Another entry in one night, but I’m concerned about making sure I wake up on time to catch my flight.

Looking back through the archives, I have several entries called “Twenty-seven.” Many of them seem to deal with things like the most expensive bills I’ve had at restaurants, etc..

I guess the bills I saw at the big chain restaurants weren’t terribly exorbitant, really. That said, I really didn’t order anything too extravagant. I guess the bacon cheeseburger I had last night, though, was a few bucks more than it would have been a few years ago.

Eating at the chain, however, was really unsatisfying. A lot of food, sure, but it wasn’t very good. The 22oz. beer, and two shots of Fireball made me forget some…and perhaps fall asleep faster. Tomorrow, however, I’ll sleep on one of my flights.

Being the disabled guy does get you extra-special attention while flying. I can’t imagine trying to get from gate-to-gate lugging what I’m going to have with me.

For what it’s worth, first class airfare was within about $80 of the train ride to where I am now.

Who knows if I’ll get meals on the flight. But I’d be happy with just a couple of tonic waters….

So I’m finished until Thursday. Still remains to be seen what work I’ll have to do when I get home.

Still going to be cagey about where I am, what I’m doing, but I will spill the beans when I’m home later this week.

Did I get everything I set out to do done? No. Did I get things a lot farther than I kind of suspected I will?

Yes.

I’m excited to go home, and for what lies ahead.

Things aren’t great where I am, but the end is in sight.

So. Let’s look at news.

1. The Russians are pulling out of the ISS. Can’t say that I’m surprised. Is this the sort of return to respect that we were promised in 2002?
2. The last good example of the “Arab Spring” is falling. Attitude is similar to the first story.

More tomorrow when I’m back in the other swamp.

Sitting listening to the morning thunderstorm. It’s not something you experience when you depart more maralial climes. Not even 1000, 81F, and a thunderstorm.

Might tip off a bit about where I am at the moment, but so be it.

I really don’t feel like I’ve got a lot of control over the things I’m trying to get accomplished today.

Sequencing can really negatively affect a plan of action. My own troublesome body isn’t helping much, either. I’m achy today. Could be MS. Could be physical exertion. Who knows.

I ended up last night hitting a chain restaurant that’s across the parking lot for dinner. I bought the small version of one of their dinners, and it was still way more food than I needed. Or probably wanted.

I drank a formerly-regional, now-national brew whose regular stuff I like on tap, but don’t like out of the bottle. It hit the spot. So did the couple of shots of cheap distillates.

I am feeling the difficulties of being unable to drive here, now.

Oh well. Time to get moving.

I really didn’t have anything planned for today. I do have something I’m goin to do, but it can probably wait until around noon.

Other than visit Waffle House, I didn’t do a lot yesterday.

The Intertubes at this hotel aren’t great. I kinda was expecting that. I was expecting they’d be a bit better than they were on the train. They weren’t, and today I got a nasty text message from my cell provider that I’m near where they start throttling me.

But once I’m connected, and start writing here, the drafts save intermittently, so I can keep writing even if the network is wonky.

Being here is kinda surreal, honestly. It doesn’t even really resemble what I knew from before the storm, certainly from when I was a little kid.

But there’s echoes, I guess. Just nothing I can really explore on my own as a nearly-blind guy with a cane.

After the storm, I stayed in one of the casinos. My brother and I had gone to a different casino to gamble some. I lost what I’d said I was going to lose pretty quickly, he was still rolling, so I decided to leave him there and go buy my girlfriend (now wife) a T-shirt. I got lost. On the street where my mom grew up. There was nothing there aside from driveways, and a few assorted front stoops.

The last few times I’ve been here, it’s all been a blur between events I’d come in for, not seeing well, not feeling well, and so on.

Interwebs too clogged to go look around at news. Glance at previous years’ July 24ths show that this isn’t a day where I often write.

News site has a link to a paywalled story about how cigarettes and cheap beer are getting popular as the transitory inflation grinds to a halt.

When you’re poor, and don’t have a lot better to do, those work pretty well, in my experience.

Like when I wrote this on July 24, 2001.

Just One

For tonight, at least. Although I am absolutely confused, of course. About what I wrote about and about how I can say something as innocous as how I don’t believe in hell and get notes, and I write something important…

Oh well, as I said before, I write this for me, not for anyone else. But it just adds to my confusion sometimes.

