I still wake to an alarm instead of just rising when I wake. The time change and the dark morning and clear skies have me sleeping too late. Also, I was only a week out of New Orleans for a week when the time changed. Yikes!
I find my robe and slippers and head down the hall to find my laptop on my worktable in the fireside room that adjoins the kitchen. It is a galley kitchen full of too much stuff, but it is home. There I find the French press, add Trader Joe’s Fairly Traded Certified coffee, boiling water, and soon have a cup of liberal joy reminding me of equity and how important the four fundamental freedoms are:
The first is freedom of speech and expression–everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way–everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want–which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants-everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear–which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor–anywhere in the world.
Franklin Roosevelt, President of the USA, extracted from the delivered text of the State of the Union Address on 6 January 1941, before the USA entered WW2.
The bitterness of the coffee reminds me that the USA’s goal is still aspirational, even here in the Pacific Northwest. The USA even put these on stamps! Norman Rockwell painted them, and we put that on stamps, too. I drink deeply and find Hope still in my cup. Someday!
With my civic and history lessons in my cup, I start to write. I find the words to describe the day before, Wednesday, and some of my feeling and direction. I see a banana and cereal, Trader Joe’s, and open a new milk container of shelf-stable milk that I will now keep in the frig (I will need to do some baking and have more cereal). My mind wanders, and my focus comes and goes, but I have lunch with Scott, so I must focus and complete my task by 11. And I do.
Scott contacted me, and I misread his message and thought I was running late and to meet him at Rockcreek. Instead, he said he was walking the dog at Rockcreek Park and would be on time at Cornelius Pass Roadhouse. Oops. Thrilled to rush (an adventure and indeed more interesting than the current ash-shifting that is the press and Democratic Party-related news), I skip shaving and soon in Air Volvo and arrive at Rockcreek and have a fire built and a beer for me. It is a cold morning, and the outdoor furniture is cold, but the fire soon makes it more comfortable.
The bartender’s first attempt to build a fire sputter fails. I walk to Air Volvo and get my emergency items from the glove compartment: special REI-supplied waterproof matches and rope. I try out the match, which is quite a fire, so I start it again. The bartender returns and reminds me that guests may not play with fire there, and I smile guilty and let her handle it. Soon, she has a good fire after including some old menus, logs, and candle oil.
Scott says he can’t find me, and soon, I apologize to the bartender, pay my bill with a 20% tip, leave my half-finished beer (for early lunch—it is 5 somewhere), and board Air Volvo. Air Volvo delivers me to the correct McMenamins: Cornelius Pass Roadhouse. I found Scott with his large pooch, Loki.
We talked about investments, travel, and how to be safe for the future. As always, there is never enough money to do everything, and we talked about a withdrawal plan with a large interest generating component to protect the principle at first. Just pulling the income and any (hopeful) market-based improvements at the end of the year (a sort of holiday bonus). This reminded me to call Nike HR and start the COBRA process, as with a new anti-Obamacare President and Congress elected, it is looking like I will have no health care in the future–65 is far away.
But I know that there is a reasonable secondary negotiated cash market for medical services, and much that I will need can be done in this market. I will need cheap major medical coverage for unexpected or reoccurrence issues with cancer, but there is a new adventure for me coming. While I would not choose this path, it was chosen by the election (Trump and friends will have to succeed at the repeal), I will take it and try to find joy in weaving a successful coverage (or lack of) health care. I can even imagine a new weekly blog on how to do this, which might be popular. Hmmm. Scott asked me if I was going for black-market medical, “More a grey market used by medical professionals,” I replied.
More beer and an Italian Dip, which, while imaginative, was likely not as good as other items on the menu. Scott had something healthy. Soon Loki, disappointed when the waiter tripped and did not drop my sandwich, and Scott was headed home. Air Volvo returned me to the Volvo Cave without incident, and driving seemed calmer this Thursday morning and early afternoon.
The next event was a church Zoom meeting. That left me tired and out of focus–details cannot be shared. I read and rested for a while. I found the kitchen and gnocchi (vegan!) with a jar of marinara sauce (U Parve, meaning not meat or dairy) for dinner. I heated the sauce in a pan, cooked some smoked ham (not vegan), boiled water, and then the gnocchi (done when they float). Soon I had that assembled and it was surprisingly good with the ham added just enough to prevent it from being plain. I will make it veggie next time (grilled carrots and veggies replacing the ham) to see if I like it that way or with crushed tomatoes, garlic, and ham. All experiments to come!
I watched some more Silo on Apple+ and like the story arc, though I don’t usually go for dark dystopian stories. This is a mix of crime-solving, horror, and post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi. Dark and depressing, but in a good way, as you see folks trying to fight the system and bring light to this dark story. It’s too dark to recommend, but I like it.
Soon, with some more distractions, time runs out, and I am showered and reading the Dungeons Master Guide 2024. I am learning some new approaches to playing Dungeons and Dragons and how to establish a safer game. It is all interesting to me. I keep imaging myself running a new D&D 2024 campaign, but with the travel, meeting friends, writing, gaming, and having to do the laundry once in a while, where will I find the time? It’s a good problem to have.
I soon slept and woke up in the morning to another alarm.
Thanks for reading!
Aside: The Grammarly service is out. This uses MS Word to help find typos. The choices for its spelling check for ‘post-apocalyptic’ were enjoyable but unusable. I fixed all the typos later.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 