AM/PM

There is a difference from day and night. Day is bright and night is dark. Day is when we awake and do our business and stuff and night is when we sleep.

At least that is the way the animals do it.

But animals don’t wear watches. How do they know AM from PM?

The 12-hour clock is a time convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods: a.m. (from Latin ante meridiem, translating to before midday) and p.m. (from Latin post meridiem translating to after midday).

Each period consists of 12 hours numbered: 12 (acting as zero), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. The 24-hour/day cycle starts at 12 midnight (usually indicated as 12 a.m.), runs through 12-noon (usually indicated as 12 p.m.), and continues just before midnight at the end of the day.

The 12-hour clock was developed from the middle of the second millennium BC to the 16th century AD.

If your body clock runs on the sundial, it will tell you when to wake up and when to go to sleep.

Yet we can adjust ourselves if we work the night shift or have late nights or early morning commutes. It may be difficult if your friends don’t work the same schedules or you can’t conform to the normal 9-5 workdays.

It seems 4AM is an important time. I wake every morning at 4AM. No matter if I went to sleep at 7PM or 1AM, I wake at 4AM. It is mostly to go down the hall to empty but I’m fully awake. I could start the day then and have sometimes. Yet it is dark and all around me is quiet, but it is a great time to write or draw or listen to music (if you don’t turn it up too loud). Still this is a different time of the day. Wander outside and see who else is up and about.

BC/AD

As we all know Jesus was born on Christmas Day so we could all get presents from Santa, but the New Year calendar starts 38 days later.

Before Christ, an epoch used in dating years prior to the estimated birth of Jesus in the Julian and Gregorian calendars

The terms (AD) anno Domini and (BC) before Christ are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.

The term anno Domini is Medieval Latin and means “in the year of the Lord”, but is often presented using “our Lord” instead of “the Lord”, taken from the full original phrase “anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi”, which translates to “in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ”.

This calendar era is based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus of Nazareth, with AD counting years from the start of this epoch, and BC denoting years before the start of the era.

There is no year zero in this scheme, so the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC. This dating system was devised in 525 by Dionysius Exiguus of Scythia Minor, but was not widely used until after 800.

We mark our time on this planet with a start date and an end date. We figure how many rotations we enjoyed but not if we are an ‘early bird’ or a ‘night owl’.

Turn your alarm off and see what happens.

Mouse in the House

Walking into the kitchen late at night without turning on the light, there was a shadow moving. It was out of the corner of the eye and made no sound. It seemed larger than a roach but it is too cold for roaches.

The next night, the light was left on. Again something scurried by but not a sure visual. Later in the evening, another visit to the kitchen caught the view of a little grey critter running down the back splash and into the stove.

Now this house has had rodents in it before. Since day one there have been sounds in the walls. Never saw anyone scurrying about, but there were lots of cats in the house too.

One year there was a squirrel in the bathroom as a nursery. A couple of years there were three ferrets running amok free range. Then there was the raccoon in the upstairs and under the house scratching on the ceiling or under the bathtub.

The squirrel grew up and was placed outside, only to be run over by a car. The ferrets died of natural causes and are buried in the yard. Unfortunately the raccoon had to be poisoned then buried in the yard and the tree used for climbing into the house, cut down.

There are enough cracks and crevices for spiders, crickets and roaches to enter when the temperatures warm and cause no harm. Some get stepped on and some swatted but if they don’t bother me I don’t bother them.

I say, “There is a mouse in the house” but if there is one mouse…

There are lots of mice in the house. There are several computers in different room and they all have mice.

Still this little fella or gal might cause some damage, so got a couple of pellet packages for mouse avoidance and placed them about hoping to dissuade procreation.

As long as the rodents are outside and have fuzzy tails, all is good. Naked pink tails are not welcomed.

Whose face is on the money?

If you are like me, these strips of paper are foreign currency. I haven’t reached for a bill in forever to pay for anything. I’ve got a wallet full of them that are just getting dusty.

