Good Monday morn, friends! Yes, it’s Monday again already, but even worse … do you realize it’s already AUGUST??? The year is 58% over and Hallowe’en 🎃 is just around the corner! Where … just where did the first seven months of this year go??? The only upside to this is that autumn and cooler temperatures will soon be here. Normally, I’m sad to see summer go, but this one hasn’t been particularly pleasurable between the pandemic, the heat, and the political angst, so I’m happy enough to say ‘goodbye’ to it. But enough of that … it’s Monday, the start of a new week, so let’s try to find some humour, something to put a smile on our faces as we brave the new week, shall we? Grab a snack and a cuppa, and let’s see what awaits us …
Oopsie!
If you live in Rhode Island and were expecting a tax refund check, you might be in for a surprise. Some of the refund checks, mailed last week, bore the signature of Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney, instead of the usual Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner and State Controller Peter Keenan! No, you cannot cash them if you receive one of these … I’d hang onto it, though … it might be worth something someday!
According to Jade Borgeson, chief of staff for the Rhode Island Department of Revenue …
“As a result of a technical error in the Division of Taxation’s automated refund check printing system, approximately 176 checks with invalid signature lines were printed and mailed to taxpayers on Monday. The invalid signature lines were incorrectly sourced from the Division’s test print files. Corrected checks will be reissued to impacted taxpayers within one week.”
Just bein’ helpful …
Brett Longo of Mary Esther, Florida, had taken his trash container to the curb for pickup a few days ago. A bit later, he got an activity alert from his home security camera telling him the camera had picked up movement. When he checked the camera, this is what he saw …
On first glance, it appears one of the two black bears was being nice, bringing his trash container back up to the top of the drive, but then the bear tipped it over and … turns out it hadn’t been emptied by the binmen yet, ‘cause the bear spilled the trash all over the drive! Longo was forgiving, though …
“He was just bringing it up to the house. He was polite enough to move it out of the driveway.”
Barred from da bar …
A pair of emus were once a staple in the pub in the Yaraka Hotel in Yaraka, Queensland, Australia, but today they are no longer welcome. Turns out the emus, named Kevin and Carol, have been a bit naughty within the confines of the pub, stealing food from patrons and leaving little ‘gifts’ behind on the floor!
Gerry Gimblett, who owns the Yaraka Hotel with her husband Chris, said they were left with no other option after the birds’ recent “bad behaviour”.
“They’ve been stealing things from the guests, especially their food. They’d stick their heads in and pinch toast out of the toaster. But the main reason we’ve banned them is their droppings.”
The emus had become a tourist attraction after several eggs were hatched at the end of 2018, and while at one point there were nine emus in town, most had wandered away, leaving only Kevin & Carol.
“We love them as part of the Yaraka community, but they’re not welcome inside anymore.”
Now, I’m not sure how many customers the pub can have in a day, for the entire human population of Yaraka is only 18!
Okay, folks … it’s cartoon time!!!
And two cute critter videos, because the first one is super-short, but ohhhhh so cute!
I see those gorgeous smiles on your faces … be sure to remember to share them today and throughout the week, for times are tough and we all need someone to just smile at us every now and then! Love ‘n hugs from Filosofa and Jolly (Joyful is taking an interior decorating class … she became inspired after re-decorating Roger’s dark tower!)
Oh, and just for you, Hugh …
Jolly has gone AWOL yet again, not surprisingly, so I’m on my own here today. Be patient, for it’s Jolly who adds the zest to Jolly Monday and I only do the technical part as a rule, so I’m a bit rusty on the humour end of it. I do, however, remember how to make bacon! That is a big requisite here for a few of you! So, with that thought, let’s grab a bit of a snack and see if I can manage to rustle up just a bit of humour for us to start this week out on the right foot, okay?
Now THAT’S how it should be, folks! But what a coincidence, eh?
Louis DeJoy is the new Postmaster General for the United States Postal Service. His qualification for the job? He bought the position by donating $360,000 to Donald Trump’s campaign fund, and another $70,000 to the Republican National Committee (RNC) just since January of this year. In total, since 2016, he has donated over $2.5 million to Donald Trump and the RNC. I have not been able to verify his net worth, but he lives in a $5.9 million mansion, if that tells you anything. He is not a man who really needs that tax refund check or social security check to be delivered in a timely manner.
There are two major concerns here. First, that check or medication you were counting on to arrive today may not arrive until next week, leaving you in a lurch or worse. Of equal concern, though, is that with just over three months until what is arguably the most important election of our lifetime, and many states offering mail-in voting in this time of pandemic, will we receive our ballots on time, and will they be received at the polling stations on time? I have voted by mail for several years now, find it a great convenience, and have always had confidence that it was an efficient process. This year? I’m not so sure.
My best guess is the issue of mail-in ballots is the main reason that Mnuchin, surely under Trump’s orders, is refusing to release the already-approved loan to the USPS. In so doing, he is putting lives at risk, and putting our right to vote at considerable risk. If the USPS has been ordered by its new Postmaster General to “leave mail lying on the floor” in some cases, then how can we possibly have confidence that our mail, our all-important votes, will be delivered?
The DIY Heinz Creamz kits are £15 each and available now. The kits include the accessories you need to make the no-churn saucy deliciousness, including the sauce of your choice, your chosen recipe, a limited edition keystone-engraved golden scoop and golden spoon plus branded Heinz Creamz reusable tub to serve with extra pizzazz.
The company announced in September that it had created the cinnamon and chocolate ice cream, flavoured with gobs of cinnamon bun dough and spicy fudge brownies, to “spotlight structural racism in a broken criminal legal system”. According to the company, the limited-edition flavour is the latest in its commitment to “creating social change” since its inception more than 40 years ago.
