One

Another November, another opportunity to express the compulsive part of my OCD affliction.

I don’t know if I’ve written here before, and I’m too unmotivated to go check, but I have the “Pure O” variety of OCD.

I’ve done this every November since 2010.

Obviously, the middle part of that sequence was rather tumultuous, but I finally feel like I can really just focus on relaxing writing.

This year’s writing, however, is going to be a bit different than it has been.

My November (and I really hate putting it that way…if I’m here, and you’re here, doesn’t it make it our November, Mr. Hand?)

But doing this every day helps keep me focused on what’s to come.

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Baltimore MD/Washington DC
1048 AM EDT Wed Nov 1 2023

DCZ001-MDZ003>006-008-011-013-014-016>018-503>508-VAZ028-030-031-
036>040-050-051-053>057-501-502-505-506-526-527-WVZ051>053-012300-
/O.CON.KLWX.FZ.W.0012.231102T0300Z-231102T1400Z/
District of Columbia-Washington-Frederick MD-Carroll-
Northern Baltimore-Cecil-Southern Baltimore-Prince Georges-
Anne Arundel-Charles-St. Marys-Calvert-Northwest Montgomery-
Central and Southeast Montgomery-Northwest Howard-
Central and Southeast Howard-Northwest Harford-Southeast Harford-
Frederick VA-Warren-Clarke-Nelson-Albemarle-Greene-Madison-
Rappahannock-Orange-Culpeper-Fairfax-
Arlington/Falls Church/Alexandria-Stafford-Spotsylvania-
King George-Northern Fauquier-Southern Fauquier-Western Loudoun-
Eastern Loudoun-Northwest Prince William-
Central and Southeast Prince William/Manassas/Manassas Park-
Morgan-Berkeley-Jefferson-
Including the cities of Washington, Hagerstown, Frederick,
Ballenger Creek, Eldersburg, Westminster, Reisterstown,
Cockeysville, Elkton, Baltimore, Bowie, Suitland-Silver Hill,
Clinton, College Park, Greenbelt, Laurel, Camp Springs,
Glen Burnie, Annapolis, Severn, South Gate, Severna Park, Arnold,
Odenton, St. Charles, Waldorf, Lexington Park, California,
Chesapeake Beach, Huntingtown, Dunkirk, North Beach, Lusby,
Prince Frederick, Germantown, Damascus, Bethesda, Rockville,
Gaithersburg, Silver Spring, Lisbon, Columbia, Ellicott City,
Jarrettsville, Aberdeen, Winchester, Front Royal, Berryville,
Lovingston, Charlottesville, Stanardsville, Madison, Orange,
Gordonsville, Culpeper, Reston, Herndon, Annandale, Centreville,
Chantilly, McLean, Franconia, Arlington, Alexandria,
Falls Church, Falmouth, Fredericksburg, Dahlgren, Warrenton,
Turnbull, Purcellville, Leesburg, Ashburn, Sterling, Haymarket,
Dale City, Manassas, Woodbridge, Lake Ridge, Montclair, Paw Paw,
Martinsburg, Charles Town, and Shepherdstown
1048 AM EDT Wed Nov 1 2023

...FREEZE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 11 PM THIS EVENING TO
10 AM EDT THURSDAY...

* WHAT...Sub-freezing temperatures as low as 26 expected.

* WHERE...Portions of central, north central, northeast, northern
  and southern Maryland, The District of Columbia, central,
  northern and northwest Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West
  Virginia.

* WHEN...From 11 PM this evening to 10 AM EDT Thursday.

* IMPACTS...Frost and freeze conditions will kill crops, other
  sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor
  plumbing.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold. To prevent
freezing and possible bursting of outdoor water pipes they should
be wrapped, drained, or allowed to drip slowly. Those that have
in-ground sprinkler systems should drain them and cover above-
ground pipes to protect them from freezing.

So tonight’s the night it gets really cold for the first time.

Thanksgiving dinner ordered and paid for from a local restaurant. Travel to see family up next. Events scheduled. Any day now, there might be snow flying.

I’m ready.

But can I do the stuff I’ve planned to do, and relax some?

It’s going to be difficult. On the other hand, I suppose I could be in a much worse situation.

I shouldn’t think that way.

Takes commitment to change that way of thinking. So, too, does doing things like avoiding worty dirds. I was listening to Based Politics earlier today, and Hannah was talking about how she doesn’t watch her mouth.

I’ve put forth an effort, lately, to clean up my language. Not because I think that there’s anything inherently wrong, but I worry (part of the myriad mental issues?) that doing so reduces your message’s effectiveness.

So the writing is just another thing I can do to improve myself.

Maybe there’ll be something to give thanks for towards the end of the month. Maybe, not.

But I’m going to try.

And we’re off…..

November again

Well, in some parts of the world already, at least.

Am I going to write again? Yep. Have I finished my prompts? Pretty much. Am I open to more suggestions for the blanks? Always.

