Another Obvious Danger -

Hello Fellow Travelers!

Venomous

I know, I know, the fast-black-chubby-spider-with-the-despot-head has been done to death. Stick a fork in it done.  You get it - I don't like anything with eight legs. This is the last one, I promise!  I go to the well-of-eight one last time because I'm puzzled by our Commander-In-Chief:  The President's MAGA mantra seems to be some desire for a bygone era - ( 50's? 60's?) when women cooked, cleaned and wore high heels.  "Ladies" raised children (or were supposed to)  and weren't supposed to worry their pretty little heads about money or decisions.  Big, strong, men would pick out the homes and decide how to best spend the family income, they drank cocktails and smoked a lot.  During this unevolved, brainless, period in our history the enemy was always Russia, (the former Soviet Union).  Russians were bad, evil, the antithesis of Democracy.  Spies were always Russian.  Cartoon baddies were Russians (remember Boris & Natasha?).

Vladimir Putin was a KGB Colonel, he eliminated people. Reportedly, he still does.  He rules Russia with an iron fist.  He's a killer - everybody knows this.  Every speck of common sense, every iota of knowledge blinks STAY AWAY! in neon in letters 10 ft. high.  Completely obvious.  So why does our Government allow him to run all over the place like a rogue arachnid?  I always thought Russia was our enemy - "Better Dead than Red", remember that?  Have you seen this guy?  He makes Tony Soprano look cuddly!   His eyes say, "Danger!"  So, even if I buy into (and I don't) this "Happy Days"/"Leave It To Beaver" scenario one essential component is missing:  an ongoing distrust/feud between the US President and the Russian one,  Why isn't our president asking Putin serious questions like JFK asked Kruschev?

Why am I asking this fairly obvious question?  Happy you asked!  Because now I have to add Putin to my bonfire-o'-stress and it's like adding jet fuel to a campfire - explosive - and it's too much!  Fire is engulfing my state, I am figuring out an emergency plan where I'm not BBQ'd-in-a-Wheelchair. I have no capacity for devoting what's left of my brain to foreign adversaries. And make no mistake, Putin is an adversary, a dangerous one.  Despite how much Trump wants us to like Mr. Putin, I was taught often and repeatedly - Watch Out!  Danger!  Beware!  Russia will never be our friend for obvious reasons.  Putin is obvious, brutish and amoral.  I thought when East Germany fell we were done worrying about us vs. them.

Russian nogoodniks?  Spy vs. Spy? Cold war! I thought we were long past that time, like polio.  But it's back, it's more dangerous than ever and we have to deal with Putin, find out if/what/how bad he's done and respond accordingly.  It's not even a Scooby Doo Mystery.  It's so simple I can almost figure it out, but we have to deal with it - NOW!

Then I can stop freaking out at the news and focus my attention on walking and talking again.  Fast-moving spiders (with spider heads) occasionally cross my path and I have to be prepared to deal with them.  And no, it's not life or death (for me anyway) but being ready is!

I'm Not Strange, I'm A "Dark Tourist"! (OK, I'm Sort of Strange...)

Hello Fellow Travelers!

I'm not "tiny" and have no desire to be or see ANYONE "naked" but there is a group of folks researching and appreciating creepy and unexplained phenomena that have finally been named and the name and description of this group made me feel a little less strange, a little less alone.

Morticia - A Corpse Flower

Anything trendy I have regularly recoiled from but I knew I was a "Dark Tourist" my entire life I'm just happy that there are others who have odd areas of interest and it's a "thing".  (Well, it's on Netflix so it's sort of "a thing") From early on I've been fascinated by the darker side of things.  When I read there was a corpse flower blooming at a local college, I was so there!   Corpse flowers bloom (and produce the rotting flesh stench they're named for) once every ten years, if that, for 24-48 hours, then the bloom quickly dies.  I've hiked up to the Hollywood sign (A starlet committed suicide there), seen OJ's house, timed the walk to Nicole Simpson's house, drove by the Manson Murder house with a curiosity that rivals dedicated bird watchers!  New Orleans is just a ghost mecca - something creepy on every corner!  (I've been there twice),  I listened for hours to  online conspiracies on EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) with my nieces, Ouija boards were supposed to issue invites to demons and ( I thought my sister was pushing the planchette so we spent every "communique to the spirit world" arguing about who was cheating) so I avoided Ouija for the most part, just to be safe.  You never know.

