Tag: navel-gazing

TBT: Interminable Heat

The Portly Politico2 Comments

It’s another insanely hot summer here in South Carolina, and we had a long drought in June with nary a drop of rain. It makes me wonder how people in pre-modernity survived droughts and famines that lasted for years.

The rains have come, but the days are still quite intense with heat. The afternoon showers are not as routine as I’d like, but they are at least bringing some reprieve in the evenings. Our upstairs unit runs nonstop on sunny days, regardless of where we set the thermostat; one day it was 85 degrees Fahrenheit up there! Our downstairs, thankfully, maintains a reasonable frostiness, even in the heat.

The koi and the minnows seem to be holding up well, however. The minnows don’t seem to mind at all! I’ve noticed, though, that even they stay a bit below the surface on the hottest days. The koi, who usually eat more when it’s hot out, have been eating less than usual; I think they’re enjoying the cooler temperatures a bit further down.

Dr. Wife and I are taking a cruise next week, and its a tour of the Western Caribbean: Mexico, Honduras, Belize, and another stop in Mexico on the way back to Tampa. It’s going to be brutal in the tropics, but at this point, how can it get much worse (perhaps I just jinxed it). One day we’re going to see a Mayan temple, so maybe yours portly will end up roasted on a spit above a pagan altar. Gulp!

With that, here is 23 July 2025’s “Interminable Heat“:

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TBT: The Joy of Coffee

The Portly Politico4 Comments

Blogger Esoterica over at Existential Ergonomics has once against inspiration for today’s post. She posed a fun question to readers in her post “Q&A: Are you a tea or a coffee person?“

It’s a smart title because it’s dripping (no pun intended) with engagement potential. Naturally, the comments section was poppin’—and yours portly was not shy about discussing coffee (and tea) with the other readers, especially after purchasing a new coffee grinder (that’s an Amazon Affiliate link; I receive a portion of any purchases made through that link, at no additional cost to you):

That got me thinking about a post I wrote way back in 2021. I looked it up, and was shocked to find that I’d never featured it in a TBT. Well, it’s time to change that and look back at a post about my favorite breakfast beverage.

With that, here is 24 March 2021’s “The Joy of Coffee“:

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Midweek Recuperation

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My students had their big Spring Concert last night and it was incredible.  It was the longest concert I’ve ever conducted, with over two hours of music.  As it was my “swan song” of sorts, I wanted to go out with a bang.

I’ll have a full rundown of the concert—a “postmortem,” as I call it—this Saturday for paid subscribers.  Suffice it to say that the evening went quite well and I am utterly exhausted.  I did indulge in some late-night, post-concert Taco Bell, the greatest of budget fast food joints in the modern era (somehow, Taco Bell has avoided the “enshittification” of other establishments, even if the results of consuming it result in a different from of enshittification) before the long drive home.

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Midweek Koi Pond Update IV: Purple Leopard Ramshorn Snails

The Portly Politico3 Comments

Maintaining a koi pond is a hobby that can take on a life of its own.  In learning about keeping koi and maintaining a pond, I’ve learned that a common phenomenon is people getting hooked on buying more fish.  Given that a full-grown koi can go for $50 or even hundreds of dollars, the hobby can get very expensive very quickly.  I’m thankful, then, that the previous owners stocked the pond so well.

What I find myself looking for are not more koi (not necessarily), but more species that I can introduce to the pond to increase its biodiversity.  At least, that’s the rationale—I really just want an excuse to buy more snails and minnows and what not.

So far, I’ve added rosy red minnows, two small butterfly koi, ramshorn snails, and Japanese Trapdoor Snails.  My next planned addition is three dojo/weather loaches, which are a peaceful, eel-like fish that feeds along the bottom of the pond.  In searching for those loaches, I came upon an eBay listing for seven purple leopard ramshorn snails.

These are just a color morph of ramshorn snails.  Instead of the typical dark brown, they have a slightly purplish, speckled appearance.  I would not have bothered purchasing them except that they were eight bucks (with free shipping), so I figured, “why not”?  They should add to the genetic mix of the existing ramshorn population.

One thing I’m learning when purchasing live animals on the Internet (read that out loud and it will sound questionable) is that, like most things in life, you often get what you pay for.

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Midweek Koi Pond Update III: Japanese Trapdoor Snails

The Portly Politico3 Comments

Yesterday (Tuesday, 7 April 2026) was a big day for the pond. After noticing the water level falling, I purchased a Boogie Blue Plus Garden House Filter (that’s an Amazon Affiliate link; I receive a portion of any purchases made through this link, at no additional cost to you) and topped off the pond.

I also had a shipment of Japanese Trapdoor Snails from www.prettykoifish.com.  I have been dying to add these massive mollusk beauties to our pond since I first learned about them.  They are the cleaning crew of any pond, and as they settle in and become active, they’ll deep clean the water and the liner.

Right now, our pond water is very murky.  That’s actually good for the koi—they prefer it to be murky—and is a sign of healthy biodiversity.  The only downside is that we can’t see our fish unless they’re coming up to feed!  It will take a few weeks, maybe months, but the Japanese Trapdoor Snails should start to hoover up lots of detritus.

