane killed nearly 1400 people. Maybe we could just name hurricanes/cyclones after the oil companies and the billionaires who profit off them? Have to reuse the names a lot, but we can just add numbers, like we do for Kings or Popes: ExxonMobil III or BP XIX. #Hurricane #Melissa

We often find ourselves exasperated with people who stubbornly support political leaders who actively work against their own interests, but we underestimate how important it is to people to not be "wrong" about anything, even little things. For example, in the grocery biz, shoppers would get mad that the thing they were looking for wasn't what they thought it was. They would insist that Orzo was rice, or that Chai was coffee. They chose to go without the very thing they were looking for, because they could not stand being wrong about what it was.

This is going to be a slow-moving disaster. I hope there is help being staged right now for the people in these areas who about to be devastated by flooding. Hurricane forecast: Melissa’s crawl through the Caribbean could unleash catastrophic flooding and destructive winds | CNN https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/23/weather/tropical-storm-hurricane-melissa-caribbean-track

It's not a ceasefire, if you keep firing until everyone's deceased.

We're gonna need a bigger jorts.