Category: NoJoMo

Writing early today. I probably ought to get some coffee, but I’m not quite ready yet.

I did fall asleep at a rather-reasonable time last night. There wasn’t really anything going on with my normal Friday night get-togethers.

I woke up after about 90 minutes of sleep because I had a weird fucking dream.

Society where you have to live within certain regulations regarding efficacy for homes and cars. People in about the lower four-fifths of the income scale couldn’t possibly meet the regulations.

People in the top caste(s) could sell their stuff down to lower tiers, but by the time things filtered down, they were basically unusable.

I’m not going to go on my full-spiel about it, but this is really the sort of thing that’s going on.

You pollute by keeping your old shit. You can’t afford the new, approved shit. That makes you a bad person.

Only the people in the upper levels are good people, and that gives them authority to do pretty much whatever they want to people below them.

I could really head down a rabbit hole on this, but I don’t feel like getting into it too much. Especially before coffee.

So on to prompt….

If you could grant your wife 3 wishes what would they be? (T2K)

1. A house near where she’d like to live.
2. Enough money so that she doesn’t have to work anymore.
3. A vacation with nothing to do.

So that’s a few things. We’ve been just going seemingly non-stop for just short of a decade now.

I have to be careful, however, because I worry that the last one is really more what I might want. *shrug*

I really didn’t watch any of the ceremonies yesterday. I was kind of focused on writing, paying a bit of attention to the Rittenhouse Trial, etc..

Tulsi Gabbard’s take on it is pretty right-on….

With no evidence, MSM & antifa-loving politicians immediately labeled Rittenhouse a white supremacist terrorist. It’s obvious now that he was just a foolish kid who felt he needed to protect people & the community from rioters & arsonists because the government failed to do so. pic.twitter.com/uhjGQtM4y4

— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) November 11, 2021

Governments are formed to protect life, liberty, and property. Rittenhose was doing what government should have been doing, and wasn’t doing. Should he have been there? I don’t know. Does it matter that he was defending himself? Absolutely. The police should have been doing what he did. Where were they?

So. Other stuff….

I don’t think I really hit on the biggest parts about yesterday. Absolutely I understand what the military does, and support the individuals doing it. I tried to be like my dad and my great-grandfather. Even then, however, my body was not cooperating with me on it.

Yes, I think about the disaffected Lieutenant Colonel who was running the ROTC detachment at William and Mary who was never going to be promoted, and was making sure only the rich kids from his alma mater were going to get scholarships, etc., but there was something else already going on that I couldn’t really put my finger on.

I wouldn’t know until more than a decade later. Oh well.

Of the seventy-or-so cadets who were at my school, I think one in my group got a scholarship.

I’ve not kept in touch with any of them other than the guy who was my “battle buddy” the first year. He dropped out of college, completely, and enlisted in the Army, went to Warrant Officer school, went to flight school, fought in Iraq, and ended up being medically-retired after being wounded in combat.

I went into TV and radio.

As for the rest of what’s happened with the military, politically, it’s difficult, because I think there’s been remarkable overuse, well, pretty much my entire life.

9/11 happened near the end of my undergrad studies (which took five years, because I was busy doing radio at the same time as I was studying).

I was absolutely in favor of the operation in Afghanistan. I was against Iraq until I heard Tony Blair pitch the UK’s involvement to Parliament.

My initial take ended up being correct. Whatever.

So…prompt. Do you ever feel completely invisible?

A lot of the time.

I’m more than okay with that.

Being on the air in the middle of the night really suited me just about perfectly. Of course I had things I wanted to say, opinions that might have been of some use to other people, but there was something about being

Today, I’m fine working 0700-1500, and it’s about what my body will let me do.

What I’m doing, now, is really coming to the end of the line.

I’m okay with that. I’ll be okay.

Veterans’ Day.

One of the big stories for today is the 100^th anniversary of the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

I’ve not heard any mentions of the President at the time. You know, he actually signed peace treaties that actually ended the war, and got the economy out of the first Depression all in the midst of the Spanish Flu pandemic.

Who was that guy?

Oh. Warren G. Harding, the guy who’s consistently rated as one of the worst presidents by “The History.” (Which is a lot like “The Science.”)

But he had liquor parties in the White House, fathered a child out-of-wedlock, and died in office.

