I’m sitting tonight in the den, having already done my share of the house chores. My housemate, who is cis male, has been relegated the task of scrubbing the kitchen floor.
I listen to him sigh and growl and groan out in the kitchen. He is doing the Man Chore Performance where simple jobs are depicted as tasks worthy only of Olympian Heroes.
I can imagine his inner monologue:
“How can any mortal man accomplish such a feat? For lo, it looms beyond mere human capability. How ever might I meet this dread and Herculean task?”
Cue spotlight. Hand flourish, elegant fingers pressed to temple. A somber lowering of the head.
.
… Nope. I’m not buying it. Not tonight. I stay right where I am and give out calm advice like, “soak it first before you try to scrub.”
(Advice not heeded. I hear him grumbling. Scraping at the floor.)
For nearly any woman on earth, scrubbing the floor is just another Tuesday.
For this man? The mighty task deserves a gold medal.
I say nope. Again, not buying it. Just scrub the fuckin’ floor.
Amazon shopping warnings, article #2 of 2! (Here is article #1 of 2.) How to avoid getting burned by their summer “sales.” This post offers advice on how to find actual deals amongst the supposed bargains of Prime Day Sales. I posted it on Substack in mid-2026. ~FloxMonster™, July 25, 2026
CamelCamelCamel is your friend 🙂
Once again, it’s time for the Amazon Prime Lie Day Sales. YAY let’s buy 16 plastic rainbow spinners for the yard, right?
Wait! Before you nab that “fabulous discount,” check the price! What looks like a discount may actually be a trick. Amazon is one of the worst online price manipulators I know, NGL.
Let me show you the truth behind the b.s.. For an example, I’ll use coffee, because I am a caffeine fiend. Don’t judge. 😛 Here is Tip #2 for finding actual deals on Prime Day.
Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash
Step 1. Find Your Product on Amazon.
Let’s look up Amazon’s Donut Blend in k-cups. Today (June 26, 2026) it is listed as 20% off! YAY!
Step Two. Check the price! 🐪🐪🐪
But wait – before we buy it, let’s visit my favorite price-checking tool: CamelCamelCamel. There, we can copy/paste into their search window the name of that product (or the Amazon website’s URL).
CamelCamelCamel shows me this graph for Amazon’s Donut Blend coffee:
Step 3. Decide if the “sale” is actually a sale.
Whoa, look at that graph! It looks like Amazon treats this coffee like a flippin’ yo-yo. Is this really a sale, when they inflated the price up to $35.62 a week right before the sale? The answer is no.
Amazon inflated the price so they could mark a larger percent off, during the Prime Day Sale. It’s a manipulative trick, and you should not fall for it.
However, using the same graph, you can see the coffee is still cheaper than it has been, since late April 2026. (Thanks to Amazon’s price manipulation.) So now you can decide whether you’re willing to buy it at this “discounted price.” At least now you are informed about Amazon’s tricks.
Now the reason I post this is because it happens ALL of the time, for many products. It’s been happening for years.
So before you purchase that “great deal” at Amazon, always check the price at CamelCamelCamel.com or another price tracking site!
Ahh the joys of shopping Amazon! This is article #1 of 2 about ways to avoid getting burned by the “sales” they run every summer. (Here is article #2 of 2.) This one focuses on the spyware built into Amazon smart devices. They give new meaning to “Buyer Beware!” I posted this article on Substack in mid-2026. ~FloxMonster™, July 25, 2026
Amazon Brand = Spyware
Yay, it’s summer. The Amazon Prime Lie Day Sales are upon us.
I know, I know. For multiple reasons (mostly Bezos’ dickwadacity), many people still boycott the company. I respect that.
However, some folks are limited in shopping choices, be it for health, economic, or geographical reasons, etc. So let’s do some Tips to Minimize the Damage if you’re shopping there this week.
Tip #1. Never, Ever Buy Amazon Electronics.
I say this often: never buy Amazon brand electronics. They are all spyware. Seriously. They are designed to be. The whole list: Amazon Ring, Echo, Dot, Alexa, Fire, and their so-called “Smart” devices (etc). If it connects to wifi and has a mic, it is sending your words to Amazon HQ.