Everything is plastic now.

That is unless your phone is smarter than mine and you just point and shoot and the laser lights and satellites pay the bill.

Back in the day, after the barter system, paper bills printed and provided by the government through the banking system indicated your wealth. The numbers in your bankbook indicated the number of paper bills you had in reserve to spend.

 If you had stacks of gold bullion or acres of land or castles and garage full of cars and planes passed down through ancestors, the sawbuck in your pocket meant you could get the ride home or not.

The credit card ruined the value of using paper and coin, but they are still around. They still can pay for a pizza delivery or be handed over in a robbery.

There are artisans who are furiously designing and redesigning this printed-paper to fort counterfeiters from reproducing George, Abe, Tom, Ulysses, or Andy on other paper and passing it off for real. Why is Tom on two bills and what about Ben? He wasn’t a president.

Still all these faces are of famous personalities from ancient times. Other worldly currency also has images of Kings and Queens from days gone by…. but why?

Is it prestige to have an image you heard about in history class on your money? Are these figures familiar anymore? Do they represent our nation like the constitution and declaration of independence or are they forgotten idols of a previous time?

Note: They is all white?

Is this 2020 currency? Should ‘money’ now represent our new world order? Where are the women? Where are the LGBTQ? Where is the color other than green?

In a basement of some governmental agency artists are trying to recreate a long forgotten style of metal scribes with a 21^st century take. Just check the border details. Images are embedded in the paper so the cashier has to hold it up to the light to see if it’s real.

There are lots of different designs to currency throughout the world and the changing of script is a fascinating study in economics.

When money, no matter who’s picture is printed on it, becomes worthless it is nothing more than toilet paper.

Now coins are a different matter.

The jingle jangle of change in your pocket meant your could ride the bus or play the pinball machine but little else. Copper pennies became worthless years ago but they are still minted.

The coin did show some diversity. There were indigenous people, women, and most recently an assassinated president. You still got George and Tom and Abe and somehow FDR made it to a dime. Susan B. Anthony made the dollar coin for a short while but went out of print.

Try dropping a silver dollar at McDonald’s and see what happens.

No matter what the online banking account tells you, there is some sort of currency needed to buy milk and bread when it snows.

Plus strippers don’t take change.

And then they went home…

 

Photo courtesy of Jay Paul https://www.jaypaulphoto.com/

A well-armed group invaded downtown and surrounded the capitol grounds.

The news estimated there were 22,000 who came to town for the 2^nd Amendment Gun-Rights Lobby Rally. Don’t know if that was all the folks they let in on the grass or an estimate of all those wandering around on the blocked off streets carrying guns? Whichever there were lots of cold folks carrying guns and flags and signs that read: “Suddenly Democrats believe in borders”, “The American Revolution began for LESS”, “Black rifles over black face”, “Epstein did not kill himself”, “Fascism checklist: Socialism, racism, infanticide, gun control”, “Government denied MLK concealed permit: black-faced Northam would deny again”, “Guns are a right, not a privilege”, “More patriots than you have handcuffs”, “Thus always to tyrants”, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”, “I want gay married couples to be able to protect their marijuana plants with guns”, “This is the law of the land”, “Their agenda? Eliminating all 2A rights”, “A free people ought not only to be armed but disciplined. George Washington”, “Don’t tread on me”, “Mr Northam Tear Down This Wall”, “When democrats want common sense gun laws. What they really mean is ending our gun possession”, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely just look at the proposed Va. Gun laws”, “Guns cause crime like penises cause rape”, “Gov’t & media run by organized crime”, “Armed citizens are free. Unarmed citizens are slaves”, “Free men will not comply”, “Registration leads to confiscation” while wearing orange  “Guns save lives” stickers.

From what I could see from the photos on the news feeds, the armed (and unarmed) lobbyist/protestors/supporters looked mostly male, mostly white, and a mix of hunter/militia garb. The news interviews with participants were mostly fear of repression or disarmament.