He also wasn’t showing Birth of a Nation in the basement. But let’s not talk about that.

There’s no major bridges or office buildings named after him, unlike his predecessor who caused a lot of these problems.

But my impression of World War I, and its aftermath really has come into a different I’ve written previously about the ammunition aboard the Lusitania that is part of the reason why there’s been less exploration of the wreck than the Titanic which sunk four years earlier.

Hundreds of thousands of like 30.06 rounds sitting on the sea bed.

That gun powder will still work.

Just like many of the munitions the Norks have in their tons of Soviet-made armillary shells lined up pointed at South Korea.

I guess it goes back to the whole thing I have lately that few things are ever completely-settled. Science. History. Economics.

The World War I interest was really sparked seeing a cemetery in Germany as a kid with headstones pretty much all saying 1917.

What the hell was going on in 1917 that so many Germans died?

I remember my dad driving through the Somme battlefield. I really had no way to comprehend then just how many people it was.

My great-grandfather had been an Infantry officer, which probably was my dad’s inspiration to be an Army officer.

I have an enormous respect for the military. I won’t say that’s because I’ve been supporting it, mainly, since I left radio, or that my dad is buried in Arlington, but…..

I think it is notable that the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is really kind of 20^th Century thing. I don’t think there’s any bodies there from later American excursions.

Things change, which is why you have to constantly re-evaluate almost everything.

I could probably write for hours on this, but there’s a livestream I’m trying to watch in the background.

A third of the way through. I think previously I might have done quarterly checkpoint, but, for this year, thirds seemed appropriate.

Honestly, it’s flown by. A lot of it has been due to various medical things, but I’ve also been busier working than I have in an awful long time.

I really can’t, however, still find a time to really get away and relax.

Today’s thing was similar to what I had Saturday, but with less time to reflect on it all.

I think, at one time, I would have been more annoyed that I really don’t have a chance to enjoy the fruits of my success.

At the same time, I really wonder how much time I’d take patting myself on the back for the successes; I’d just do what I normally do.

Part of what I was listening to either today or yesterday was a discussion of delayed gratification.

But what of when you’ve become so adept at delay that there ultimately isn’t any gratification?

I could say something about the futility of the ritualistic habits, but I’m not sure what to say. I just do what I do.

And maybe I’ll always be that way.

After I finish what I have to do tonight, I should be off for four days without any work to do. Can I figure out how to enjoy that?

I don’t know.

*looks at the news*

Yeah, nothing worth really talking about.

*Look at what I wrote one year ago*

I was waiting to meet with a doctor. Go figure.

*Let’s look at five years ago*

I actually am not seeing anything for 11/10/2016. Interesting.

Even more interesting? I probably won’t leave the house, now, until the day after Thanksgiving.

I am okay with this.

Kind of a disjointed day. With the holiday on Thursday, there’s a lot of push by the various people with whom I interact are trying to clear out Friday to make way for another four-day weekend.

Two in the same month.

I can kinda deal with that, and will be doing the same, myself. I still don’t think I’m going to get down to the requested leave balance by the end of the year. Even with taking the day before and after Thanksgiving, and the whole week between Christmas and the end of the year.

Tomorrow I go get my first infusion at this new facility. I got a rebate check from the last facility, finally, and it ended up being less than half of what I was told I’d receive. While i was initially upset about the situation, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that the money is just gone. I’ve probably spent more than about forty hours on the issue. While I was angry, at first, that they weren’t going to remedy the situation, it’s just not worth fighting anymore.

The attempt failed. It didn’t work. Move on to something else.

Like prompts. I have one for today, and my psychologist suggested that I combine some of the notes I have into a long entry.

Actually, part of the the reason I started seeing this doctor was very disturbing dreams I was having.

I write down what I can when I think to do it. Some of them are really strange.

As an example, my post-work nap today evoked one where I was stuck inside either a mall or a department store. Sort of a cross between something you’d see on Deadmalls, or the Costco in Idiocracy.

Do you have goals that you want to accomplish? What are they? What is your plan to achieve them?

1. Retire
2. Buy a House
3. Write a book

The first one is really kind of a nice way of saying, “finish out what I’m doing.” There’s a finite timeline of what I’m doing. I’m comfortable with that. Much of what I’m doing is keeping this thing running until its replacement is developed. Obviously, I feel good about what I’m offering, but I don’t have a particular attachment to the system as it currently exists. The way it was designed probably made sense when it was designed, but it can be replaced with something more modern.

