I Think

A lot of us on the a2k pickum game chose the Giants to win this last Sunday; that was except for two people, so still some liking of the Giants is going on.

I like the Giants. They just are not consistent these days.

yeah, I still like Giants some. Eli still can chuck it well and handles pressure better than most. Of course, in NYC you'd have to.

Holidays over, I can resume my alternatives. It was a waste to take anything like that and then pig out day after day. My gut bees bigger, but it will slowly start down now.

Doing some work on the house, I had need of a wood bit long enough to go through the wall, so I could put bolts to hold a beam of 2X8s together. My six inch bits could not do the job. On the other hand, the bits at Lowes were way too expensive for me to fork out the cash for a one time job. There was no way to get out of bolting these boards to carry an eight foot span. So I bought the longest lag screw I could find. I drilled the six inches and then put the lag into the hole and sent it all the way through with a ratchet wrench. Then cleaned out the hole from the other side with the six inch bit. The lag screw cost a couple of dollars.

As I prepare myself for the new year, I think back to many things. Today I have been recalling a woman I first met about 1991. She called off of my ad for handyman work. We had just recovered from a hard freeze, an uncommon circumstance for southeast Texas. Her high sitting mobile home had been outfitted with unprotected PVC plumbing. There was not even skirting around it. The pipes had leaks. She asked me to repair them. I had not worked extensively with whole house PVC plumbing. I had no reason to think the entire exposed pipe system needed replacing, because, when I turned on the water pressure, there were just three visible leaks. I undertook to repair those leaks. That done, I found a few more leaks when I turned on the water. And again. I chased leaks all day. My bill to her was, in my estimation, not that high. But, as she told me, with great indignation, "I paid less than that to put it in new." She had to pay me by monthly installments, which I readily agreed to. The last payment was short ten dollars and I wrote that off.

About fifteen years later, while working my job as maintenance at some apartments, I realized one day that the person living in a certain apartment was this same woman. She never showed a sign that she recognized me and I gave no clue. My memory was jogged, because she had a son living with her. He was an objectionable sort of guy, who took issue with every word out of my mouth. After repeated encounters with him, it dawned on me that he was the one that did me the same way in 1991.

She was a good woman, one who made crafts and sold them. She once gave me a wooden car her late husband had made. Our one issue with her was the incessant smoking, which carried into neighboring apartments. We had some hairy incidents over this. Eventually, she died. Her son immediately moved out, without taking anything of hers. He also refused to release the apartment, so we could empty it and rent it again. Eventually, we gained access. As we gathered all of her stuff, I could not help noting she owned several books on writing. She had worked the dream of becoming a published writer. Many objects about the rooms gave clues that proved her to be a complex person I wish I had gotten to know better in life.

Her dreams all ended as we sent off the best furnishings to the Teams outlet in Tomball and the rest went in a dumpster. This tribute may be all that will remain to remind the world she was a fine woman.

Thanks for sharing this story and sharing your positivity.

Positivity can be a very short commodity these days (not-so-cold war heating up).

I have long been attracted to people who are creative, including handymen (my father was smart re building stuff and that may be the fulcrum on my interest in architecture/construction but also my much later interest in remodeling.

My ex did handyman work early on, though I met him as part of a theater group, a 'can do' person, but not to the level of rah rah. Optimism, with awareness of the opposite.)

I have a lot of memories of interesting people, not so much that they were listable as somehow masters of any one endeavor, but for their interests, explorations.

US craft interest had seemed to me to have catapulted downhill in a hand basket. My hand baskets were oft from S. Army but were from many lands, not us.

I take a lot of interests, art for example, as a kind of play, toying and developing something, finding out with the doing.

2016 is a watershed year for me. It marks the year in which all that had been building since the mid Sixties for me came to a full culmination at last. It means that I no longer believe in our politicians, business leaders and government. I no longer believe in the judgment of most Americans. It does not mean I would immigrate, even if I could and had somewhere to go. My life is here. My destiny, if you will, is here.