Those who wanted to go through the gauntlet of metal detectors searches to attend the weapon-free secure area surrounded by chain link fencing were peaceful and cooperative. There was no arrest or weapon confiscation reported.

At the allotted hour several gave speeches that ranged from second amendment rights to reelect Trump in 2020. There were chants of ‘USA’ and the pledge allegiance to the flag.

It was the usual rhetoric.

“The governor and the Democrats have ignored the Constitution and trampled on our rights,” York County Sheriff Danny Diggs said. “He has even disarmed law enforcement officers here today, telling us that it’s to keep us safe. Yet here we are, like defenseless caged animals.”

   “The Democrat Party in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia are working hard to take away your 2nd Amendment rights. This is just the beginning. Don’t let it happen, VOTE REPUBLICAN in 2020!”

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2020

I didn’t hear any reference to religion, homelessness, climate change, pollution, abortion, pay inequality, incarceration overcrowding, migration, drug addiction, domestic violence, infrastructure, Sandy Hook massacre, trade restrictions, farmers subsidies, education, health care or betting on the Super Bowl.

This gathering was under a ‘State (actually a Commonwealth) of Emergency’ and compared to the Unite the Right ‘rally’ of August 2017 in Charlottesville. The difference was that rally was about ‘white supremacy’ and ‘neo-nazi’ folks complaining about a confederate statue and southern heritage. They came to town with guns too. They also brought shields and flaming torches and were looking for trouble. There was also a large crowd of Antifa also looking for trouble. Like two opposing gangs, they rumbled.

One of the comments I heard today from an interview with an anonymous person open-carrying a weapon was a comparison of guns to automobiles. I think, from what I heard, was the government was coming after guns because they kill and not automobiles. Automobiles also kill but the government doesn’t come and take them away. Good argument until…

Automobiles are registered. Automobiles are inspected. Drivers are licensed to drive automobiles. There are all sorts of restrictions and regulations on automobiles on how fast they can travel to where they can park. Disobey these laws can be a ticket and a fine to your automobile being towed and license to drive revoked.  

Yes, an automobile is a tool but if mishandled can cause carnage to friends and strangers. A gun is the same. It is a tool, which in the wrong hands, can be homicidal or suicidal.

It was a cold as a witch’s… so it was a good day to sell coffee rather than tee shirts. Unfortunately you couldn’t enter a building to get warm while carrying an AR-15. I didn’t see any port-a-potties so standing in the cold with no place to go must have been uncomfortable.

I’m sure there will be some discussion on how much the ‘State (Commonwealth) of Emergency’ cost with the fence, metal detectors, additional law officers and whatever else was declared in preparation of possible mayhem. There will also be complaints of business closures due to blocked streets. I feel for the Commonwealth Hotel across the street. They do not have a back entrance.

Maybe someone can try to calculate all the revenue that was made from all these folks staying in hotels, eating in restaurants, drinking in bars and possibly buying firearms? There are probably some traffic tickets to be added and maybe some bail bonds fees.

Fortunately the entire buzz on the new media did not spark havoc or mischief for the viewers’ entertainment back home. Let the talking heads analysis what could have been and what was.

I’ll wait until tomorrow to check and see if there were any skirmishes but will be glad to get back to invisible notoriety of a quiet town on the river.

Update: Seems there were no shootings in the city yesterday or overnight. Did the invading army barring arms showdown the daily shooters? Maybe it was the cold temperatures?  

Ice Cream

I’m not much for desserts or snacks but now and again I get a hankering for ice cream.  

Ice cream (derived from earlier iced cream or cream ice) is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from dairy milk or cream and is flavored with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and any spice, such as cocoa or vanilla. Colorings are usually added, in addition to stabilizers. The mixture is stirred to incorporate air spaces and cooled below the freezing point of water to prevent detectable ice crystals from forming. The result is smooth, semi-solid foam that is solid at very low temperatures (below 2 °C or 35 °F). It becomes more malleable as its temperature increases.

