Just confirmed the validity of my voter registration. Ballots mailed out tomorrow!

Friday Night Vodka Buzz. Ask me anything.

I announced a few days ago my purchase of a bottle of Ukrainian corn vodka, and my plans to try it out tonight.

Well, I apologize. The tasting is deferred until later this weekend. I had to finish off my bottle of Smirnoff Lemon. That’s done. Now it’s on to the drinking!

I love you all…

I scored a bottle of Ukrainian vodka!

I was at the local beverage superstore picking up my birthday bottle of Lagavulin, and thought I'd check and see if they had any Ukrainian vodka for a solidarity purchase. Now, my local store has an immense vodka selection, from all the usual suspects, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Lithuania, France, etc. But there was a sign posted in the vodka aisle stating that all Russian vodkas and other spirits had been pulled from the shelf for the duration! So hats off to the company for their show of support.

Down at the end of the aisle, bearing a blue-over-gold card expressing support for the people of Ukraine was a small selection of their vodkas. One variety distilled from wheat and the other from corn. I was intrigued, because, AFAIK, I've never had corn-based vodka. It is a deep gold in color, and the label states that, although the best vodkas are always clear, they kept the gold color for this variety to echo the gold stripe in the national flag of Ukraine.

I felt like such a good liberal buying a bottle. Especially since the young man helping me wore an POC-LGBTQ-support button on his vest.

Can't wait until Friday to crack my bottle of corn vodka and try it out!...

When did this "I proudly celebrate Columbus Day" shit start?

I don't ever remember anyone "celebrating" Columbus Day until just a few years ago. We now know that Columbus was a monstrous, slave-mongering, genocide-supporting pile of shit. Is Columbus Day celebrated by people who think these are good qualities?

Man, oh man is this country turning into a shithole.

Friday Night Vodka Buzz. Ask me anything.

Two shots of vodka to get the party started.

Now I’m enjoying a whiskey rickey. Whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup, and club soda.

I love you all…

There will come a day when they will find me slumped over my desk; dead from overwork.

I'm hoping it's not today. First patient up in fifteen minutes, and I've already been at the clinic for two hours doing paperwork.

Man, the sheer number of things I would no longer need to do if we just had a national health insurance plan...

It's the cocktail hour. Enjoying an Algonquian.

Rye whiskey, dry vermouth, and pineapple juice.

I can tell already that rye is something that I’m not going to want to drink neat. So I’m working my way through the cocktails for which rye is a base.

Happy Saturday night, everyone!

Friday Night Vodka Buzz. Ask me anything.

Two shots of Smirnoff, and now, a New York Sour.

Took a testing sip of the rye. Let’s just say I’ve seen two-handed lumberjack saws with a smoother edge…

But it goes well in a cocktail…

Happy Friday Night, everybody.

I love you all…

Whew! Had to put out a lot of fires today, figuratively speaking.

Busy day in clinic. Fridays, everybody wants their aches and pains evaluated before the weekend.

There's a drink (or three) with my name on them waiting for me at Chez Aristus.

Got a brand new bottle of rye whiskey distilled by a local company that also makes the best bourbon I've ever had. Looking forward to cracking it and giving it a try.

And, as always, a little vodka to get the party started.

Hope to see you there. Drinks are on me...

Russia's frantic grab for warm bodies reminds me of Rome after the Battle of Arausio.

105 b.c. Rome is trying to fend off an incursion into their territory known as Transalpine Gaul by Germanic tribesmen. At this time, Rome only permits property owners to serve in the legions, for two major reasons. One, they can afford their own weapons and armor, and two, only property owners are believed to have sufficient incentive to fight, as they have tangible assets to fight to protect. People who own no property are too poor to afford military equipment, and are believed to be uninterested in fighting because they have no assets to protect.

Rome's legions facing the Germans are commanded by a patrician general, and a plebian general from a lower social rank. The patrician general refuses to coordinate his movements with those of his social 'inferior', as a result, they are not able to bring a united force against the Germans when they attack. As a result the Roman legions are defeated, leaving Rome vulnerable to attack. Historians estimate a death toll of between 80,000 and 120,000 soldiers dead.

Desperate for warm bodies to fill out new legions, the Senate either decreases the property qualifications of potential soldiers, or ignores them entirely, and also sends out press gangs pulling old men out of their beds and dragging them into service, and intimidating young property owning teenage boys, the "men of the house" now that their fathers have been killed in action, into the legions.

Rome's solution to the problem is not one Russia can emulate, as terms of service have changed so drastically. Social upstart and brilliant general Gaius Marius begins to recruit his soldiers from the unpropertied, the homeless, and the unemployed of Rome, using the most powerful intangible asset there is: patriotism. While the snobbish Senators declare their outrage over an army of social nobodies, Gaius Marius welds his pauper soldiers into a first-class professional army, and together, they win battle after battle after battle for Rome, and change the legions from a part-time militia into a full-time professional force.