Breaking History

My great great grandfather Aaron T was a member of the Georgia malt that fought with Jackson. He received a land grant in South east  Arkansas territory for his service and my great grandfather Ezekiel B was bone there in 1836. Both Ezekiel B and his brother Stephen enlisted in the 42nd Mississippi in 1861. Both made the long walk across the field at Gettysburg on July 3rd 1863 and survived the war. Aaron T enlisted in the Mississippi volunteer cavelry as a second LT at 65. After the war the entire family moved from French Camp Mississippi to Hot Springs Arkansas

I believe this year's Passover is the 3,473th in history. The Jewish year is 5,782. 

I don't know how you remember these things. But, yes, my birthday was on Sunday, July 24. I didn't do much. I have to stick around the building until the church services are over. I make sure they turn off the water, lock the doors, and that sort of thing.

Later my older brother came over and we played a video game. Then later we both went over to my younger brother's house where his living-in-sin girlfriend made a very good lasagna.

We're bracing for some ninety degree weather this week which, I'm sure, means nothing to a Texan. But your well wishes are appreciated. How old am I? Well…



P.S.: Ate too much cake.

We will all meet again in Valhalla (if it’s not too woke) in future years. Turn right at the 72-Virgins-Heavenly-Playground and you can’t miss it. It’s full of guys swinging swords and wearing horn-helmets.

Actually, the 72 virgins sounds a bit more appealing. But, really, I would consider it hell to be stuck with a harem of women for the rest of eternity. A weekend outing on some floating Harem Cloud Resort?…yeah, sure. But eternity surrounded by needy, jabbering women? As George H.W. Bush said, “Nah gonna do it.”

I may or may not eventually go gently or ungently into that good-night/good-riddance. As we get older, we become more resigned to our fate…at least our worldly fate. Whether we have what it takes to make it to Valhalla (or the swinging 72 Virgins Inn), I don’t know. But I suspect there’s more things in heaven and earth than are written in Origin of Species.

On the other hand, seeing how fucked up so much of reality is, you wonder if The Almighty is as wise and grand as they say he is. That’s why they call it “hope” because certainty eludes us. And after 64 years I’m not sure off all that much and don’t hope for all that much. I suppose at this point, given where the culture is going, I just hope that stupid doesn’t rub off on me. Whenever comes that “goodnight,” let’s hope it is the harbinger of a spiritual “wokeness” that has nothing at all to do with the insipid earthly kind. God owes us at least that much.

Birthday good wishes for both of you youngsters. It appears I have a few years on both of you so I expect the respect for your elder will continue. It seems the best people have July birthdays as my best girl was born on the 4th. She is still convinced the fireworks are for her. My youngest great grandson has a birthday tomorrow, it is his first. Making me 73 and half years older than him. It has gotten to the point where I just rely on my daughter to remember birthdays and I send the required gift or card. One of the problems with old age is not memories, although, those can add pleasant and sometimes terrifying dreams. Age is not something young people are equipped to handle. Health concerns do increase all biological systems eventually wear out and 70 seems to be a place those become more prevalent. I had lunch yesterday with an old friend from high school and the first 20 minutes we spent talking about ailments and the DRs we are seeing. I'll spare you the trip down that memory lane. 

So, kids have a good and safe birthday. instead of candles just put a road flare on the cake. Dylan Thomas really does have it right. 

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

What did someone once say about that?



Okay. Grudgingly given. No one said that respect had to be enthusiastic. A genuflect to your face and a bird-flip to your rear. Sort of reminds me of a Blackadder episode. And if you can make it through more than 30 seconds of that video, you definitely have my respect.



File this in the category of "Talk is cheap." But my older brother turned 70 on Friday, the 22nd of July. (His daughter's birthday is 3 days earlier on the 19th...speaking of all the right kind of people having July birthdays.)

Anyway, he said that when you reach a certain age you don't have to put up with other people's shit. Instead of engaging, you just walk away, find a new friend, find a new wife (like I said, talk is cheap), etc.

But certainly there is a lot of truth in that. I believe this is mostly true for men as the need for drama rarely goes away amongst the fairer sex. If I'm wrong, let me know from afar. But I had a customer the other day who couldn't find my place in order to pick up a funeral program. (An appropriate product for this particular discussion.) Long story short, you wouldn't believe the grief he gave me because he couldn't find a clearly-marked business establishment. And he called back twice and I continued to give him instructions, to no avail. Finally I said "fuck it" and told him "Stay where you are, I will take them to you." I did and still got an earful of grief about how I told him such bullshit stuff like "look for a blue and yellow sign on the right that says Pacific Printing." He was embarrassed for being confused and it was, of course, my fault. He was just going off. He even said he didn't want to accept the programs. He would get them somewhere else. I reminded him that they were already paid for and that the funeral (his wife's) was tomorrow.

But did I get angry? Did I take his bait? Hell, no. When I'm sixty-four….. His shit is his shit, not mine. Later he called back and apologized. He was a black man and I did not say (but thought) "That was awfully white of you." I didn't know at the time that it was his wife that died. After giving me all that grief, this factoid later came off. I guess I'm glad I didn't tell this ass to fuck off and die. After all, he was dealing with quite a loss. Still...what a rattlesnake.

But it's his venom, not mine. At some point you can decide to let other people's shit be other people's shit and just walk on to fairer pastures.

I listened to the full video. I have to admit I have never been a fan of soul music and had never listened to all the lyrics of "Respect." After listening carefully, I was a bit surprised at the crudity of the song. 

It wasn't patience. I really just didn't give a shit. I wasn't going to make his drama mine. Nor, even being in the right, did I want to use this advantage to put the guy in his place. I'll choose the dramas that I want to take part in and this wasn't one of them.

I'm guessing the guy has real cognitive difficulties. And I imagine his wife served him like a maid and smoothed over all this stuff. Obviously this guy was more than just scared and disoriented. What I saw was a spoiled brat. And this brat just lost his coddler. Just a guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's accurate.

Or he was just grieving in some peculiar way. I have no idea.

I've got long Covid or something. No kidding. I don't know what it is but it manifests itself as pain and stiffness in the knee joints and shoulders….and just an overall feeling that your body is fighting something. I've had that for the last seven months (more acutely, but for the last two years, it always felt like I had some kind of background virus). A couple aspirin (or equivalent) is what I take for it. You'd think it could be arthritis or something. If it was just the knees, I'd say yes. They've gotten a workout over the years. But the pain in the shoulders makes it obvious that something else is going on.

But I went out today and did 11.3 miles on the bike. I felt pretty good. I think it helped that it was 85 degrees (42 relative humidity). I really do like exercising in the heat...always have. It just feels better.

I had a customer just this last Thursday who came in and said he had long Covid. Seriously, I didn't believe him. I think people are just saying this stuff. But maybe it's real. I don't know. Everyone wants to be the wounded bird for purposes of sympathy.

I hurt...at lot sometimes. But I work through it. I definitely am not going gently into that goodnight. And the Ibuprofen helps.