And that's my point. The news requires our total focus now.  What terrible event has happened today?  What stupid/horrendous/illegal thing has Trump said/done/assaulted? I'm pretty strong but I don't know if I can take much more!  Matt Damon and Tom Cruise have made films about Mars.  Have you ever seen Mars?  It's awful!  Even if we could get there (we can't) who'd want to go?  No one can live there!  But if we don't stop killing Earth (we have about, oh, 20 years left before we have to move.)it will be too polluted to be habitable. I can rarely be unpleasantly surprised looking at something interesting. Halloween cocktail parties in marble crypts in N'Awlins are a little creepy but very fun!  National news is very difficult to process and can be a harbinger of doom - it's exhausting! Not fun, not even boring. Now when I hear "Breaking News" I shudder. I have to watch.  The "unexplained" is just a mystery that will eventually be solved.  The dead coming back?  Cool! 

"Suicide Forests" I can handle, President Trump?  Not so much.   Jason Voorhees? Ted Bundy?  Freddy Kruger?  Yawn.  Russians manipulating our elections?   That is truly frightening.

This Week A Great Gift Came from an Unexpected Source

Space Pants (And Shorts)

Hello Fellow Travelers!

I have to salute our righteous Vice President who solemnly, nay, gravely announced. declared that the United States needed and was committing to a 6th Defense Force - The Space Force!  Thank you, Thank You, Mr. Vice President!  I have spent the last few months being assaulted in every corner of my life.  Death and horror abound!  Sickness and racism!  Attorneys and blood!  Everywhere I look is literally burning.  Then I heard something so ridiculous, so dim-witted, I couldn't stop laughing! What gave it the added gravitas, that OMG feel, was Mr. Pence's deadpan (dead eyed? Something was dead) delivery.  Like, "This is truly serious, hear me!"

Oh my Lord, that's funny!  Still.  Space Force? I chortled, I guffawed, I howled!  I laughed my butt off!  When I stopped choking and crying I went to my trusty laptop and put in those two words and let it rip !  I was taken to several yuk-fests.  Many Internet sites are blow-liquid-out-your-nose, you laugh so hard funny.  For me, the classics are the best.  Bill Murray doing the sleazy lounge singer in '78, belting out his slimy "Star Wars" song (Did that Vader guy scare you as much as he scared me?) (U-Tube) is my favorite

The Space Force may be a passing notion for the White House, but I'm keeping it! Get me all their merchandise:   I want a coffee mug from Nasa, put Yoda on a Space Force shirt (have VP Pence call George Lucas),  I killed brain cancer maybe I could be a force!  Just when I thought humor was gone (like civility, humanity, good manners, reading, etc.) Mike Pence made me do a spit-take!  "We need a Space Force!"

We need a lot of things; a wall on the border is stupid, but I can get behind a Space Force.   The world seems particularly cold and dangerous right now.  Anything that guarantees helpless laughter is very valuable, priceless, even.  Cracking up makes me feel less overwhelmed, more energized.

I never thought I'd say this but, "Thank you, Mike Pence!"

This Used to Be a Bad LONG Joke. - Now He's Dangerous

Hello Fellow Travelers!


My PS challenged me to write something subtle and indirect.  So I wrote this -                                                                                                                                                                                           

Scuttling Across Washington/New York Walls - The Trump Spider!

                                                                                                                                                                         
Mysterious enough for you?  Too vague?  What does it say?