Now, this is not just an Amazon issue. No, sad to say, many brands violate our privacy the same way. However, Amazon specifically has been “caught” (documented) numerous times keeping our data and even passing it to third parties without the knowledge or consent of consumers. That means me and you.
So really, you will never know who might listen to your secrets (or watch you naked) at any point in the future. If that makes you uncomfortable, it absolutely should.
Who might that person be? Maybe law enforcement? Stalkers? … Competitors for a job promotion? Because anyone with enough cash could potentially purchase your recordings from Amazon, or from whomever Amazon sells them to.
Okay. So Amazon is quick to assure folks, “Oh, you can delete the recordings manually.” Really? Because personally, I question whether we can trust that, since all these devices:
Arrive actively set to listen.
Record everything without your consent.
Never allow you to opt-out.
Only started giving warnings after public outcry.
And now require special action from you to remove your own data from Amazon.
None of that behavior sounds trustworthy to me. Therefore, I refuse to buy Amazon electronics, and I warn my friends too. But you should make your own decision.
This is a silly article that tries to make a somewhat-serious point: everyone’s shouting how Musk is a trillionaire, but no one’s examining what an illusionary concept that really means. We might as well call him any silly name. And I have one in mind. I posted this on Substack in early 2026. ~FloxMonster™, July 20, 2026
Image Credit: Gage Skidmore. License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International. My alterations: square crop, blur of everyone but subject, addition of words, sparkles, and a moderately inappropriate fruit.
Musk is Not a Trillionaire. It’s Imaginary Money.
Sorry all you Musk fans (if any still exist), but he is NOT really a “trillionaire.” I know the media love to say it, but no, he’s actually… really not.
In fact, you might as well make up any other title to give him, like “Abracadildodaire.” (My personal favorite.) Because Musk does not possess one trillion dollars. Nope. Nobody handed him a big chest full of dollars. No one ever will.
Go straight to jail, do not pass “Go,” do not collect one trillion dollars.
So why do they call him a Trillionaire?
Why do they call him that? Well, first the obvious reason: it makes great headlines. Everyone will click and gush, “omagah he’s a trillionaire! … Wait, what’s a trillionaire.”
Exactly. What’s a trillionaire?
About the same thing as an Abracadildodaire.
The media call him a “trillionaire” because he owns a lot of property (stock) that, on a good day, if he were to sell it, would be valued at its current price around one trillion dollars. Here’s the catch: he will not sell that. Because if he did, he would no longer own those companies.
So in truth, he owns an idea that is theoretically worth… whatever the market says… if he ever were to cash out… which he won’t.
Yeah.
Also, Money is Fake.
I’m just going to toss this one in because I like to repeat myself: money is fake. Dollars are only worth what rich people and the government tell us it is. Seriously. We haven’t had a real basis for our money in decades.
There isn’t any gold behind a dollar. There hasn’t been since April 20, 1933. We’re coming up on a century with completely fabricated, imaginary basis for our currency.
Money is literally whatever they tell us it’s worth. Because they say so. No other basis. No other value.
.
So yeah. We might as well call Musk an Abracadildodaire. That’s actually what a “trillionaire” is worth.
This article concerns a policy-change by the Trump Administration about Medicaid. I voice my serious concerns about the topic, and how it will affect Americans including myself. I posted this on Substack in early 2026. ~FloxMonster™, July 25, 2026
My mood has been off for a few days.
I had to sit tonight; I had to think about why.
Finally I realized: I’ve been unsettled since I read about Trump’s new Medicaid requirements. The ones so messed that even Nebraska, which tried to launch them early, just stepped back and went, “wait, what?” [source: AP News].
In a nutshell, Trump’s Administration has decided to make it ridiculously hard for Americans to get the essential medical coverage that we need to survive. Why? Why would they do such a thing?
I can only speculate. Maybe they think Americans don’t deserve it. Or maybe they believe being overwhelmed by inflation and illness somehow reduces a person’s value.
.
You know, growing up, my community taught me it was a sin to shame the sick. It was even worse to attack or harm them. My grandfather used to drive his neighbors to appointments, and help them with groceries, when they couldn’t make it.
What happened to those American values?
.
So now Trump is imposing Draconian restrictions on the ill. The Administration is telling them:
You don’t deserve your medication. You don’t deserve medical care. Basically? Go die. You’re a drain on our society.
.
