Category: Scarred Brain murmurings

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?

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.

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

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Jimmy Buffett has died. (For future reference if the link breaks, this is to the NY Post story I saw bout it after seeing his name trending on TwitterX)

For most people, this is a bit of a sad celebrity aside.

For me, however, it’s bringing up all sorts of thoughts, primarily, “should I try to tell my mother about this?”

This is the day after I bought tickets for my wife and I to travel down to Biloxi to see her later this year. She’s in memory care. When I can get in touch with her, it’s never a sure thing that there’ll be a coherent conversation.

There are periods of lucidity, but most of the time, if a conversation starts, it goes nowhere quickly.

So, why would this have been important to me (and her)?

My parents followed his career, and were fans. They’d started following him as he’d peek in to his, alma mater, The University of Southern Mississippi. My dad was there 1969-73. My mother was in and out as her husband was off doing things in the Army as one of the last class of Lieutenant Dans for Vietnam. (He was in Infantry Officer Basic at Fort BenningMoore when the Paris Peace Accords were signed. (His Infantry Battalion was quickly rerouted to Okinawa with the end of hostilities. This also relates back to something my cousin and I were discussing, as he wants to meet up with my wife and I when we come down this fall. I have a strong suspicion that the Po’boy shop near his house is named for a guy who purportedly called my dad a draft dodger because he went to college to be an officer instead of enlisting. My dad wanted to be like his grandfather, who’d been an Army officer during World War I.)

My dad ended up spend nearly the next quarter-century on active duty as an Army officer. I have memories of Jimmy Buffett tapes coming through tinny speakers.

My mother got on a plane for the first time in 1973 to join her fresh 2LT husband in Okinawa after the redirection.

He’s now in Arlington. She’s back in memory care in Mississippi.

Do I even bother to try and tell her about it?

I really don’t know.

The music and lifestyle with which he made a name for himself really aren’t my cup of (“tea” would be in appropriate, so put in whichever boat drink you like…).

Though there were mentions in earlier parts of his career, I didn’t care much for the Marijuana references. I still have never smoked weed, despite my time in broadcast, and having MS!)

So a puzzling day two of what should have been a four-day weekend for me. Fair winds and following sea to Mr. Buffett. I want some coffee.

One of the things I’ve been kicking around today is where, logically, an appeal to authority who can use force falls. It’s not completely the logical Argument From Authority, but appeal to someone else who can do something, forcefully, bad to you.

I am really guilty of this, professionally; we can’t do what you’re trying to do because $rule.

In the political context, however, I think there’s something further. You think X should be a violation of Y law.

What do you want the enforcers to do about it?

Carry it through to the ultimate conclusion.

You’ve snitched; you’ve called the cops, now what do you think the cops should do?

I’m wondering if taking that sort of response is really a bad tack….