It says, "I'm sneaky, I'll bite you in your sleep, so you won't sleep.  Ha!  I'm fat but really fast!  You never know where I'll  strike next!  You'd better keep an eye on me." (As if I wouldn't)

I also know what it doesn't say.  It does not say "Welcome!  We'll forcibly take your children, lose them and after a lot of time and money has been wasted some members of your family will be shipped out of the US, and the children, babies, will never see their parents again!  We will not keep records of these families and hold young kids in freezing cages on military bases. I'm not particularly political but this is nothing short of kidnapping and it must stop now.  I am actually ashamed of my country. My country, this government, the USA,  is  stealing kids away from their parents and sending them away in the dead of night.  It isn't American, it's not even human. I thought we were "The Land of the Free and Home of the Brave" not "Give Us Your Tired Masses and We'll Separate Families and Lose Your Children".  There are over 2000 kids currently lost forever.  Infants!  Crying babies!  That awful process shows no sign of improving.  We're responsible.  Our country is doing this in front of the world.  That was blown out of the news cycle by the humiliating "summit" with a smirking Vladimir Putin, who obviously was enjoying himself!  I know the President is routinely criticized for any number of controversial actions and statements.  I see the world a little differently.  I'm severely impaired.  I see the world from a seated position. My viewpoint is little kids and butts. I can't sign my own name or make a phone call.  I've never felt so alive!  My point is we all have challenges to overcome, being an American has always  been a constant, something I could count on in a violent, evil world.  I have enough stressors in my life right now.  Staying alive is a full time endeavor.  A President that needlessly is causing rifts with world leaders, yet who inexplicably fawns over killer dictators and loses children doesn't work for me.  Ruining people, hurting immigrant children is UnAmerican!  To be completely transparent I didn't vote for Our President and I thought we could wait him out.  But like a fat, fast, arachnid, I've been watching his every move, and they are predictably, sadly, bad for the country and good for him.  VP Pence would work better, a chair would work, anything!  The President has me fondly recalling ex-Presidents.  (Ah, yes, do you remember invading Iraq?  "Stormin'  Norman"?) Bush and Cheney are looking better every day!

Maybe I'm missing some history somewhere but doesn't Trump mean the 50's when America was so great?  And isn't Putin an ex-KGB from the old Soviet Union? Whatever happened to "The McCarthy Hearings" and "Better dead than red"?  Hasn't Trump seen "The Americans"?  I thought Russia was "The evil empire". Back when cars had big fins and people smoked cigarettes with impunity.  Russians were sneaky, spies who hated democracy and wanted to destroy America.  Our nation is defined by law and freedom.  I don't  trust ex-KGB officers and I don't think South American babies and refugees are MI6 members.  Duh.  Common sense, right?

I have to believe that there are still millions of rational Americans who still believe in this country and it's principles.  I know that fear and hatred have no place in this world.  John McCain is a hero, an example of America we're all a part of.  Even our cartoon President.  I've been asked "what can a person do?"  A registered voter can do quite a bit, it turns out, even in a wheelchair.

A handicapped individual who's a voter and has a laptop can do all sorts of things like ordering heavy boots with chunky heels to squish small, sneaky, black, spiders!  (Or get my PS to do it:)💙

I'm Just Happy If My People Are Alive!

Dublin!  Alive in Ireland!  It's a Fairly Low Bar but I'll Take It!

Hello Fellow Travelers!  I never thought much about Garth Brooks, not a fan.  Mr. Brooks has catchy C & W tunes and no neck.  That's about all I knew.  But I've had one line of one of Garth's yodely hits stuck in my head, replaying over and over, like a needle stuck on a record (back when dinosaurs roamed the planet).  Anyway, Garth warbles the line, "Sometimes we fight just so we can  make up!", I understand the intention, but it was obviously written by someone not in a relationship.  Anyone in a long-term relationship knows all too well the minefield that awaits anyone foolhardy enough to wander over to the "danger zone" of any relationship!  Anyone who is a long-term partner knows the treacherous terrain of any lengthy union..  There is a delicate balance in every off-hand comment, any conversation, all discussions.  "Disagreement Danger" is everywhere, like dog do on a running path.  You have to be constantly scanning for any hint of trouble. Like "pet-poo", certain arguments must be avoided at all costs!  The many nuanced levels of relationship-rioting have to get repeatedly reviewed and with the most careful consideration. Real disagreements run the gamut - everything from daily good-natured banter to "the thing we dare not speak of".  Every couple has one of those.  Not light, not "fun", not romantic!  Why anyone would write a song about "fighting for fun", is just asking for trouble!  Makeup sex?  I think that's what "no-neck"was yodeling about.  I'm risk-averse, fighting is not anything to play with.  I can't fight, never could.  I survived brain cancer.  I would never "invite the vampire in", so to speak.  Fun?  Not a fan.