The meaning of the name “ice cream” varies from one country to another. Terms such as “frozen custard,” “frozen yogurt,” “sorbet,” “gelato,” and others are used to distinguish different varieties and styles. In some countries, such as the United States, “ice cream” applies only to a specific variety, and most governments regulate the commercial use of the various terms according to the relative quantities of the main ingredients, notably the amount of cream. Products that do not meet the criteria to be called ice cream are sometimes labeled “frozen dairy dessert” instead. In other countries, such as Italy and Argentina, one word is used for all variants. Analogues made from dairy alternatives, such as goat’s or sheep’s milk, or milk substitutes (e.g., soy, cashew, coconut, almond milk or tofu), are available for those who are lactose intolerant, allergic to dairy protein, or vegan.

Ice cream may be served in dishes, for eating with a spoon, or licked from edible cones. Ice cream may be served with other desserts, such as apple pie, or as an ingredient in ice cream floats, sundaes, milkshakes, ice cream cakes and even baked items, such as Baked Alaska.

I’m not jonesing for the stuff, but to end the day with a bit of sweet is fine.

I grew up with ice cream as a treat. The school offered paper cups with vanilla ice cream eaten with a wooden tongue depressor.  The choices at the grocery were chocolate, vanilla and strawberry unless you got Neapolitan that was just weird. Someone figured out how to make a ‘soft’ ice cream but it was just too much like watching poop and melted too fast. It was strange food just like cotton candy.

On Saturday’s a friend of mine and I would wander down to Cary Street for a day of stopping into shops like Bob’s Hobby Center and spend the day walking. For lunch we’d stop at High’s Ice Cream for a chocolate milkshake and a package of Nab’s cheese crackers. That was a habit that lasted many years.

My family had one of those hand crank ice cream makers but it took too much ice, the ingredients were never right, the cranking took forever and the results tasted like crap.

In the summer at the beach an ice cream cone was a cool treat with the preferred sugar cones instead of those little cake cones that would easily crush spilling the scoop into the sand.

Ice cream was my dad’s favorite treat. He would sit and watch television eating out of the carton. I don’t remember his favorite flavor except when he switched to orange sherbet, probably to cut back on the sugar content.

I too will dine out of the carton but I use an tiny ice teaspoon. After a half dozen spoon full’s, it goes back into the freezer until next time. I never request ice cream when I dine out, except for Bev’s (across from the Byrd Theater) because that has special memories.

Even though it is freezing outside, I wandered the aisle in the frozen food dedicated to the dairy desserts looking for a fairly small size and reasonability priced container to place in my cart for a midnight treat. I have simple taste so all the descriptions of ‘tutti frutti’ or ‘bubble gum’ or ‘cookies and cream’ or ‘honeycomb toffee’ or even ‘rocky road’ just confuses me. I prefer ‘coffee’ or ‘chocolate chip’ but they seem not to be as popular as ‘raspberry ripple’ or ‘spumoni’ or ‘stracciatella’ or even ‘butter brickle’.

Until then, I’ll walk by the glass doors and pass by the calories I don’t need.

Wonder if the ice cream truck will come back next summer?

Who Are You?

How well do you know yourself?

You have a name and you wear a certain style of clothing. You drive a model car and own a house in a neighborhood that reflects your preferences. Your kids go to certain schools and you prefer certain foods. You read books by familiar authors or reviews. You watch movies and television the same way. Your musical taste only last a few years. You vote a certain way and backup your bias with social media. You attend certain societies that reinforce your ego.

So who is that in the mirror?

When you meet a stranger how do you introduce yourself? Welcome with a handshake and a name? Do you say where you are coming from? Do you include a title? Do you introduce those around you? Do you pass out business cards?

To continue a conversation do you reference the location? How about the weather? Compliment the clothing or hairstyle? Offer to purchase a libation for the other?