What I have so far:

 1.  Start
 2.  
 3.  Reader suggestion
 4.  Strange Habits
 5.  What job would you never take? (Flashback to 2013)
 6.  Free-Write
 7.  Bucket List (Flashback to 2013, again)
 8.  Birthday wrap-ups
 9.  Travel Recap
10.  Free Write
11.  Veterans Day
12.  Reason Office Visit
13.  Disappointed (Flashback to 2013)
15.  Walt Book Signing Review
16.  Halfway
17.  Uniqueness (Flashback to 2013)
18.  Terror and Risk (Flashback to 2012)
19.  
20.  Free Write
21.  Thanksgiving Plans
22.  60-years since JFK
23.  
24.  Thanksgiving recap
25.  Small Business Saturday
26.  Liz Phair Review
27.  Christmas Plans
28.  
29.  
30.  Wrap-up

Is it excitement? Um. Maybe my head’s just swimming too much?

But Happy Halloween.

Last Saturday

Today’s the last Saturday in October. It’s almost eighty degrees here on the lily pad inside the Beltway Swamp.

Whatever. Weather. Watching the Bills-Bucs game they were running nearly 70 degrees at something like 8 p.m., and it might snow some Monday night. Erie is still nearly 60 degrees.

The chemistry on this isn’t terribly difficult. One of the pods I’ve been pushing away from over the whole Israel thing is starting off with a rant about how graduating college isn’t that difficult.

*click*

Yeah, don’t need that.

And my wife walks in, shoulder surfs, and expresses her discontent that October is almost finished.

But the calendar is filling up for November. Still not sure what’s going on for Thanksgiving.

But playing along with my You Can Leave mantra, I find it interesting the things I’m really digging back in to. The Fifth Column, Reason, Cato, and so on.

Let’s go.

When I get on the plane for my trip, I’m going to leave. What can i turn off?

Fry-day

Writing today, after forgetting to do it on Saturday, and being “off” today.

There’s a lot more I could say about my grievances about the whole situation. Saying that I’m a bit of a disgruntled employee would be the definition of an understatement.

But I got through my tasks that took half of Saturday, and a good portion of today finishing up the initials brigade with work.

The incredible amount of work I’ve been doing has definitely distracted me from paying my protection racket to the professional organization.

There’s time. I will finish it by the end of the year, though I’m not sure if it’ll be before Thanksgiving, as I’d planned.

Oh well.

Preparing, too, for everything that’s coming up in November. Travel. Visit to the new Reason office in DC. Walt Hickey’s book signing. Thanksgiving. The Exile In Guyville show. (Aside: I am stupidly-excited about this? She has a bunch of visual art stuff entwinned, that I’m sure I’ll miss, but I’m still very excited…)

When can I relax? Can I relax?

Watching the Saints’ game last night certainly didn’t help for most of the game. That they blew it at the end feels oddly fitting.

Jim Mora’s USFL All-Stars probably couldn’t have messed it up that bad.


And I got invited to a work meeting in fifteen minutes. Damnitsomuch.


And I misread that.

Added to the team. But I really need to get work stuff off my personal devices. I am off work. I shouldn’t even be glancing, or getting notifications.

There’s only 10 types of people in the world

Those that understand binaries, and those that don’t.

Rest In Peace, ThinkGeek.

The whole thing with what’s been happening in Israel is yet another example of where the NeoHippie crowd who’ve been right about everything all the time, were absolutely fucking wrong.

It’s been interesting watching on TwitterX how the “blowback” crowd, the RON PAUL(pbuh) crowd, went completely silent yesterday, Sunday, after more about what Hamas did came out.

They’ve done a somewhat-effective job explaining that the major parties’ push of there only being two options being untrue. There are many options. Then they go and get behind quite possibly the worst one in the world.

Whatever.

I’m making a quick list of things to leave behind. Just leaving is kind of what I do.

Into Year Fourteen

On this day in 2010, we went to Norfolk Circuit Court and got married. From OD at the time…

For Better or For Worse absolutely was a correct part of the vows.

I don’t recall a ton about the day, specifically. Running around to various government building..SSA, probably DMV, then we went to Chik-Fil-A to pick up lunch.

We’re now hours away, but it really seems like another life, altogether.

But I’d do it all again.

Because Saturday, that’s why

So I write.

In one of my fitful periods last night, I listened to Andrew Heaton interview Michael Malie. They were getting in to some of the nastier parts of Communism.

The folks in the LP Russia Caucus won’t say a damned thing about the actual horrors that took place in the last century.

For them, the world started 9/11/2001.

Bubuhbut there was that agreement that NATO wouldn’t expand east after German reunification!!1! No, there’s not a thing I can point to that says that, but it happened. There’s someone of questionable repute who said it, so it’s true.

Heaton is also the one who had on the spiritual leader of the NeoHips, who said that the US was behind the tribal violence in Rwanda. Listen for yourself if you’re so inclined. I mean, Edward S. Herman, the guy who coauthored Distortions At Fourth Hand.

