One year ago today: July 12, 2015, early comments on Trump.
Five years ago today: July 12, 2011, my first electric bike.
Nine years ago today: July 12, 2007, aww, it’s Pudding-Tat.
Random years ago today: July 12, 2006, a day at the Thrift
MORNING
Finally, a welcome day off. My entire plan is to do nothing except the appropriate siesta or two. Sometimes I think I’d like to go back to work, but naw, I worked hard long ago to insure I wouldn’t have to do that. I listened to NPR on-line, mostly pro-Hillary anti-Trump rhetoric. The establishment had better move fast or the Donald is going to hand them their asses. What can they do? Since they have to obey their own PC agenda, about all that’s left is to discredit Trump. Problem is, he’s ready for them. An interesting situation, that. Trump, whether he wins or not, has already improved the American system.
Not that I can afford to travel in Europe, but all the people like me who thought Europe would always be there should watch that video link above. In around ten years, the only Europe left will be England and Iceland, possibly Norway. But even then, those countries have already been invaded.
So it’s a good thing I’ll be soon isolated from the potential problems in America. That explains the picture of the cabin. Hey, don’t blame me for a single thing. I have been against immigration, against welfare, and against government over-reach and I’ve never had any other stance. It’s almost impossible to conclude there isn’t some bigger motive behind all this unrest. Allowing undocumented foreigners into any country is a formula for disaster.
But the really big issue is why didn’t I leave behind at least one musical instrument here? I’ve got nothing to even tap out a tune, and I just heard Garrison Keillor has finally abdicated. NPR will continue which should be amusing since Keillor was also the primary writer of the entire show. Okay, I admit in his 40+ year career, I’ve only listened to maybe twenty of his shows, but they were fantastic. (I tend to listen more to highlights than the whole hour.) Here’s the 40th anniversary of Guy Noir. Trigger fists?
This photo is not my cabin. I was simply admiring the porch. Because I will soon be that “guy with a cabin and a rocking chair on the porch” that you always wanted to know down Florida way. The next time it is fifteen below, you think about that. And if you really enjoy the worst jokes in the world, read this link to Prairie Home Companion.
So you’ll know, renting a cabin on a fishing creek runs around $170 per night in the autumn, which is prime time. Most rentals want you there two nights minimum and are geared to four persons. This country needs a two-person rental circuit. Trivia, if the cabin is on private property, as most are, you don’t need a fishing license. Mind, you should not eat any fish caught where you don’t know what is upstream. In America, you never know what is upstream.
Weird Al.
NOON
This is an apple pie. Because one of the first things I’m doing at the new place is bake an apple pie. From scratch. That means I peel my own apples. And one ingredient sure to be missing will be high fructose corn syrup.
Some siesta. I was out like a light. That’s the primary pleasure of retirement, you sleep when you want. It plays havoc with your schedule, however, after you are retired, you don’t really have one, nyuck, n’yuck. And it took long enough but I have finally developed the ability to sleep through a phone ringing. Has anyone else tried doing a reverse phone lookup in this Android age? Does anyone pay the fees these jerks charge? I remember when it was free, in the sense the sites were funding by advertising paid for by people who didn’t know I avoid doing business with outfits that conduct intrusive advertising.
I listened to the Trump rally (as opposed to watching them) while working most of the day, getting this place spotless. I’ve been out of the loop for a while, but I see he’s learned the art of speaking to less emotional crowds. I heard him say “America First”, which was too close to another phrase I was going to print nearly a year ago. And the same goes for the slogan, “Wake Up America”. Remember, relevant as his words are, he is still facing a completely corrupt and vicious press, an administration of the same capabilities as killed Kennedy, and an establishment that is the largest organized crime syndicate in American history. They have little choice but to compare those words to Hitler. I’m wondering why they haven’t so far.
Karl Teigen: Psychology, 2011. Karl’s studying why people sigh. Nobody will tell Karl they quit soon as he leaves.
NIGHT
For once, Starbucks had good coffee. It has a tendency to be brackish, but I was up there all evening working on the New York Times crossword. Note the weekend Miami Herald has increased in price from $2 to $3 and they have taken out the weekend regular crossword. So you get the NYT versions which cannot usually be solved unless you are a totally anal TV addict. Next, instead of telling you about a charming young lady I introduced myself to, as I am wont to do, I’ll express the situation in a letter.
I only said “hi” to you when I sat down because I wanted the empty chair. I saw you scowl and give me the “drop dead old man” look. I also saw the expression on your face thirty minutes later when the gorgeous blonde sat down and we hit it off grandly. Your face was priceless as we took to each other, reading my blog together and talking about Europe. I saw you wanted to jump in warn her about strangers, but you couldn’t because she was the one doing the talking.
You thought I’d instantly put the squeeze on the blonde as you stared in disbelief when she wrote me out her phone number. Instead, I drove over to get a friend nearer her own age and paired them up, and left. You are right, Russian lady, he’s a handsome man and she’s a beautiful girl. And I saw you gaping at him. But most of my friends don’t like jaded women like you.
If you had kept your snotty attitude out of it or’d been half-decent approachable, it might have been you getting that introduction. Instead, I got to watch your jaw drop as this part of the world flew past you tonight. The lesson: When you see an older man working the nation’s most difficult crossword in ink, he’s probably not some common masher.
Did I just say “or’d”? Well, good.
ADDENDUM
Yes, I heard right. Keillor has retired. I got some of my rare music from his show. The rub there was that you had to listen to so much of it to find a good tune. I’m not a fan of jazz and the distinguishing feature of NPR bluegrass and folk is that it is entirely unremarkable. None of it sticks with you even five minutes later. Nor do I like the way they emcee most musicians. I said most. Most annoying is the tale of the youth who sought solace/comfort/consolation, like whatever, by playing music. Solace from what? Having the leisure time to play music?
For me, music as a long and difficult, often bitter struggle against entrenched resistance. Show me another kid who had to beg, not for musical instruments, but for “permission” to buy his own. Don’t dare laugh unless you have ever tried to explain to a 50-year-old bohunk why you should be allowed to buy an amplifier instead of getting the hell outside and chopping some goddam firewood. The reality is that I “got away” with learning music because my family was too ignorant of the process at the time to stop me. Talent? What a joke. I had to force myself to learn every individual note of every song. And to this day, that is largely how I still play anything.
And I can play crowd-stopping original bass solos on the spur of the moment. Yep, I play other instruments, but I prefer the bass.
Last Laugh
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