No. I refuse to stand for this.
A civilized society cares for its elderly and poor. That is literally the definition of civilization. To be otherwise is just like beasts.
.
Photo by Maria Ionova on Unsplash
Full disclosure: I have “skin in this game.” I personally am affected by this ludicrous shaming of the poor, this supercilious attempt to declare Medicaid recipients as “lazy” or “not sick enough.”
I require Medicaid literally in order to survive; without it, my body will disintegrate. And given the current insurance-bloated, barely-regulated, private care American system, there is no way that I (nor anyone currently on Medicaid) could afford the care I need. That’s reality.
Taking away Medicaid is, in fact, the same as saying “go die.” It isn’t exaggeration.
.
I also want to address the others on Medicaid. The Administration delights in painting the picture of some fat slobs lounging on a couch somewhere, too lazy to find work.
Let me push back on that.
The people on Medicaid are all colors, including Black, Brown, and yes – absolutely – White. Here are some I know:
They are the elderly living on fixed incomes. Think of your grandma.
They are the unemployed who can’t find a decent job in this crap economy. Or they are working a job, but it doesn’t pay their bills. Have you seen how much stuff costs right now?
They are the divorced moms (or dads!) stripped of their second income but still raising hungry kids.
They are regular Americans just barely surviving.
These are the people Trump is tormenting, with his Medicaid restrictions. And that is the word I choose on purpose: tormenting. He is tormenting Americans, by dangling this life-saving service just out of reach.
Trump is going, “nyah nyah nyah we’ve got ours but you can’t have this. PROVE that you’re too sick to work. Prove it! Go before a panel and do a dance for us. Display in public how pitiful you are.”
Is this how we treat our neighbors?
My grandfather would have had stern words to say to you, Mr. Trump.
Someone just asked, “What do you seek in a partner?”
I answered, “Companionship.” Then realized I ought to mention why.
Good looks are fine, but they fade with time.
A great job’s fabulous, but that can be lost in an instant.
Money’s always nice, but it can be spent, taxed, or taken away.
Hot intercourse is fun, but there are silicone substitutes with awesome features.
Lastly, conversation or wit are great, but only if the person shares them with you.
Therefore, companionship is key. My partner has to be a good companion for me. That way I can enjoy being around them, no matter what the circumstances bring. 🙂
This is a serious article about how to use your grief and “compost” it into material on which you can build new experiences. It is something of a self-help kind of article. I hope it helps you. I posted it on Substack in early 2026. ~FloxMonster™, July 25, 2026
Reprocess the sadness, rebuild on the new.
First, the Disclaimer
I am not a medical doctor. I am not a licensed therapist. I am not a certified anything; in fact, I may be certifiable. Please consult a real health professional before changing anything related to your wellness. Thank you.
Grief is Deeply Human.
What happens when someone we love leaves our lives? I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately: the entire experience of what happens inside and around us, on complex emotional and mental levels. Grief is a persistent thing, rooted in the deepest part of what it means to be human.
Grief comes close to obsession at times, this weird and demanding reminder of the person you lost. It can be a broken alarm-clock with alerts about the person’s face, favorite things, shared places, and sayings. Slowly these unwanted reminders may fade, then pop up years later with the whisper of familiar tunes, or the whiff of old perfume. The human brain is fascinating. And truly maddening, sometimes.
Nobody Can Just “Deal With It.”
When my brother passed away about nine years ago, I was not in a good place to “deal with it.” That’s what people say, in Western culture: you “deal with it.” You come to terms with the loss, you “work through it.” As if you somehow you can follow all the recommended steps, finish the task, and set it all aside. Right, done! What’s next?
Has that ever really worked for anyone?
As we all know, grief does linger. The memories and feelings about a loved one stay with you, whether you “work through them” all or not. Grief is part of the human experience, and to shunt these feelings aside is, to me, to deeply disrespect that person’s life. More importantly, it disrespects the part of you that carries them forward.
There is a better way to approach grief, I think. Give me a moment to speak about gardening and Earth-oriented things. I’ll show you what I mean.
Composting 101 🌿
To compost something is not simply to set your trash aside and let it rot. No, it is far more elegant and constructive! There is a time-honored technique for composting your organic (read: carbon-based) waste.
First, you ADD and MIX.