Getting down to small talk throwing jabs and punches trying to find some subject of reference can be an adventure.

Where do your kids go to school? Favorite sports? Latest NY best seller book list or Academy Award winners? Vacation sites? Frequented restaurants or watering holes are a good talking point?

Old school stories work unless the other person is from a competitive school. Work stories can bring some chuckles unless the other’s occupation is not familiar. Just like at the family table on Thanksgiving politics or faith discussions should probably be avoided.

Health comparisons can form a bonding relationship complaining about cost and pain, but don’t compare deaths in the family. Pets are also light subjects that can compare to which alcohol is preferred.

How deep are you welling to go?

How much you house is worth or your salary should not be discussed unless you need to dominate the conversation. If the other person doesn’t vacation every winter in the Keys or have a summer home at the Hamptons, the conversation will take a turn.

A person may reveal a dark side of their personality that is only familiar to a few but can be shocking to a stranger. A person may not know what they are saying because it is part of their script that another person hasn’t read.

Would you tell someone you just met about your daughter’s problems with drugs and living out of a car? Would you tell someone you just met that your ‘partner’ has broken the vow of emotional obligation and psychology ownership?

To understand another person one must dig deeper than the weather and cough medicine preference. There is an amount of information no one else will ever know or be able to comprehend. Each and everyone has their own history that cannot be written on the gravestone.

The rest is perceptions, shared experiences and bias concluding into your personality to them.

The next person may hid a different chord and have a totally difference perspective into your life.

Know yourself first and be comfortable with who and what your are, then be honest with others.

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Who is the fairest of them all?

White Supremacy

Seems my little burg is back in the news again. It was talked about 150 years ago but then faded from history but now back on the front pages of the few remaining newspapers.

There is tension in the air.

Just as this township was about to become hip with breweries on every corner and chic restaurants opening and closing like a swinging door we are on the news for all the wrong reasons.

It is not the weather that has been lovely all year or the boom in real estate development or the passing of ERA ratification to amend the Constitution, but the breaking news is about a gun rally.

Seems after years of watching mass murders and daily reports of where a shooting took place, after years of hem and haw talk and no action, after children begging for adults to stop the carnage, this governor and this year’s general assembly set up points to legislate gun laws.

Legislation requiring background checks on all firearms sales and transactions. The bill mandates that any person selling, renting, trading, or transferring a firearm must first obtain the results of a background check before completing the transaction.

Legislation banning dangerous weapons including bans on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, bump stocks and silencers.

Legislation to reinstate allowing only one handgun purchase within a 30-day period.

Legislation requiring that lost and stolen firearms be reported to law enforcement within 24 hours.

Legislation creating an Extreme Risk Protective Order, allowing law enforcement and the courts to temporarily separate a person from firearms if the person exhibits dangerous behavior that presents an immediate threat to self or others.

Legislation prohibiting all individuals subject to final protective orders from possessing firearms. The bill expands Virginia law that currently prohibits individuals subject to final protective orders of family abuse from possessing firearms.

Legislation enhancing the punishment for allowing access to loaded, unsecured firearm by a child from a Class 3 Misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony. The bill also raises the age of the child from 14 to 18.

Legislation enabling localities to enact any firearms ordinances that are stricter than state law including regulating firearms in municipal buildings, libraries and at permitted events.

 SB 35, which would allow localities to ban guns from public events, actually would repeal the current law that restricts localities from enforcing ordinances that would prohibit the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carry, storage, or transport of firearms or ammunition was passed.

SB 69, amends the current law, only allowing Virginia residents to purchase one handgun a month, or in a 30-day period was passed.

And, SB 70 requires a background check on all private transfers of firearms was passed.

One bill, SB 16, was struck from the record, which included the ban on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, bump stocks and silencers.

So the city is on pens and needles. What will happen when predicted thousands of gun activist go to the capitol grounds?

