From Grumpy's Garage

 About a week ago, I was assuaging my angst about Trump, DOGE, and the current political crisis with wine -- a lot of wine. It didn't take long for me to realize that this wasn't a sustainable strategy. I had to find a way to have a positive impact on the situation, so I sent an email to my most trusted family members (my wife, four daughters, and son-in-law) asking for advice. I've already posted about what my eldest daughter and my son-in-law (husband of #2 daughter) said. Wise advice from both. And I was blown away by what #2 daughter sent me next. (It should have surprised me; she's the most politically active of all of them.) Her advice: Clarify my goal. (In my own words, "What does success look like in this situation?") Don't try to act alone. Connect with a group that shares my vision for success. Pool resources. Having an impact doesn't have to be hard. Just because I find that something comes easily doesn't mean I'm not being effective...

 In an earlier post, I shared how my eldest daughter encouraged me while I despaired over the fate of the U.S. government as I watched being it ripped apart. Her advice: focus on your Circle of Control (or, Circle of Influence). There is little (read: nothing) to be gained by lamenting over things beyond my control. Shortly after that advice from my eldest daughter, my son-in-law shared how agency, connection, and community counteract trauma. Agency : As my daughter had shared, focus on the things within my power to control. Connection:  Don't suffer alone. Seek out others who share vision for the world we hope for. Community : At a larger scale than connection, link arms with others to take action. By ourselves, we each are powerless. Even in small groups, that powerlessness is profound, but less painful. But in sufficient numbers, we have a shared voice that commands attention. And that attention can attract both allies and enemies. Spoiling for a Fight? Attracting both alli...

 Ever take your nice, calm Labrador retriever for a walk in the park when a squirrel innocently bounds across the path ahead of you and up a tree?  Your nice, calm dog becomes hard to control. It might take a while to get them away from that tree. Well, this week, the nice, calm, mainstream news media found a squirrel. They seem to have lost focus on the big news (and still hasn't gone away): DOGE is taking a chainsaw to the U.S. government. Instead, news this week has been dominated by "Signalgate," a kerfuffle surrounding a group chat of the "Houthi PC small group." I don't need to go into the details of Signalgate. But  how  it has dominated the news may be more relevant. With all this attention on Trump's senior security advisors and their "amateurish" handling of sensitive information on  Signal , a commercial messaging app, the destruction that DOGE is wreaking on government agencies hasn't been the lead story. I wouldn't be surpr...

 I felt powerless. The Trump administration is taking a wrecking ball to the federal government, and there is nothing I could do to stop it. "Of course not," I reminded myself. "I am but one voter among many. Over 155 million votes were cast in the presidential election." I take voting as a moral obligation, but when I consider that mine is but one in 155 million, I do ask myself, "Why bother?" I found myself wanting to squelch that internal voice of despair. So I poured myself another glass of wine. And another. And another. I could tell pretty quickly that this wasn't a healthy way to manage my anxiety over political issues in Washington, DC. I imagined that there must be other ways to channel my energy besides dissipating it in a drunken stupor. So I reached out to the handful of people that I trust the most: my wife, my four adult daughters, and a son-in-law. I sent them an email expressing my frustration at feeling like there wasn't anything I...