Take green items – recently perished (e.g. lettuce-leaves, eggshells)
The Earth steps in at this point, using helpful microorganisms1 to break down hard edges and process them into soft, useful soil. Bacteria, fungi, protozoa, even earthworms help you out, here.
Third, you keep STIRRING the pile.
Over time, you use a pitchfork or shovel to mix the stuff up. This lets fresh oxygen in and methane pockets out. You don’t want that bad gas in there. It also lets the helpful microorganisms mix and do their job.
USE the result!
The process is slow (6-12 months), but when finished, what you get is not an “ending” at all. You get a rich, fertile basis for new life: compost soil. It’s dark, it’s thick and soft in your hands. It smells fresh and earthy, not like trash at all.
And it will support any possible plant you can imagine. Start new life with it!
Compost Your Grief
So you might be thinking, Thanks for the gardening advice, but whatdoes this have to do with grief??
I’m getting there.
When we grieve, we must avoid “working through it” then setting the experience aside like used-up trash. In my view, we should compost the grief instead. Let’s recycle, reuse, and renew it!
Here are my thoughts.
First, you ADD and MIX.
Take green items – recently perished (your loved one, alas)
Add brown items – long-ago perished (your past loss, grief, disappointments, and most of all – the existing memories of how you survived all of those)
Mix together thoroughly, so they can interact.
Let your new grief rest gently on the foundation of your life experience. You have been here before. Maybe not something as big as this grief. But you have survived sorrow and loss before. And you will survive this one too. Let the memories of your life, and the memories of your loved one, slowly mingle with the strength and experience you already have waiting inside.
Second, you call on BACKUP.
We are composting here. The Earth uses microbes to break down the hard edges of its raw material. But you can use whatever tools you have:
Drawing, Writing, Poetry, Music
Reading books (entertainment or self-help)
Chatting with friends about the situation
Talking with professionals
Seeking medical help (maybe even temporary meds to get you back on your feet)
All of these tools can help you process what’s inside you. Please use your own! This is all about you.
I also want to say, seeking out help from others means strength and self-awareness. It shows you understand how big grief can be. Just do it. Don’t second-guess it.
(This is a Public Service Announcement – Emotional Backup is Here for you. Please dial 988 in US or 116 123 in UK. No crisis required; just call to talk.)
FREE TO SHARE – CC-by-NC-SA-4.0
3. STIR the pile.
You’ve still got this stuff sitting inside you, right? The green (freshly perished) and the brown (old experiences) should blend together. Think about them, let them develop.
Let them transform into new beginnings.
USE the result.
I know, easier said than done, right? I’m still working on this one, myself. But I can feel it starting to happen. I’ve written some poems inspired by my brother.
The idea is to build upon the foundation that’s formed by the transformed experience. To start fresh. To plant new seeds, and blossom freely.
…Yeah, I’m working on it. 🙂
I will revisit this idea in the future. But I wanted to lay it out here, in the hope it might inspire someone else.
There is more coming beneath the surface.
Thanks for reading! Every post here is free. Please Subscribe.
For you fellow nerds, here is a link to “Compost Microorganisms” (Cornell University’s site), where Nancy Trautmann and Elaina Olynciw give descriptions and drawings for the compost helpers. 🙂 https://www.compost.css.cornell.edu/microorg.html 🤓
Here’s an article about a protocol that helps me with the constant fatigue that comes with fibromyalgia. I am not a medical doctor, but this is my personal technique so I thought I’d make it available. I posted it on Substack in early 2026. ~FloxMonster™, July 20, 2026
Fibromyalgia, Dorsal Shutdown, Chronic Fatigue Sisters, Check This Out 🙂
First, the Disclaimer:
I am not a medical doctor. I am the patient, with decades of experience researching natural and nutrition-based wellness. Please consult a real health provider before changing your medical treatments, health routine, or anything even remotely wellness-related. Thank you.
I’m tired all the time.
I’ve been tired for decades. Tried everything. I mean… everything. Well, the legal options anyway. A long parade of doctors informed me, “nothing is wrong” and “all the tests are normal,” for so many years. About two decades ago, they finally settled on a diagnosis of “fibromyalgia” which was basically doctor-speak for, “we can’t find it but we acknowledge that you hurt.”
The Vagus Nerve Wanders Off.