One reason I routinely go to the gym, maintain being strong and flexible is I never know what the next disaster is or where it is coming from.  I always feel like I'm on borrowed time.  Recently, that theory has sadly and inevitably been proven.  I wasn't emotionally ready for losing my father (who is?) but I was tough, organized and ready to go.  I was packed and ready to travel in under 45 minutes after we got "the call".  I just started thinking of 2018 as a huge year of loss.  On top of my "Bonfire O' Stress" (Eternally lit since 2010) was a little twig for a friend of mine I hadn't heard from.  As the days went by, and still no reply, my burning twig grew into a flaming stick.  The bad news kept coming.  And still nothing from my friend.  I grimly concluded it was time for a hard-target search.   Then I realized he was going to be harder to find than I thought.  We only communicated via email since he retired so I really had no idea how to reach him or how to confirm that he was OK.  I was preparing to phone his wife's office (they share) when I finally got a message:   He had been in Dublin lecturing!  Dublin!  I haven't been so happy to hear someone''s alive in ages!  My friend wasn't hurt or sick, he was driving on the wrong side of the road!  He wasn't "on the wrong side of the dirt", he was sharing data with European doctors and enjoying Guiness!  I was sooo relieved!

I'm still really grateful to be alive!  I'm really grateful for anyone I know to be alive!  Living might sound like a low bar, but it's the only one that matters...

My Letter to the White House

Hello Fellow Travelers!

Robert Mueller - He's coming...

I actually took some time to write to President Trump with a mutually beneficial solution to all his legal and PR challenges.  My PS told me it was dumb,too simple, but I like it.  I think he'd reap vast rewards by banning assault rifles.  Students and teachers have it hard enough.  Nobody should have to worry about getting shot at school!  I'm not political but I've seen death.  Kids and teachers are supposed to be learning - not dodging bullets!  Maybe I'm naive, but I don't understand why anyone needs an AR anything!

In my letter (that disappeared as soon as I hit send) I illustrated a few of the many difficulties now facing Mr. Trump that would evaporate if he outlawed assault weapons.  I'm a middle-aged, handicapped, female in Northern Cal - NOT a Trump supporter.  However, I know a problem when I see one and an obvious solution that would make "President Trump" an international hero!   Banning ARs would (temporarily at least) would shut some critics up!  He could keep saying and doing whatever he wants - no one will say anything.

Trump's legacy will be assured, the "i" word will not be spoken, but best for Trump though, the Russian Investigation wouldn't matter, Mueller would morph from the great white shark on the "Jaws" movie poster to a gentle manatee.  I'm sure Mr. Trump will never see my letter (I'm not a celebrity and Trump doesn't read).  This pathetic criminal enterprise will probably proceed pretty much as I expect: subpoenas and hearings.  Firings and resignations, tedious and  depressing.  I will happily forget some porn stars and Godfatheresque loyalty pledges for some meaningful gun legislation.

Because make no mistake, Meuller is coming.   He's really big, has rows of razor sharp attorneys, proof, and he's coming for you!

Mr. Trump this is your moment.  Ban assault rifles.  You'll forever be a bold and decisive hero, a uniter who fights for kids.  You'll be The President who "told the NRA to beat it" (boo,hiss! Evil Empire and Wayne La Pierre is so The Emperor).  Be Luke Skywalker, throw the Emperor down a fire tunnel.   Your problems will dissolve, the People will love you.  Keep on your same path and it probably won't end well, which will not be good for anyone.                                  

The "Dental Diet" - Free! (and no Osmonds!)

Extreme Dentistry

Hello Fellow Travelers!

