First Thoughts

… i went to bed angry last night… as i noted the anger i was feeling it wasn’t clear to me what i was angry about… i told myself i was angry at H for not being able to get back immediately so i could get to Florida sooner… i told myself i was angry with my father for arranging the timing of his death to cause maximum havoc in my life… i told myself i was angry with my sister for her smug, best daughter ever was of handling the end of a life that i know caused her considerable pain… i told myself i was angry with the weather for being brutally hot at precisely the wrong moment to allow me to finish rebuilding the back stairs… i told myself that i was angry with my skin, that because i have to be so protective of it i have to wear long sleeved sun protective shirts, neck gators, a hat, to protect myself, which means the heat is even more brutal to me… i told myself that i was angry with my left foot because it chose this moment to develop significant pain which limited my limited ability to get anything done… i am angry that i have to fly down to Florida rather than drive as i had planned… in the end, nothing is anybody’s fault, it’s just me being irritated that i have little control over the flow of events which seemed presently configured to thwart me at every turn…

… news yesterday that hospice nursing felt Dad had at best two days… he will almost certainly pass before i get there and may have been passed for a day or two before i can get there… as i have written before, i have no burning desire to be there… the man didn’t like me and the feeling was mutual… i am, if anything, looking forward to family gatherings without his angry presence… to a family that can relax a little because it doesn’t have to fear angry outbursts, walk on eggshells around him all the time… i am looking forward to being free of that…

… the HCR meter down pointing significantly today… Afghan terror attack killing U.S. military and civilians… conservatives behaving shamelessly… COVID ripping through Florida where i have to fly in a few days… i had planned to avoid people on my trip to Florida… i have been forced into a situation where i can’t… another thing to be angry about… if you step back and take in the big picture, it looks a lot like the failure of a state…

First Thoughts

… HCR meeter pointing slightly up…

• full FDA approval of Pfizer COVID19 vaccine… the stock market rallied in anticipation of more shots in arms as the vaccine hesitant come forward to get them and as local and federal governments and corporations begin to mandate vaccination…
• Florida rates of COVID19 are accelerating, hospitalizations and deaths have surpassed previous highest levels, Governor DeSantis doubles down on executive orders that there be no mask and vaccine mandates… large school districts ignoring him… i travel to Florida in a little less than two weeks…
• evacuation of Americans and Afghans proceeding smoothly and unmolested… Pentagon says they can be finished by end of month, president suggests he might extend to Sep 11 if necessary, Taliban suggests they might not be tolerant of that…

… diner with friends last night… managed to avoid having too much wine… delicious dinner of African mint sausage and grapes, with a side of puréed celery root… celery root was especially delicious… felt the sausage was a little overcooked, dried out… company was great…

… Chas began whining at 3 AM… just my luck on a morning i want to sleep in a little…

… today begins back stair reconstruction… going to be hot next few days, but no rain predicted… demolition of existing stairs today… take stock of existing conditions and make final decisions of how to proceed… hopefully i have the right materials in place… if not, i will have to get untreated lumber as i won’t have time to let it dry out at all…

… as i get more organized about my reading, i wonder about organizing it to the point that i might start writing organized and thoroughly edited posts on the rabbit holes i am exploring… that is something that i have never mustered the determination to do… could i even get to the place where i publish a book?…

… do i need to or could carefully considered and edited posts suffice?… i think i am more likely to head in that direction…

… my copy of Bertrand Russell’s Analysis of Matter has arrived… i sloughed my way through it before and during the pandemic… i am contemplating reading it again with extensive note taking…

First Thoughts

… dinner with D & E last night… really nice time… got to express my thoughts more than i do with H present… drank a little too much wine but it was good fun…

… HCR meter neutral to negative today… speculation that the Taliban can/will be held in check for a while through the withholding of foreign aid which the country is totally dependent on… it’s wait and see… also, incredulity that the U.S. Government had no idea that there would be such a rapid collapse of the military forces trained by the U.S.… that there had been a fundamental misunderstanding of the Afghan people…

… eye on the weather for next week… will have to shift to rebuilding the back stairs and so far, the weather is not looking cooperative… on the other hand, the weather app (Dark Sky) has seemed inaccurate lately, who knows what it will be… i’ve installed Weather Bar on my desktop… lets see if it is any more informative and accurate…

… in the meantime, finishing up the dining room panel project is my next few days… should have it all done by Friday(?)… certainly by end of the weekend… probably be able to get it painted before H returns from BI which i hope will make her smile…

… i’ve been neglecting photo processing during dining room construction… i am getting out and making the pictures, iPhone only, but no processing or sharing…

… i have booked my hotel stays for the journey down to Florida… first night, Lynchburg VA, second night, Savannah GA… now for the journey back… then figure out a few sights that don’t take long to see… starting to look forward to it even though visiting with my parents will be a bit sad and stressful…

First Thoughts

… HCR meter negative… about the lightning speed collapse of the U.S. trained Afghan army which was, apparently the result of negotiated cease fires between those armies and the Taliban… that the U.S. seemed to have no idea of what was going on seems implausible, or, if indeed the case, pretty troubling… at the end she goes on a bit of a rant against conservative politicians trying to make the Afghan situation the Biden/Harris admin’s fault… i know she tilts strongly liberal, but i wish she hadn’t done that…

… dust up with my sister yesterday… trying to think what sort of olive branch i can extend…

… WooHoo!… a Red Roof Inn in Savannah Georgia and it is only $56 dollars a night and highly rated by customers!… and, there is a Red Roof in Charlottesville, much more expensive… may need to locate one outside of the city… would like to keep overnight costs near $300 for entire trip… the adventure is coalescing…

… rain coming, probably tropical storm remnants, need to protect the lumber drying in the driveway, finish wee whacking in the back…

Afghanistan, another forsaken part of the world

… the Taliban on the march… much faster than expected… 20 years equipping and training an army, which seems to just be folding… human tragedies seem the worst to me… i suppose from above the earth looking down, one can think of humans as another manifestation of cosmic forces, but civilization is supposed to be where we choose to be better than that…