Rant 2,183: Bits and Pieces

Yes, the time has come again for this periodic roundup of things that I want to talk about, none which deserve a full Rant to do so.

So here is what I have to say on these topics, and you can chime in too if you feel the need to do so.

Trump/Putin Summit: I am so sick of reading negative comments about this meeting between the leaders of the world's two top nuclear powers, and I am going to be as concise here as possible.

In a media-fed frenzy, President Trump has been taken to task for his handling of the possible intervention of the Russians in the 2016 Presidential election, which put Trump in the top spot and sent Hillary Clinton home.

Critics have faulted the President for not speaking up on the subject, for cowering in the presence of Russian leader Putin, of not putting America's best interests first and foremost when talking to Putin.

This is utter nonsense, of course, but the anti-Trump media wants everyone to believe that the meeting accomplished nothing and made us look weak.

Nothing could be further than the truth.

For the world's benefit and safety, the two superpowers are now aligned on the same page, and that is always a good thing.

Second, for those who don't believe that Trump brought up his concerns with Putin about Russian meddling, well, come on now, you know that that isn't true--the only reason you are shaking in your pants is that you didn't get the possible conclusion that you wanted to of this subject: that yes, the Russians had something to do with our election, and yes, the reason Trump is president is because of the Russians.

Behind closed doors, Trump and Putin did speak about this subject, but it wasn't how the media portrayed it, as in, "Mr. Putin, did your country somehow help to rig our Presidential election? "No, Mr. Trump, we did not." "OK, thank you."

You just know it went deeper than that, and our President, satisfied with what he heard, went on to other things with Putin, much more important things for the world and our future.

Those who hate the President are going to hate him and blame him for everything, but in actuality, the ones who rigged the vote in 2016 were the biggest blowhards, the ones who were so confident in the media's prediction of a Clinton landslide that they stayed home and didn't vote.

I would tell those people that rather than go on wild goose chases, look within yourselves, and you will discover the real reasons that Trump is in office, and might just be there when the vote comes up again in 2020.

Home Run Haven in All-Star Game: Baseball fans, ponder this: do you want to see a well-pitched game, or do you want to see offensive carnage>

Actually, true baseball fans would say a little bit of both, but last night's All-Star game gave fans--rabid ones and casual ones--an incredible offensive display never seen before in baseball's mid-summer classic.

A record 10 homers were hit in the 8-6, 10-inning American League win, and the game kind of followed the script laid out the day before, when hometown boy Bryce Harper of the host Washington Nationals won the Home Run Derby.

The Derby evidently did not stop in the actual game, when Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees led the barrage by hitting the first homer of the game in the second inning.

Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels followed him up with a homer of his own, and then, the barrage continued, with the Cincinnati Reds' Scooter Gennett and Joey Votto, the Chicago Cubs' Wilson Contreras, the Milwaukee Brewers' Christian Yellich, the Colorado Rockies' Trevor Story, the Seattle Mariners' Jean Segura, and the Houston Astros' George Springer and Alex Bregman (the latter being the game winner and earning Bregman the game's MVP award) all homering.

Home runs are up in baseball, as are strikeouts, but there is nothing more majestic in sports than a player hitting a baseball into the seats.

And since the All-Star game is simply an exalted exhibition game, there is nothing better than an All-Star game featuring homer after homer.

Pain-Free Dentist: After my past travails at the dentist, which I have chronicled over the course of the life of this blog, I finally found a dentist that I can trust, one who will do the job and one where I don't have to worry about my teeth anymore.

I took a local dentist after the horror show I experienced with my previous dentist--including sending me on my trip to South Korea with, among other things, a major dental infection and sore teeth--and happily, this is the dentist I have been looking for for a long time.

I had a cavity filled yesterday, and if I felt any pain or anguish, I don't remember it at all.

I was in, out in about 15 minutes, and that was that.

The cavity was in one of the back of my mouth teeth, it was kind of hard to get to, but the dentist did it without a problem, and my mouth felt fine then and feels fine now.

What a relief after the pain I experienced at my previous dentist.

I still hate to go to the dentist, but at least when I go now, I have an expectation that everything will be fine.

Current Job Prospects: I have noticed that on Facebook, more and more of those online job services are putting up posts trumpeting their services ... and people are writing back, saying how truly bad their services are.

I have done that on numerous occasions, and I don't know where else I get so many "likes" on things that I put up on the social media network.

I did the same thing yesterday, when one of the major players in this field put up how successful they have been at finding people jobs.

"Pooh!" I said, and I challenged them to find me something, with two years of searching, more than 400 jobs applied for, and a couple of phone interviews and one face-to-face interview to show for it.

Incredibly, they got back to me, and said that I should contact them personally and they would try to help me out.

I did just that, and sent them my resume.

So far, I have not heard back from them, but when you are snatching at straws--or anything--like I am at this point--my job and company might last now to October, based on what one of the higher ups blurted out the other day--you have to try anything.

Maybe this will turn the trick, but I am not holding my breath, because I have been down this road before, and if I do hold my breath, well, I would pop for sure.

Speak to you again tomorrow.