I do kind of feel bad about not giving Heaton some money, but I am Patreon-averse after what they did to that animation cretin.

I do still try to abide by my principles, even when doing so isn’t fun.

That’s why when I go see Liz Phair in DC, I will be Soberish, because I’m not buying anything at the venue.

I should get some coffee.

Ophelia Buts

I think the kids’ joke punchline is “Ophelia Butts”

It’s a gray day with lots of drippage action here in one of the bluest cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia (and it’s been that way since the Yankee oppressors evacuated in the 1870s).

A bit odd watching places I used to frequent in Norfolk being covered by national reporters. Though the locaal stationss down theer have been remarkably quiet, I’m sur that Lake WAVY in P-Town hahs reappeared.

With that, detour to check IG.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxiFaMTrJ9e/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Another week in the books, largely spent alone with my wife away.]

The week started rather ingloriously. Last week, and most of the week, I was having some pretty significant pain in midsection. Lower left love handle, back, and so on.

You’re short of breath/Is It a Heart Attack?

So I got through the work day, and went to the urgent care clinic here in town.

Nope, not having a heart attack, but do I have diverticulitis?

They need to do a CT scan, which they can’t do in the urgent care clinic, so off to the ER in DC.

Got to the ER at like 6p. Triaged, heart and lungs sound okay, off to somewhere where they could attend to other people more critical.

Is an MS flare? No, I don’ think so. Reaction to Keysimpta?

Probably not.

I finally, after several other tests I finally saw a doctor.

At about 2a, after I expressed my desire to leave, a doctor finally saw me.

Missed both Monday Night Football games, including the Saints.

I. Need. A. Break.

The doctor wrote me a get-out-of-work note that’s good through the date of my next appointment with my PCP.

Did I take time off?

Of course I didn’t. I made my 1100 meeting on Tuesday, and worked pretty much regular hours the rest of the week.

Why? Because I am so incredibly busy trying to tie up responsibilities at work.

There’s so many places where people are just accustomed to operating one way, and have no idea why things are done that way.

Way too much ibuprofen this week dealing with the pain, but, I think it’s kind of subsided this morning, at least.

Lots of time spent actually listening to music this week. I’d stumbled across a story that Liz Phair is going to tour, and play stuff from, Exile in Guyville, on its thirtieth anniversary.

Show in DC? Yep. Would I forgive the venue who’s management company had engaged in some of the worst COVID excesses?

Hm.

Hm.

Yeah, okay. I’ll go, but I’m not planning to pay for anything other than the ticket , itself. Beer? Nah, I’m good. You did what you did, and I’m not ready to forgive.

But it’s a choice I made. Any action you take against a company or another individual might cause you some discomfort, inconvenience, but it’s a choice you made.

No, it’s better to force people to behave in the way you see fit, and you should never face any problems for your choice.

There should be a law….

No, you really don’t like something that someone else is doing, you have to remove yourself. You can, and have to, leave.

Libya — The Anarchists’ Paradise

Thumbing through news in between NFL games. Really not looking forward to going to the office this week. Supposedly my access issues have been resolved so I can, you know, actually get to where I’m supposed to work without needing help.

Not going to delve too deeply into that for lots of reasons. But the entire situation has negatively affected my health pretty significantly. So maybe a trip into the District sometime this week to see my PCP.

I should not feel like this.

But, for the people who are constantly reminding people how they’ve been right about everything all the time, and claim to be in favor of fractured government, or complete absence of government, I present Libya.

Libya really hasn’t had a functioning government since the Obama Administration quietly affirmed the Muslim Brotherhood’s overthrow of Gaddafi.

There’s not been a functioning government, or even a series of cooperating governments in a while.

Then there’s a storm, and you get this.

While COVID showed how government can be overbearing and ineffective, Libya shows how its absence can ensure that many people die.

Good job, Secretary Clinton.

Would this many people be dead if there was even a minimal government organizing?

I’ve often said that government is really good at two things: breaking things, and killing people.

But since it is good at the latter, it can take minor steps to prevent it.

But Do You Leave?

Kind of something I written about a lot.

I’m thinking at his point, even if you consider someone a pleasant acquaintance, it’s better to just leave. When you’re sick of something, just go away, quietly.

Incredibly long week. Incredibly hot for September, too, which is not good for me.

Don’t Say anything, just leave.

Oh well.

Incredibly busy period of time this past week.

I actually sent an email at work that pointed to make sure your boots are shined before you criticize someone else’s shine job.

Some of it is the sorts of precautions people are taking in the name of cybersecurity.

We do this terribly ineffective thing because it makes things more securre.

Kind of fits in with the COVID things; people still wearing masks even when there’s ample evidence that they don’t work, and didn’t do anything to fix the pandemic.

But makes ME feel better.

Um. Okay.

I just don’t want to have anything to do with you if you think that.