That sort of attitude often conflicts with people really married to the old way of doing business. But it’s over. Whatever. Healthy people can move on to something different. If I was healthy, my calculus would involve figuring out how to position myself for something new. But I’m not, so hang it up.

The house is pretty straightforward, too. We’re squirreling away cash, and should be able to make a move when we’re ready.

As for the book, I’ve really just got to figure out what I might want to write about. The mechanics of it are also pretty straightforward, too.

I can also do it in spite of my deteriorating vision.

I am really happy I learned how to type in high school.

Busy, busy, busy day that’s still not over.

But I think a few things are coming into focus.

Things aren’t as bad as I’d worried, at least. And I’m hopeful for getting my Tysabri infusion at the new place on Wednesday.

But it’s refreshing to finally get some clarity on where things may be going.

What is the most out there movie or book that you can’t get enough?

I’ve been mulling this over, and am having trouble coming up with something. It’s not working. I don’t know if it’s a case of a shortening attention span, of I’m just not paying attention to many things these days.

Obviously, much of my attention is consumed lately by things like my podcast queue. I got through Bible In A Year, Carolla, and got hung up on Blocked & Reported.

Bears-Steelers tonight. Hm. Yeah, I’m really too distracted to write anything substantial tonight.

Just got off the phone with my mother, who is the last in a string of early-November birthdays. Valentine’s Day.

Sorry. It’s habit, now.

We have some, ummm, not-so-fun things to deal with her financial and health situation. I would imagine that there’ll be a lot more things coming out of politicians in the next few years as broke people a little younger than she start becoming disabled.

The Boomers will all be eligible to start drawing down pre-tax retirement assets in the middle of 2023. Most of them are, already.

This is a problem created by the string of politicians from their generation who’ve run the US government for nearly the past thirty years.

And this brings up a German video from my teenage years….

Prompt: How do you feel about the reality gap between military and civilian families?

I’d been trying to figure out where to address this prompt for a while. I understand what the writer was getting at with it; it’s a question about the difference between the increasingly-small fraction of the US population who have any understanding of the military, and the reality of it.

I don’t know if it’s in the latest gigantic, unread bill passed by Congress, bur there was a recent discussion of expanding selective service to women.

I don’t know how many people today have any idea of what it’s like. Maybe there’s something stretching back home with the extensive use of the National Guard in various foreign adventures, but most people just have no idea.

Expanding the draft is really a non-issue, I think.

So you’re going to draft millions of people. Great. How many of them can pass a PFT (Physical Fitness Test in the Army….not sure what the other branches call it)?

It’s just not something that’ll affect most people. Maybe someone they know, but probably not.

Is there a way to narrow that “gap?” Maybe, but it’d require lowering standards so that more people can be included.

Does something need to be done to narrow it? I don’t think so.

I could write on this for hours, but, instead, I’m going to go get started on my normal Fall/Winter Sunday activity — watching football.

I didn’t get back to writing yesterday.

The show was good. I guess the “guest” who was supposed to be on had something else to do, so it turned into basically a five-comic stand-up show with a political bent.

Entertaining, yes. What I was expecting? No.

I started on this quickly this morning before I went to get my teeth cleaned. Kind of incredible, really, however. Doing something that mundane wasn’t a terrible task. I didn’t spend a ton of time preparing, I just went. And came home. And everything was okay.

This is how normal people live. I’ve never had that sort of experience in such a long time it feels remarkably different.

So…onto prompts…

---

What was the last thing you put in your mouth? (T2K)
Straw to my water bottle.

Do you sleep naked? (T2K)
Very rarely these days.

Worst physical pain of your life? (T2K)
I had a tooth that was bothering me on a business trip. I kind of just dealt with it; I’ll go visit my dentist when I get home. Pressurizing cabin is incredibly painful. When I got to Atlanta, I drank three Marinis in the airport hoping to dull the pain on the next leg. Ummm…yeah….The aireline pilot on ferry in the seat next to me looked very concerned. He did reassure me that it’d lessen as we got fully-pressurized.