OK, OK, maybe it isn't that bad.  My "dental saga" continues.  Pain and money, money and pain.  Blah, blah, blah.  And so it goes...  In the grand scheme of things although I regret squandering time in "the chair", (I'm fully occupied trying to relearn signing my name) tooth maintenance is like a road or bridge - infrastructure.  Boring but necessary.  I took the time to "go all Japanese mob boss" on my dentist (Lucy Liu in "Kill Bill - I", but unlike  Ms. Liu, I didn't decapitate anyone) Using an interpreter, (my PS), I made my dental situation and expectations known.  Message delivered.  I moved on.  Then I noticed something happening to me, I was losing weight fast.  My solution to dental pain?  Don''t eat! My single question: Is it cancer?   No?  Then who  cares? I just won't eat until it's fixed.     Tada!  Problem solved!  Moving on...Since I've been rehabbing, working out, going to the gym over and over, weight loss has taken on an entirely different goal - a functional objective - weight loss means I'm more fluid, I don't fall as often and when I do land it's not so hard, I am usually able to right myself (the Weeble Principle - Weebles wobble but they don't fall).  Mostly weighing less means less stress on my PS - supporting my wobbly physique is like shouldering drunk dead weight,

Weighing less is no longer a visual/appearance requisite; it's purely a functional/health strategy.  Not eating anything much for two weeks was brutally effective;  clothes effortlessly slide on.  I'm able to overcome falls and avoid broken bones.

A emergency situation recently arose and I was reasonably prepared to travel.  Using the streamlined procedures I based on the philosophy of "Less Is More",  I was packed and organized in under 30 minutes.   I counted the number of travel days (3) and number of likely meals (9?) and was ready for planes that might suck me out of a window or robots who get "woke" and kill every human they see. Not a likely scenario to be sure but I'm ready.  I still am still viewing everything at "booty level" POV, but I'm progressing, moving forward.

I am physically changing, mentally altering, I'm finally grasping my limitations and my possibilities.  My challenge is to reinvent new ways to do old things.  My mother often cites that classic Dylan Thomas poem, "Rage, rage into the dying  light." With all due respect to Mr. Thomas, I couldn't disagree more.  The light isn't dying.  It is bright and full of color. Nobody is dying. I won't stand for it.  I never feel rage about anything, I only feel warmth and friendship - the universe is just beginning to expand. stretch, the possibilities are endless, limitless.

Why I Won't Use Facebook

Awwww!  Remember This Guy?  He was the "Facebook" of his day!  Cutest ET in the universe or Soviet Spy?

Hello Fellow Travelers!

I never saw "ET" until recently,  Before you say it,  I know,I know, it's a wonderful movie and  everyone on the planet knows it - precisely why I avoided seeing it for 20+ years.  Too popular, it was "the McDonald's of movies" - Billions bought tickets.  Pointless elitism is at least partly responsible for my stubborn refusal to ever use Facebook.  But the truth is that I stay away from the social network because I don't really  understand how to use it and I invariably create internet chaos whenever I do anything!  And when I say anything I mean anything!  Case in point:  Last week, Facebook notified me of a family member's birthday so I ventured a rare trip to "FB land" and responded with a completely average (read: boring) "Happy Birthday" and hit "Send".

The PS said I had shared the birthday salutation with "everyone" and called me a rude name that brought my intellect into question!  "Everyone" went everywhere.  So I inadvertently wished a few people glad tidings, it might be almost a year away but it would be thoughtful, eventually, right?  It's all good, it's well-intended, nothing to have a cow about.

I don't "give birth to bovines" anymore but when I heard Facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerberg, testify before Congress my "Spidey Senses" tingled and a large log (Duraflame, maybe) was lit and added to my "Bonfire O' Stress".  Tens of millions of FB users had their data shared/stolen/sold and that fact alone was reason to be wary,  A Congressional hearing gives a measure of credibility to even the wackiest conspiracy theory.  Do I get a baby shower for that cow or what?   'Information hacked?  WTH?

And where precisely is this data?  Which of us had our data stolen?

More stress I can't handle.  And Mr. Zuckerberg?   He told Congress that he would "look into it", whatever that means...


I was just saying,"Happy BD!", I wasn't trying to break anything...

Dental Drama! I Can't Be Enlightened With A Toothache!

