MORNING
I used the time to go see “Sniper”, your typical big action movie toned down to include the romance scenes so necessary to Grammy Awards these days. The valiant Americans beat the bad-guy Arabs. And on their very own doorsteps, to boot. That will teach them to question America’s right to do so. Those who worship global projection will love this Clint Eastwood number. Even I was okay with it. Right now I am too tired to concentrate.
Next, I ask the ticket-taker lady inside how “other people” sneak in cups of coffee. She shows me how to smuggle it under my jacket, for half the price they soak you for at the concession. I got myself a cappuccino. And another for the ticket-taker. Apparently that is the nicest thing that’s happened to her so far. I had to decline her offer to frisk me. I’m not into blazing false alarms.
Consider the movie an accurate portrayal. That includes the depictions of why we can never win that war. It’s impossible when the other side is inhumanely insane. Nor does that situation have anything to do with Biblical philosophy. The entire situation was contrived in the last century by geo-political fanatics. But you are not supposed to ask any questions about that.
As for the 57th Grammy Awards, I stopped in at the club and caught the openings on the overhead. I see that AC/DC, Madonna, and Taylor Swift all had major wardrobe malfunctions. Hurt my eyes, real bad. Then there’s Taylor, pushing what is it, 25? She’s beginning to realize there are only two types of men left after that. She’s welcome to drop by here as the only place she can really trust. I do admire her for not falling prey to the pretty boys she’s been stuck with so far. So there.
My god, didn’t that used to be Madonna?
NOON
"Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by traffic from both sides." —Margaret Thatcher.
Ray-B called, he’s in Jacksonville, living the life I wanted—if only I could have been a solo musician at such an age. He’s still doing the cruise lines but when that fades, he wants a quiet place to live out the time left. Just like the rest of us. Sigh, I wonder what direction my life would have taken if I’d had the talent to put on a solo act when I was still young.
He reports that in the immediate environs of Jacksonville, it is possible to support oneself just playing weekend gigs. He’s got family or something up that way but like me, support means self-support. There is no family without family obligations. Ask anybody who has survived a Thanksgiving dinner.
This photo is the top of the up escalator at Sears. I stopped for sanding disks when this caught my eye. Do you get it? Look closely. Now do you get it? Okay, I’ll say it. “Schindler’s Lift”.
Next, I’m over at Sears to get some sanding disks. Even though I have the cash these days to buy anything at Sears that they sell, I still shun the place as too high-priced for ordinary quality. The store is never packed, and I was in Aventura. I saw people looking at the monthly payments for a washing machine. It is only $625 and they could not come up with it. Then again, most people are pretty dumb about making money. I told Wallace I would quickly be back on my feet, but no, he tried to kick me while I was temporarily short on cash for the first time in my life.
Part of what irked me most was the tactics he and his ugly daughter tried were those that would have worked on a person who was habitually poor because of bad attitude. It just shows you what circles they move in. Then to clump me together with that crowd was an insult. To try such babyish a gambit on me, now that was plain dumb. What brought this on is the old place just sold again, for $53,000. If Wallace had listened to me, he’d have a real house in Palm Beach by now and would have tripled his money on that one place alone. But such people are so stupid they assume everyone else is equally as stupid as they are, only they are “better at it”.
Anyway, back to Sears. I stood to one side and watched the sparse shoppers to see how they behaved. It was grim. It was plain none of them had the cash money together to buy a single major appliance. This is the type of “poor” by attitude that I’m talking about. How do people even get to that stage? Where despite any lessons in life, they still rely on credit as the only method of bailing themselves out of every situation. This is 2015 and they have to buy a washing machine for $39.95 per month because they can’t afford it cash.
Myself, I bounced right back to where I was before, and within the year should have a really nice place of my own. That’s conjecture, I should really say I’ll have the resources that I had planned on, nothing more. It’s like I was before the heart attack, where I could walk through a store able to buy a dozen of anything they sell with the cash in my piggy bank—but not be able to find a single item I’d care to purchase. That was me in the department store. I must have had the purchasing power of any ten other people combined.
Read my blog, it’s all there. How I used to take a couple thousand bucks to go shopping and return empty-handed because there was not a thing worth buying. I had that feeling again today. Remember, I survived the years after I could not work on the $28,000 I had hidden underground. Now I realize there are some people who never see that kind of money unless they inherit it. They seem to be the ones who never listen.
NIGHT
Agt. M was over, but I was too zonked to go for coffee. So we sat on the porch and ate peanuts. A three-week supply of peanuts, I might add. I declined going to the donut place but in the end we wound up talking here until nearly midnight about most everything except robots. You know that he does not believe in evolution. But until he met me, he also thought of evolution as an attack on religion. Now he will at least follow along to scientific principles. Even if he does not accept the validity of the scientific method.
One curious aspect of Agt. M’s disbelief in ancient beings is that nobody alive today can possibly remember back that long. Yeah, okay, most people can’t imagine on hundred years, much less one million. Now explain why they can believe the church has existed for thousands of years. It’s the type of philosophical discussion I miss from my university days.
We went on to plan the installation of a big-screen TV here. As a consumer of documentaries, my viewing area is really only suitable for one person. While he’s got a much bigger place, this is where the comfortable chairs are, and the tea, and cookies. And the peanuts. I like documentaries but I also like being supremely comfortable when doing so. Did I ever mention his place has no place whatsoever to prop up your feet. Over here, this is nearly a priority.
He also clued me in to Offer Up. On my own, I don’t use such services, but we made $175 selling scraps around the yard in the two hours of the meeting. Or I should say got offers totally $175. To me it ain’t sold until the cash is in fist. I don’t get exposed to these new web sites on my own, relying more on people to come over and show them to me. And even then, my normal reaction is why didn’t I think of that?
Before I let you go, I have a question. What is it with people who park their car, walk into a shop, wait in line, and then order a coffee to go. Huh? To go where? Really, I mean, to go where? If you’ve come this far, sit down and enjoy the coffee. I told you before, Florida has removed all public places where one could sit down comfortably. The streets are dusty and noisy. And the coffee will be cold long before you get to the nearest office or apartment from here. I’m just sayin’, “Coffee to go?”
Last Laugh
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