Awakening began with the Civil rights movement. It was clear to any with eyes to see that black Americans were being held down in society and often killed off with impunity. Dark skin and Spanish language put Latin Americans in a precarious situation also. Second was Vietnam. There was no compelling reason to waste so many lives:
Allied military deaths 282,000
NVA/VC military deaths 444,000
Total deaths 1,353,000
Simultaneously, it became more and more obvious the gains made by working Americans were being subverted, slowly at first, but more and more in evidence as decades rolled by. At first I blamed the conservative element of society for the backward movement of workers well being, because conservatives were vocal in resisting progressive change. The pushing of GW Bush into the presidency caused me to doubt more and more the Democrats for helping it and Iraq to happen.
Before Bush was Bill Clinton.

Bill Clinton had been hailed by me as potentially the best thing to happen in my lifetime. What a disappointment. Ultimately he did more to further the conservative agenda than anybody since Reagan. He helped open my eyes regarding Democrats.

I have come to recognize that both political parties play both ends against the middle. Their biggest donors get all the benefit of their votes. The Democrats will throw the base a few liberal perks but when the chips are down their wishy washy nature causes them to retreat behind money.

This is the year I became truly independent of both political persuasions. I will vote for a Bernie Sanders, given the chance. But not an Obama or Biden. There is no Republican I would consider.

I don't believe anymore.

The same conclusions about politics and politicians, that's why I registered as an Independent many decades ago.
I also did not rely on government or business to look out for my best interests. We've seen the stagnation in wages, and the shrinking of the middle class while the rich got richer.
I found that working for myself and doing consulting work was the best way to make money. It allowed me to buy income property and travel the world. I also retired early.
Not wealthy by any means, but now living in the middle of Silicon Valley where homes sell for $1.5 million and more, and we have no mortgage.
Our home was built in 1955, but we've had complete exterior and interior renovations done. We had a new roof installed a few years ago, and was told it's good for 25 years.
So, we're comfortable.
We're having family and friends come over tomorrow for the New Year's feast, and expect about 20 people.
HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!

...it took you a long time to get disappointed with politics or should I say human nature...
...as for Bernie he is just a "reaction" to a disease not an actual thing per se.

I just used Bernie for an instance. I don't expect him to run for national office again, at his age.

I've been disappointed since the mid 60s, but I went for the lesser of two evils crap for years.

yes. well said. The lesser (politicians) became lesser than ever and far more evil. The trick before, ignoring them, has become impossible now.

Well, I used to be disappointed but that has been replaced with fearfulness.

Agree. It's really hard to even discuss while I'm vacationing overseas. I feel such dread, though I know logically he's 'only' one man - the Prez. The office has its limits. Sadly the people he appointed in his cabinet are such a poor example of competence, ethics and values.

So curious.... Why is it all the people I meet overseas in NZ are so well-informed about what's going on in our side of the pond? I guess because it's such a small nation ... around 5m, where they are impacted greatly by what happens with trade and international relations. So much more important is this responsibility to be a world power.

Took down the decorations today. We bought a really big plastic container to put the tree and ornaments in. It's the smaller of two trees we own. Then put it all in a single spot I cleared away. Every year, I have been searching out the individual stored items. But the strings of lights are properly rolled and in their own containers, too. 2017, I am ready.

In the noise age how does that make you feel about democracy ?...

Quivering new world. It does not sit well. I refuse to let Trump's inauguration render me to a snapping cur. The Republicans are forced to govern, after eight years of dereliction. How can they blame liberalism for the failures they are sure to put their names to? I see it as cause for optimism. The public cannot endure many more cuts for the rich and all the military adventures. I see the new order as on a short leash. The only question in my mind is, which party will snap first to the real opportunities that will be opened up? We are due a revolution. Hopefully peaceful, not bloody.

They seem more like one party of middlemen businessmen serving the whims of oligarchs.

Fascinating bit of shenanigans going on recently with Ryan, angry voters, & the House 'Ethics' Commitee.

https://www.google.com/amp/mobile.nytimes.com/2017/01/03/us/politics/trump-house-ethics-office.amp.html?client=safari