A "Dental Monitor" - They Exist and They Make Things Worse, Much Worse!

Hello Fellow Travelers!

This is why I always try to be prepared for the next disaster!  Zombie spider invasion?  Not likely but you never know.  Dental visits gone wrong?  Much more common but just as painful.  I had a dental emergency, I cannot begin to handle another source of pain or stress.  I'm tapped out!  So I called my regular provider and readily agreed to some services.  Tedious, expensive, nothing cosmetic, boring infrastructure stuff, right?  Wrong!  Not even close!

I went to my regular dentist and was told she was "out" and there was no indication of when she was returning so her "partner" would be treating me.  OK, fine, let's move on.  In other words, "whatever".  "Dr. Mengele" kept me waiting for 90 minutes and proceeded to drill (Through the planetary core?  To China?  For oil?).  Two hours later, "Dr. Do-very-little" announced I had a tooth requiring "a lot of work", and his partner "could figure it out".  Fine.   I'd had enough of "Dental Monitor Dude".  I came back a few days later, as scheduled, to find "Dr. FeelBad" would be treating me.  Oh joy.  He fired up the drill and I held my breath.  Many hours later I was battered and bruised but finished!  Or so I thought...

There was a lot of pain, money spent, time elapsed.  For what?  For nothing!  My PS and I discovered that "Dr. Strange" didn't do a lot of the work we had paid for!  I have to go back!  In the meantime biting is blindingly painful, so I can't eat - it's like having your jaw wired shut.

The PS isn't pleased either so I've addressed the situation like a Japanese Mob Boss in a Quentin  Tarantino film ("Kill Bill").  I didn't decapitate anyone but I think I made my point.  Using a translator (the PS) I communicated my dissatisfaction to my dentist.  My physical losses were addressed, the finances adjusted.  I don't care about pain.  Hunger is irritating, nothing more.  But the most important loss cannot be repaid, never can be adjusted, and that is the loss of time.  I feel the passage of time acutely, once time elapses you lose it forever.

Time is the one commodity that cannot be negotiated, bought or sold.  Time is both infinite and finite.  Dental visits are no way to use it.

A Saturday Well Spent!

Hello Fellow Travelers!

Marching in Sactown - It Was Epic!

I'm not very political.  I vote (mostly because I complain a lot), but I usually refrain from taking a position on anything.  I gave my "gravitas" (Silent/stern-but always moving) to this cause. I felt compelled to participate in the gun law reform march at The Capitol (Sacramento) partly because kids and school employees should not worry about getting shot. Ever!  Gun violence is a little like brain cancer - deadly and unpredictable.  Unlike cancer, guns in schools is a completely man-made disaster, entirely preventable.  Nobody should suffer for getting an education.  Teachers suffer more than most, molding young minds is a noble endeavor that probably doesn't pay much. School is hard enough as it is.  Those plucky kids in Florida saw what I saw - Death - and the ones who survived told us what they saw, what to do.  

A neurologist (brain doctor) called last week with my MRI results: I learned on Friday that I'm still a "medical miracle" - whoopi - the MRI came back clear - big deal - I could have told you that, I know that much.  What I'm still "processing" (a thing?  Like "air quotes"?) is that having annual MRIs is  permanent.  I'll always be looking for cancer's return (I can't speak, I can't wear heels, I'm a Weeble, (but I fall down, a lot), but I'm a cancer-free Weeble!).  Moving on...

Remaining among the living is a necessity.  Higher learning, neuroplasticity, memory function are all pretty useless if you're dead.  Guns in schools are not conducive to anything but death.  I've given money and school supplies to teachers - I do NOT expect (or want) an instructor to "be packing heat".

The "March" was meaningful on several levels:  Lots of citizens, clever signage, and many, many, natty pets!  There was chanting!   There was chatting!  It was Democracy-In-Action!  I had been waiting to object to Trump's stupid wall, then Parkland happened.  I rolled, (was pushed) with a boisterous-but-happy crowd to the state capitol where the signs were funnier, the chanting was louder and there were speeches!  It was awesome!

I met some kids who are close to voting age, they see their journey ahead and they are determined to change the rules.  It works!