So, what is there to say? I’m at work, again, and thoroughly tired of it. But just over three hours left, then two days off. I think I need to slip out of town for a few days, but that’ll have to wait until next week. Maybe I’ll devote tomorrow afternoon to getting the old Jeep back running for the moment. I kind of doubt I’ll be able to keep it, but….

Drank a Red Bull last night at the urging of a coworker. It made me feel quite odd. I think it would have been better with a couple of shots of vodka mixed in.

Blah blah blah blah

See, nothing interesting.

*Yawn*

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And I’m finished for now. Time to go do part of what I came to do.

So much of this is running the risk of being self-referential at this point. But I think what I wrote five years really hasn’t changed a lot:

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Do you think you can ever trust a politician’s word? 

At the risk of being labelled terminally-whitepilled, I don’t think most politicians are deliberately lying. 

At the same time, I really don’t think that most politicians, or people who preach government force as a solution to problems, really consider the underlying basis of their thoughts.

You do something because it’s just, you know, the way that things are done.

You want people to stop doing something? Great. I don’t think that it’s a good idea to do that thing, either.

So you’re okay with men with guns locking people in cages for doing something you don’t like? How about breaking into residences in the middle of the night?

Oh. Um. That’s how we’ve always done that.

Here’s an idea — don’t hurt people, and don’t take their stuff.

And I’m having trouble concentrating on this, unfortunately, so I’m stopping.

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I think the pandemic, despite the legion of officious assholes who’d like to save you from yourself, is still largely true. For all but those really big on Respect My Authority, you can just take the Nancy Reagan approach.

Not going to be accommodating? That’s fine. Understand that you’re not getting any of my money.

Know that I can hold, and have held, grudges an awful long time.

Why don’t you just buy this?

I don’t give them my business.

That’s stupid! They’re great!

Whatever. It’s what I’ve chosen to do. I can be persuaded to change my mind if I hear a compelling argument from someone whose opinion I value. Otherwise, the relationship is finished. Sorry, but really not sorry.

RACIST!

You have no idea about my origins; go fuck yourself.

So maybe a little less white pilled.

But even more on the side of personal choice, responsibility, and not being upset about consequences stemming from actions.

You do something that irks me, I stop paying attention to you. It’s really not that difficult.

If you try to force me to pay attention, rest assured I never will.

Another few more hours…..

I’m not going to talk about where I am, what I’m doing right now.

It’ll be something for later this week.

I’m sitting listening to Johnny on PFP.

The praise of going to Mexico this coming winter is very promising.

That said, even something easier is proving very taxing at this point.

I’d just assume be home, watching something on TV.

It is different being able to sort of live like a normal person for a change.

Cutting out the portion of self-pity I was about to allow myself, there. This shouldn’t be a novel thing, but it is for me as an adult.

I’ll probably try to come up with something to use as a real sort of prompt for tomorrow.

But I’m probably going to doze off a bit more, try to enjoy the ride.

Great podcast here.

Thankfully, they do talk about the differences in opinion about what to do about social media.

My answer? The solution won’t come from DC, or even a state capitol. They do come to the conclusion I’ve been reaching for the better part of the past thirty years; government doesn’t work. Now I’m not saying it’s always true; there are some rare instances where government is the answer. Give me a minute; maybe I’ll think of one.

Maybe that makes me a radical extremist. I don’t care.

The President who chastised people for not being sufficiently vaccinated has COVID. How’s that work?

I could be disillusioned by all of it, but I’m trying hard to just not care.

Tomorrow my travel starts. I’m excited about that.

looks down at a weather app on the phone

Yeah. After 1900EDT, and it’s still 91 Fahrenheit in my portion of the DC swamp.

Am I writing this summer? Yes. Still digging through what I want to write about, but it’s going to happen.

Some of the discussion in the place where I was getting my Tysabri infusion yesterday was about my delight that I can still type without being able to see the screen well.

It’s something to do, certainly.

In the midst of migrating some server stuff to a new location, but I’m nearly finished.

This should be a fast-paced couple of weeks, then settle into some normalcy.

So I’m looking for things anyone might be interested in seeing me write about.

Let’s get it going.