Worst emotional pain of your life? (T2K)
I really don’t know at this point. The things that would normally be considered lows sucked, sure, but given all the other things that have happened to me during my adult life, it’s tough to get really bent out-of-shape about anything. Losing my dad at a young-ish age was definitely tough, but once again, I found myself in a position of trying to keep the people around me sorta stable.

Favorite place you have ever been? (T2K)
I’m not sure.

How late did you stay up last night? (T2K)
Just a bit after midnight.

If you could move somewhere else, where would it be? (T2K)
I really have no clue at this point.

Which of your Facebook friends lives the closest? (T2K)
Well, the person who invited me to Facebook shares a bed with me. (I fell into that weird place between the always-disconnected, and everybody “online.”

When was the last time you cried? (T2K)
Probably getting my wife’s anniversary card.

Who took your profile picture? (T2K)
Me.

What’s your favorite season? (T2K)
Fall. We’re now moving into cold, now that it’s November.

If you could have any career what would it be? (T2K)
Retired.

What was the last book you read? (T2K)
If I was more of a SJW, I’d be offended by this question. I don’t really see well enough to read anymore.
So learn Braille!
Uh, my fingers (and other pars of my body) are numb.

If you could talk to ANYONE right now, who would it be? (T2K)
I really don’t feel like talking to anyone right now, honestly.

Are you a good influence? (T2K)
Who knows?

Does pineapple belong on a pizza? (T2K)
Generally I’d say, “no.” But I’m in a oh-that-soounds-intersting mode lately. Yes, I’ve had it before, and wasn’t terribly impressed, but my tastes have changed a lot. I still don’t like eggs. Or Avocadoes.

You have the remote, what show will you be watching? (T2K)
No idea. I don’t watch much TV.

Three people who you think will play? (T2K)
I think this was specific to OD; I don’t know.

Last concert you went to? (T2K)
Music? I don’t know; maybe Tegan & Sara? I’ve been to some debates and comedy shows.

Favorite type of food? (T2K)
French

I didn’t have a prompt here, either. I’m thinking it’s because it’s my brother’s birthday. Glad he successfully collected the gift card I sent from a site not owned by the Space Cowboy. (Bezos in a cowboy hat)

Otherwise, it’s been a pretty uneventful day, which I absolutely needed. Today should have been the day I was getting my Tysabri infusion, but with the site switch, that’s not happening until next week. I am fatigued, but will power through.

I’m waiting to watch a livestream of Part Of The Problem from their festival which is in Houston this year instead of New York. Messing with some of the assemblage in the chat sidebar.

Okay, it’s starting. I may update later with reax.

I called my grandfather to wish him happy birthday. Ninety-two. Holy crap.

I have little illusion I will last that long, despite having roughly a quarter of his genes.

But he didn’t smoke. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen him drink, and that was only beer, mainly while fishing.

But I’ve pretty well decided that I’m not working tomorrow. I probably should have taken today off, but I really didn’t think I had anything else to do today.

Other than shiver. After I finish writing today, I’ll call the maintenance for the fourth time today to see about getting somebody out to fix the heat in our apartment.

Unacceptable.

So, prompt….

Name a book that you never forgot about

I’ve been thinking lately about The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

A classmate an I, being the two new kids in our advanced English class, had it as one of the make-up summer reading assignments to start school in Bad Newz. (Yes, I saw both Vick brothers play high school football…)

One of the things we hit on, even though I don’t recall seeing it in any of the analysis materials we found, was that it was a piece of Socialist agitprop.

Obviously, the two of us had spent considerable time as kids in Germany worrying that the Soviets were going to come through the Fulda Gap at any moment.

But the main character’s life was absolute hell in the meat packing plants in Chicago (and all of the health concerns for which the book is famous), but his life improved when he joined a union, and became a Socialist.

This was the mid-90s. I’d seen recently-liberated Eastern Europe. The workers’ paradises there, well, weren’t paradises at all.

But that was different, of course. It could be Slovakia, but it could also be Denmark.

Not so much.

I went to Denmark, too. Denmark wasn’t at all similar to Mukov. Not even close.

So I guess there’s an example where in-person experience outshines the academics’ stories.

I’m trying to think of some of the particulars of the book, but few of the disgusting particulars are coming to mind. The joy of Jurgis after finding the opioid of the academy, on the other hand, does.