The Best Things Are Green!

Hello Fellow Travelers!

GOT Wyldefyre - Glowing and Green - Beautiful

On New Year's Day, 2000, a family of amazing women gave me a beautiful piece of blue-green art glass It's a multcolored flask, stunning.  This flask is a calliope of color naturally, but it holds a secret:  In the sun it glows green from the inside..  I've always appreciated art glass but living post brain surgery has given my appreciation new depth.  Colors are more vivid, artistry is more obvious.  I can look at a flower, a piece of tile, a rock and see new facets, textile patterns and see infinite, beauty.   I have 0 patience for pointless tragedies, sorrow sewn through sheer stupidity.

I'm speaking, of course, about the idiots losing (killing?) beloved pets on United Airlines.  I can't walk.  I can't speak.  Who thinks I'm in any mood  to view horrific stories of a family having their adorable French Bulldog stuffed for three hours in an overhead bin where it died?  United Airlines must think we all want profound sadness!  Well, they're wrong!  Nobody wants to see a dead puppy!  Ever!   What's their slogan? "Dead Pets Fly Free"? I'm not in the mood for sadness, pain.  United created that cruelty.  Innocent travelers paying money to jerks who lose/abuse their cherished pets. Yet, I carefully followed that sad tale. Who didn't?  Heartbreaking. Turns out United is pretty good - at losing/killing pets.  I followed another tragic-sounding (happy ending) journey: an older, sick, German Shepherd who was mistakenly flown to Japan!  Kids were involved in all these situations.  Sobbing, grieving, Kids!  Children!  This is horrible and completely airline-made.  One time might be explained away as an accidental event - an anomaly, but the PS tells me there's a third "United Four Legged Tragedy".  He says I don't want to know the outcome.  OK, he's right, I don't want to know..  What I do know is  that more than one tragedy is a pattern!

"Fly the friendly skies" my ass, boycott these puppy killers!  Mistaking a Great Dane for a German Shepherd?  Nobody should be subjected to this level of incompetence.  Flying is bad enough.  I'm forever sentenced to the middle seat, I can't be bothered with heartbroken families, There is no shortage of airlines that want your business.  United will always be the airline of neglected/misdirected/dead pets!  Enough!  None of us should have to concern ourselves with the life or death of a pet!  Don't use United!  They never have the cheapest flight anywhere so it shouldn't be hard.  Puppies are dying!  Children are crying!  United's answer?  A very unsatisfactory "we apologize".    Uh, yeah.  Not nearly adequate.  We already know they mishandle humans.  They are rarely the most inexpensive or only carrier so why does anyone use them?  Dogs are dying people!  I haven't checked on cats yet, I'm afraid to.

There is no shortage of tragedy and sorrow.  Suffering is everywhere.  Colors, nature and mysterious glass are what I surround myself with, study,absorb.  My PS is playing "The Rover", Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

MRIs Revisited - Still Difficult But Illuminating

The New "Denali" Bed - (I joke, but there is a mini weather system at the top)  It's fabulous!  Requires A Pole Vault And Carabiners! It's Got Two Cedar Drawers!  I Love It!

Hello Fellow Travelers!

I'm still trying to climb up to the "Summit of Sleep" every night.  The bed has two, cedar-lined drawers so I'm determined to figure out a way to traverse it!

But figure out a way, I will!  The two dovetailed, drawers at the foot of the bed are large, easily accessible and hold everything.  So if my sprawling onto the top following a desperate leap utilizing all my strength and agility is required, I'm all in!  So what if after a death-defying jump (and very ungainly sprawl landing - no grace whatsoever) I reach the top?  Reaching the top is all that matters!  It's similar to boarding a boat, getting aboard is all that counts.  I took a page from a prison cell on "Game of Thrones" - no doors because a fall would be death.  I stay away from the edges of Denali.  A fall would be disastrous.

Dangerous?  Probably.  But it's a calculated risk -  It removes any impulse to nap or oversleep  Ascending to the summit requires precision and strength - and practice.  Repeated practice.  This bed is more than a piece of furniture to me, it's part of my lifestyle now.  Those two cedar drawers are integral to our method for streamlined living.

