Every so often, JS has asked if I could accompany her to a reading from a psychic in Massachusetts. I've occasionally have been able to do so. But each time I've made myself available, she has either called in sick or has asked me to drive her to the appointment. JS doesn't want to put more mileage on her car, even though she is driving 150 miles each day to go to work and back. As you can guess, there's a lot to watch out for here, and that I'd be a fool to get caught up in her problems.
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This morning, I woke up shortly after 6:30 am, and started checking my messages. I noticed that JS was asking me to do the driving for her visit to her psychic. It wouldn't be a good idea for me to trade the dependency of my former cruise partner for a new, more dysfunctional friend. I have gotten to the point where I want friends who can stand on their own, even if it means that I have fewer friends to be with.
Being fully awake at 6:30 means that I will likely lose steam later in the day. Additionally, it allows me to be fully awake when watching the morning's political news. And I took this opportunity to do so. Like the political pundits, I found that Mike Bloomberg's probable entry into the 2020 Democratic nomination contest to be an important development. More importantly, I think that he might just be the one candidate who can pummel Trump in all the ways that are important. No one can say that Bloomberg is dishonest. No one can say that Bloomberg mismanaged his political office. And no one can say that a Bloomberg administration will be filled with scandal. He might be the one person who can both fix the damage Trump has done to the government and set up a system of numbers based governing that could be useful to future administrations.
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My niece and I were supposed to get together tonight for a museum night. Sadly, this didn't come off, as she had to work late at work and wouldn't make it to the museum on time. In many ways, this was OK with me, as I really didn't want to go outside in the cold. It's already November, and the cold has seeped into my apartment, and I was thinking of wearing trousers for my weekly stint at the LGBT Center.
When I was young, I never noticed the cold (or, so I remember it.) I could go outside for hours, do things like deliver newspapers, and still enjoy the weather outside. Now, that I've reached my 60's, I've gotten used to the idea of taking winter vacations where it's warm. And this means winter cruises to the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal, and to Hawaii.
Last night, I chatted with HWV about my cruises, and she mentioned something that saddened me. The homeless population in San Francisco has grown to a point where she considers it dangerous. She noted that in the past few years, that they are accosting people in front of the Four Season's hotel - people no longer feel safe there. Whether this is true or not, I can find out. I dated a woman in Nyack who now lives in the San Francisco Bay area. The next time I have a chance, I will chat with her and find out whether what HWV said is true or not. This information may be what decides whether I take a Hawaii cruise out of San Francisco or out of Los Angeles.
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I ended up going to the LGBT Center a little later than usual to do my volunteer stint, and only spent an hour there. Today's tasks were to update their calendars, send out meetup information, and update their blog to reflect the need to get volunteers for their upcoming Trans Forum. Once I was done there, I figured that I'd check in with Pat - and she said to drop over with some Chinese, as she'd supply the wine.
At Pat's, we got into our usual discussion - she's an idealist who believes that all we need to fix the world is to have everyone change their attitudes, and if by magic, all would be right with the world. I'm a realist - I'll always ask "what's in it for me?" even if I plan to make a sacrifice for others. To me, incremental progress is better than no progress at all. And Pat's inability to focus on one problem at a time is what's caused her to become a victim of life. Yes, we have a system which could be much better. Racism does permeate our society, benefiting some people in power at the expense of others. Capitalism has its flaws, but it doesn't explain all of mankind's ills. If anything, basic human nature is the problem, and not much is going to change it. Instead, all we can do is harness that nature, and develop social and economic systems which account for human failings.
Today, I got smart - I set a time limit to hang out with Pat. It's hard to have an intelligent discussion with someone who has swallowed the Kool-Aid of either Left or Right. And I was starting to tire myself out after 90 minutes. So I was very glad when 9 pm came around, giving me a chance to leave.
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On the way home, I stopped by Stew Leonard's. It's nice to be there after the crowds are gone. However, they are returning certain foodstuffs to refrigerators, shutting down the fish monger and butcher sections (prepacked meats and fish still remained available), and cleaning up the place during the last business hour of the day. So it didn't pay to dawdle. I just grabbed my stuff and went home.
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