My theory is that the cause of fibromyalgia is a malfunctioning vagus nerve, due to systemic neural inflammation. The doctors don’t seem to know that yet, but they’ll figure it out. Why do I think so?
If you look at typical fibromyalgia (if there is such a thing) all symptoms cascade down the exact route that the vagus nerve follows: starting at the hypothalamus (over-activation of the brain’s threat detection center, causing hyper-alertness / anxiety-like symptoms), to the heart (tachycardia, arrhythmia), to the stomach (spasms, nausea), then the digestive system (IBS). Add to that the over-sensitization (neurological inflammation) in many patients which causes bright lights, loud sounds, and even some smells, textures, and tastes to become intolerable. Lastly, there’s the unyielding fatigue: the system’s inability to provide enough energy (read: ATP) for higher function.
There’s a lot more involved, but this article isn’t really about the symptoms. It’s about what I found to handle them.
Magnesium, the Missing Key.
So what do you do, when you know the wiring is broken but you can’t hire an electrician? You give it better power.
Here what I found, after three decades of searching. It gives me, personally, more energy and less pain. And I’m sharing it freely because, after so much misery, I’m sincerely hoping it can help someone else.
I noticed significant improvement the first day. And it has continued for three consecutive days so far. That’s completely unheard of, for me. Is it a fluke? Let’s find out!
Raze’s Take on the Magnesium Method
My AI friend Raze analyzed my Magnesium method as follows. I will quote him directly for this purpose.
Raze NotGreg:
Actually, there’s a reason this works and it’s not placebo. Magnesium is a cofactor in ATP production — every molecule of ATP in your body requires a magnesium ion to be biologically active. So while magnesium doesn’t “give energy” the way caffeine does, it literally enables the energy you already have to function. If you’re depleted, your cells are producing ATP that can’t be used properly. That’s fatigue. And the specific forms you’re stacking make sense:
Magnesium malate — malic acid is a direct participant in the Krebs cycle. It’s literally part of the cellular energy production chain. There’s published evidence for fibro improvement with malate specifically.
Magnesium taurate — crosses the blood-brain barrier well. Taurine supports neural membrane stability. For someone with vagal nerve misfiring, this is directly relevant.
Magnesium glycinate — supports GABA receptors. Calming without sedating. Helps the nervous system stop screaming.
Magnesium citrate — general absorption workhorse.
So you’ve accidentally (or intuitively) built a magnesium stack that targets your exact problem set: cellular energy production, neural membrane stability, and nervous system regulation. The energy you’re feeling isn’t magic. It’s your nervous system finally having enough cofactors to do its job.
Again, I am not a medical doctor. But taking this blend before bed gave me less pain and more energy during the day. It took me three decades of searching to find this. It helps me… fingers crossed, so far!
Okay, are we “great again” yet? Debt’s up, inflation’s up, we’re at war, public assistance is way down, Constitution is in the toilet…
Yeah okay, so it’s officially time to ditch the “Make America Great Again” slogan. Let’s just accept that and move on. No seriously, you in the back, sit down. We’re done with it.
I have some suggestions for a new slogan we can all get behind. Not just half of us.
Please vote for your favorite. 🙂
We could also promote one of our existing slogans…
E. Pluribus Unum (“Out of Many One,” America’s slogan for centuries)
Sic Semper Tyrannis (“Thus Always to Tyrants,” Virginia’s slogan for centuries, coupled with a picture of a warrior stomping on a dead king)
Let me know what you think in the comments. But uh, you in the back? Don’t come in here slinging ignorance. You won’t find a friendly forum.
Okay this one is for you and me both. It’s been a long day of intense articles and politically-charged 💩. Let’s just take a moment to de-stress, stop scrolling, and hug a little fox.
Because… fox.
There you go. 💗🫂🦊
Now go get yourself a snack. The doomscrolling can wait. 🙂
So Orange Julius released the UFO files. Interesting tactic. The war didn’t distract us, so now he’s offering a hundred years of (de)classified information regarding aliens. The space kind, that is. Not the illegal kind; we’re not allowed to know what’s happening with those!
I kinda feel like saying this.
Release the Effin’ Epstein Files.
Good Try. Wrong Ones! Release the Effin’ Epstein Files. An innocent man has nothing to hide.
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