One challenge I thought I was done with after five years was the Magnetic Resonance Imager or MRI.  I recently changed insurance providers and was told I needed a new MRI, and would need a new one for the next three years!

Naturally my first response was "No, I don't think so.  Five years are enough, I'm done."  However, the PS has a totally different take on brain tumor vigilance and MRIs- knowing sooner is always better.  I have barely tolerated this annual foray into hell thinking I'd be finished at some point (I'm extremely claustrophobic, and an MRI is like being in a coffin) but now I at least have a reason for annually subjecting myself to the longest, scariest, 20 minutes imaginable!  Previously, I had believed a brain scan would be nothing but a reaffirmation that there was no cancer, I'm still a medical anomaly, and who cares?  Moving on...

The PS suggested in the unlikely event that cancer reappeared, if it was identified early enough I might be able to fight with non-surgical treatments.  That got me thinking: I can't tolerate more brain surgery but I could survive chemotherapy.  I probably would live after radiation.  So as horrific as MRIs remain, they do serve a purpose, so I'll "embrace the suck" and endure the belching,  cacophonous crypt-like machine - for the rest of my life (or until they invent something better).

Our New Bed - Very Tall

Hello Fellow Travelers!

Single Socks, Miracles and Cancer, Oh My!

Hello Fellow Travelers!

                                                   A Garage in Santa Rosa - Untouched By Fire (Notice the Chimney - All That Remains)

                                                                                               Miracle?  Wind? Tiny Mansion?  You Decide!

One household chore I actually do pretty well, is sorting laundry, especially pairing socks.  It's boring, meticulous and repetitive, in other words, perfect for me!  It's sorting clothes on "Laundry Mountain".  Everybody has a "Laundry  Mountain" someplace, even if it's still in the dryer, there's always a pile of clean clothes someplace waiting to be sorted.  I loathe anything not put away so I don't have a Laundry Mountain anymore, more of a "Drier Dump Pile" which gets sorted immediately after being dried.  A peculiar practice the PS utilizes when sorting clothes is putting single socks away, to get paired up down the line.  And really, just who on earth is going to do that?     "The Millionaire Matchmaker"?    That dude on Match.com?  Nope.  I always match those "Eleanor Rigby" singles so they are matched!  I actually believe if I don't pair up those poor things they'll be forever in the dark drawer with the coupled socks, alone, looking for a purpose,searching for their perfect match..  My PS isn't lazy, he just was taught to doom solo socks to remaining in the dark. I know all those single socks won't be paired unless I do it. I can't stand the thought of lone socks waiting in vain in the dark,waiting forever to be paired off.  Waiting in vain to be on a foot.  Unless someone loses a leg (don't even think it!) it won't happen.  It's just too sad!  Socks can't reach their full potential unless they're in a partnership with an identical mate.   They're not merely underwear, they're like emperor penguins - they need their match.  That search will be forever ongoing...

I've been contemplating the randomness of natural disasters and the above photo is exemplary of this phenomena.  Fire consumed the Santa Rosa residence but left the three-car garage unscathed.  Before anyone asks, this was a wine-country getaway-on-the-weekends house.  The destruction of the house is terrible but the owners have a bigger house in SF, they'll be fine.  The large, well-built garage will continue to house expensive cars and the owners will rebuild the main house.  

After being ignored by the Grim Reaper and living to tell about it (but not being able to speak) I've developed a keen appreciation for  anything that survives.    Fire is final, it is indiscriminate, impersonal.  Fire has many things in common with cancer.  It's miraculous to survive either.  Being a survivor of one I am awed by anything that survives a wildfire even garages!  This is a miracle property, hallowed ground.  That structure should be more than a place to park several autos, it's a temple,  a shrine to life!  I know a  miracle when it emerges untouched from a firestorm and that spot is a safe zone.  It probably will remain a garage (I'd go Tiny Luxury,  a Yurt?  Condo?  Something!) but something is special about it, this place potentially transcends earthly forces.  On the other hand it could go off like a Molotov Cocktail next fire season, who knows?

That's why there's insurance...