So, after the G 20 meeting Trump and Putin met privately with no US person in the room. NO ONE, except the Russians, know what was discussed.

Do you ever wonder why Trump meets with Putin so privately?

Do you think maybe Trump is hiding something?

Do you think that Trump is Putin’s bitch?

I do.

Not as pretty as the image on DietDoctor site but just as tasty, I’m sure. This one’s a keeper so I’ve been told.

Ciao.

It’s nice to have long weekends. It gives me time to try new meal options. So, tomorrow, on MLK day, I’m going to make the keto pie pictured above. I got the recipe from DietDoctor.com.

When it comes to low carb or keto recipes I love perusing this site. I’ve made a few of their meals and have enjoyed every one of them.

If I remember I’ll take some pics of the finished product.

Ciao.

I had put a hamburger in my relatively new Breville oven and walked away…about 10 minutes later I hear an odd loud sound. What the hell? I went towards the sound and saw this:

What the fuck!

We’d been looking to buy this oven for a few years – the Cranberry Red to be specific. The only place we could find it was Williams-Sonoma – and it was kind of expensive. So, on this past black Friday it was discounted 40%! SALE!! We swooped it up!

After I saw the shattered glass, I immediately called Breville and explained what had happened and they were very nice and indicated they would send me a replacement and to send back this one. I verified that they were going to send the Cranberry Red. She looked up inventory and said, yes, they’ve got it in stock. I should receive and email within 24 hours indicating that it has been shipped.

You know where this is going, right? No shipment email. I ended having to call back several times. Breville’s customer service hours are horrible. After two weeks I finally talked to someone who was able to tell me that they didn’t have any Cranberry Red ovens in stock and wouldn’t until March. WTF! I told her that the original rep had checked inventory and assured me they had them in stock. This rep said that she shouldn’t have promised it in case there were orders in front of mine. Keep in mind that Breville charged me $140 until they received my broken unit.

So, I checked the Williams-Sonoma web site and they had the Cranberry Red in stock! I filled out a contact form on their site. I got a very quick reply that they would immediately send me a new unit and to send the old one back in the same box. They emailed me a return label at no charge to me. I called Breville to cancel everything – and yes, they refunded the $140 they had charged. From then on everything went exactly as Williams-Sonoma said it would. I will be a loyal customer. And I will avoid Breville customer service like the plague.

By the way, I love the oven and have used it many, many times. Hopefully, the shattering of the glass was an anomaly and I will have many years of satisfied service.

Ciao.

John Pavlovitz sums up perfectly the relationship effect of the current Presidency:

The separation you feel and the distance you are experiencing is for good reason. You know why you’re here right now. This isn’t a capricious response to some minor moment of misunderstanding, not some flippant mood swing triggered by a singular blowup. This is the slow, steady, and devastating realization that you and some people you have lived life alongside—aren’t morally compatible.

This bears repeating…we aren’t morally compatible.

I’m reminded of an article in the New York Times that I read yesterday about a conservative county in Florida who have been adversely affected by the government shutdown.

Here’s the punchline:

“I voted for him, and he’s the one who’s doing this,” she said of Mr. Trump. “I thought he was going to do good things. He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.”

He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.

He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.

He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.

Ciao.