(1) Let me start by saying that I was sorry to read this morning that MSNBC is taking Joy Reid off the air, or at least cancelling her evening show. We tend to split the 7 p.m. time (often while eating supper) between Reid on MSNBC and Wolf Blitzer on CNN, and with Blitzer being removed next month by CNN to a 10 a.m. slot, this means that our 7 p.m. habits will undoubtedly be changed. I know that both of these channels are trying to increase their viewership while trying to compete with Fox, so I can’t blame them from moving things around. I understand that Jake Tapper (our neighbor a few blocks away – something he does not know) will replace Blitzer, and I understand that MSNBC is moving their weekend trio, Michael Steele, Alicia Menendez, and Symone Sanders Townsend, will bring their show to the 7 p.m. time. You hadn’t heard any of this yet? Now you have.

(2) Next, congratulations to Alex Ovechkin on his hat trick yesterday as the Capitals beat the Oilers. Ovechkin only needs 13 more goals to tie Wayne Gretzky (who played for the Oilers for years) for the most goals ever in an NHL career. Gretzky has been extraordinarily gracious in spurring Ovechkin on to tie or beat his record. Gretzky is, I think, a very attractive personality and, of course, King Donald the Outrageous has already crowned him as the next (and, as Donald hopes, the last) prime minister of Canada before Canada becomes are largest, most populated, most Democratic and 51st state.

(3) Third, let’s cheer on the Washington Nationals after their first two Spring Training games resulted in lopsided victories over the Astros and the Mets. They may not have any current superstars (their superstars are playing for the Mets and the Phillies and other teams), but they have a slew of players who are just below that level and who are still in their early twenties. In fact, they have too many of them, so all of those who look good won’t make the team, something that must be discouraging for those who will be playing again in Rochester this years. In addition to all of the youngsters (some of whom played with the Nats last year, and some who would get their first chance this year), there are three new veterans on the team. One is Josh Bell, who has been with the Nats before, and I am really happy to see him again (he is slated to be our Designated Hitter), not only because of his playing skill, but because he was such a community oriented guy, especially working to help inner city children learn to read and to appreciate reading.

(4) One of the things I like to do least is our taxes. And I am always amazed when a friend tells me how they do their taxes on Turbo Tax or its equivalent and save the money that I spend on an accountant. I am sure that Turbo Tax makes things very easy. I have never read their instructions, but I assume they start with something like “You put your left foot out, you put your left foot in”, and guide you on from there. But I, on the other hand, look at this 80 or so page preparation questionnaire that my accountant sends me, which starts with pages and pages of important questions, all of which are sort of like “Do you have any income from an off shore leasing business chartered in Myanmar this year?” or “Have any of your dependents been accused of grand larceny so that their undeclared income is high enough that you might go to jail if you continue to declare them a dependent?” At any rate, yesterday was my tax day and I put everything together (watching on Netflix for most of the time an absolutely ridiculous film called “The Menu” with Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy) and today I take the long drive to my accountant’s office, which is miles and miles from here. The one advantage to going to my accountant’s office is that I can have lunch at the Gourmet Asian Bistro on Muncaster Mill Road – but, alas, it is not open on Mondays.

(5) Finally, and hopefully least important, I am curious as to what will happen between now and 11:59 p.m. (EST ?) tonight, when all federal employees are supposed to tell Elon Musk what five things they have accomplished on their job over the past week. I know that there is a lot of resistance across many (most, all?) government agencies to respond to this nonsense, but Musk says that anyone who has not responded in time (too bad if you are sick or on vacation) will be treated as having resigned their position. I know that the reaction is to accuse Musk of being juvenile, perhaps more juvenile than his 20 year old Muskovites who are invading the federal government more and more each day, but I am not going to do that. I am just wondering what will happen when all air controllers decide, as a block, not to respond and see their paychecks disappear. Or when some CIA or NSA personnel say something like: “I spent last week working on a way to topple the Ukrainian government” or “I eavesdropped on phone calls between Chuck Shumer and his wife by virtue of our illegal wiretaps.”

Well — it’s a new week. Let bygones be bygones. Let’s hope for the better, even though we know that, as bad as things may seem, there is no such thing as the bottom these days. Things can always get worse. Much worse.