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Closing and Taxes

The Portly Politico10 Comments

Yours portly has spent the last two nights laboring over income tax returns for Dr. Wife and myself.  My taxes are always a bit unusual because I have so many side hustles (and 1099s as a result), but getting married in late 2025 changed quite a bit.  Apparently, the State of South Carolina treats all income reported on the federal tax return as income due to the State, but you can claw it back to avoid double taxation (which is unconstitutional) by pulling the AGI from another State’s return (in this case, Dr. Wife’s earnings were entirely in North Carolina).  I was shocked to learn that North Carolina has a lower State income tax than South Carolina, especially as we’re the allegedly more conservative of the two Carolinas.  Yeesh!

Quick note:  do not take any of the above as financial or tax advice.  I’m not even sure if I’m explaining all of that correctly (to my younger brother:  don’t panic—I did everything by the book, I just can’t remember every little exact detail at the time of writing, and don’t feel like looking it all up again, but I did it correctly).

As per usual, filling out tax forms reminds me of how much I despise the income tax, in part because it demands that we reveal so much of ourselves to the federal government.  Like with so many things, though, we reveal intimate details about our lives—like how big our home office is—so we can grasp onto a few more of our  own dollars.  At this point, we should do away with all deductions and just charge everyone a flat 5% of their income—or, better yet, abolish the income tax and shift to a flat national sales tax.  It’s way easier to control my spending than to try to calculate what percentage of my cell phone usage was for business purposes.

It’s also frustrating to hustle and scrimp and save all year, only to be punished for it come tax day (and, yes, I should start paying taxes quarterly—that’s coming under the new Dr. Wife/Portly regime).

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Decluttering

The Portly Politico2 Comments

No new music today, readers.  I’m working on a piece for Koi Dance called “Sunrise: Variations on Grieg,” which (so far) combines flute, xylophone, and marimba to explore variations on the famous theme from Edvard Grieg’s “Morning Mood” from the Henrick Ibsen play Peer Gynt.  “Morning Mood” is probably track one, side one of Romantic Music’s Greatest Hits; everyone who has ever seen a Bugs Bunny cartoon has heard the piece:

Unfortunately, yours portly is pretty worn out and, despite my best efforts, I could not sustain composing last night.  Yesterday was a “marathon” of sorts for me.  The way my classes and lessons shook out, I was going nonstop from about 10 AM to around 6 PM without a break.  That’s after working Sunday for an open house at school and spending most of Saturday moving.

That is not to complain, but to explain—posts are going to be a bit sporadic (especially in terms of quality—gulp).  I’ll catch up on content for paid subs as soon as possible.  With the house closing approaching imminently, moving the last of my meager (but, it seems, endless) possessions into our new home is taking top priority.  Indeed, the plan is to take another load of stuff up to the new house after work tonight.

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TBT: The Portly Politico Presidents’ Day Extravaganza

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The United States observed Presidents’ Day earlier this week, and yours portly is enjoying a decadent Winter Break for the next couple of days.  Of  course, the decadence will end abruptly on Saturday when Dr. Wife and I load up yet another U-Haul with the last remaining stuff from her house.

For today, though, I’m enjoying a little bit of time with the dogs while Dr. Wife slaves away at the hospital.  She’s a good woman.

It seems that February is always a bit of a low-point for the blog in terms of my own preparedness and output.  I’m not sure why that is.  Perhaps the initial rush of the New Year has passed, with Reality settling in heavily.  It certainly seems like everything has been busier lately.

Regardless, here’s to a few days off—probably the last for a good while!

With that, here is 17 February 2025’s “The Portly Politico Presidents’ Day Extravaganza“:

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Midweek Update: Home Selling

The Portly Politico42 Comments

A quick update from yours portly today, as I’ve been hustling to get my house ready to list.  Last week, my pastor (who just started a carpet cleaning business) did a deep clean of the house, which, of course, meant I had to deep clean before he arrived so he could get to the really bad stuff.  My mind boggles at how much junk I have accumulated in just seven years.

This morning my realtor came by with a photographer to get pictures of the house, so that required more organization, especially involving the artful concealment of things no one wants to see in pictures of a home—trashcans, the stuff you keep on the back of the toilet, etc.  I was really pleased when my realtor told me that I’d done a great job getting things together.

Now I’m just waiting for the disclosure paperwork, and soon my little home will be on the market officially.  Selling that will be a huge boon for Dr. Wife and me.  We currently own three homes between us, which sounds like some kind of decadent dream, but it’s really a huge time- and money-sink.  My house, fortunately, is paid off, thanks in part to the best bank of all, The First Bank of Mom and Dad.  The value has more than doubled (of course, the value of the dollar has probably halved) since I bought it, so I should walk away with a good profit, which will help to pay for the hefty mortgage on the new house.

Shew!  But I digress.  Please be praying that my house sells quickly—and Dr. Wife’s!  She’s had hers on the market since right before the wedding back in November, and while she’s had some showings, she hasn’t had any offers yet.  We need that albatross dropped onto some hapless chump happy new homeowner ASAP!

More to come.  Happy Wednesday!

—TPP