The last rallies were been over old Confederate general statues. Confrontations took place and one person died and many were injured.

Now this commonwealth that I live in is an Open Carry state including concealed weapons. That means anyone I pass on the street might be carrying a loaded gun.

Even the Tummy Temple has put out notices asking patrons not to bring in guns. Is this necessary? Who would have a shootout over the price of broccoli?

Fully understanding the 2^nd amendment and the strong feelings about those who support but I wonder verbiage written when the colonies had just run out the British overloads and the constant threat of attack by indigenous people whose lands we were stealing was still a present danger so the public was allowed (not required) to have weapons for self protection or if a militia needed to be assembled before the department of homeland security was formed.

So next week a group of people will come to town and assemble to state their views on these legislative bills (pro or con). The governor has declared a ‘state of emergency’ so no guns can be brought onto the capitol grounds. The lawyers are arguing about that as this is written.

The point is with the polarizing atmosphere around terms like “Neo-Nazi” and “White Supremacist” are being thrown around only to fuel the fire.

Like middle school kids learning derogatory words like “Queer”, “Fag”, “Slut”, “Pussy”, “Redneck”, “Reb”, “Yankee”… the list goes on and on. Lots of this talk will probably be heard next week so there may be some bleeping out of news reports.

The question is about the term “White Supremacy”?

The dictionary defines the term as the belief that white people are superior to those of all other races, especially the black race, and should therefore dominate society.

Now if history is correct, the Anglos seeking religious freedom from persecution or the Latinos seeking riches or the odd adventurer or entrepreneur looking for a startup, they came to this continent and like all the other lands discovered; conquered it. The people who lived here had no chance for invaders had hundred of years learning how to fight each other in war after war.

Combine that with slavery and sure enough the white man gets a bad reputation and rightly so. Was it the color of the skin or the power (which included the gun)?

As a point of reference growing up in this village, there were two sides of the street. One side was stores and restaurants and hotels and shops with people who looked like me. They looked like the people I went to school with. They looked like people in my church. They looked like people who played golf and tennis at the country club. They looked like all my cousins at the beach.

There were people from the other side of the street but they shined shoes and cleaned the bathrooms and washed the dishes. They were red caps and maids and trash collectors and janitors.

The two sides didn’t intermingle. That was the way it was.

Nothing changed until the 70’s in this town and it was a long slow process that is not over yet.

I check the ‘W’ box when asked about cultural background but should probably choose ‘other’. White is more of a pinkness color more than white. A vivid tangerine or a yellow orange. Maybe a salmon or a melon or burnt sienna? Or a peach or apricot? Not a burnt umber or copper or sepia. Haven’t met anyone who is cerulean but I may be missing out on something?

White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of fresh snow, chalk and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on television and computer screens is created by a mixture of red, blue and green light.

Supremacy is the state or condition of being superior to all others in authority, power, or status.

Ascendancy, predominance, primacy, dominion, hegemony, authority, mastery, control, power, sway, rule, sovereignty, lordship, leadership, influence, predomination, paramountcy, prepotence, prepotency, prepollency, dominance, superiority, preeminence, advantage, incomparability, inimitability, matchlessness, peerlessness, greatness or distinction are some of the terms used for the power of one over another.

It seems our species strives for supremacy. There are Kings and Chiefs and Emperors and Popes and CEOs who rule over others. They require loyalty from their followers. Those who do not obey the rules are warned that pain of imprisonment or worse could be the consequences.

So what will happen Monday?

It may just be a shouting match with flags waving and fist shaking or it could become a battlefield. Time will tell and all sides will report their views or social and unsocial media.

It is just a sad sign of the times we live in and it is right down the street. The capitol appears to be an armed camp and there are plans being made in local hotels.

Tomorrow when I go pick up my medicine refill, do not judge by the color of my skin or the activities around me. I have no desire for supremacy or dominance (just ask my wives).

I’m not packing.

Howdy Partner

The word ‘partner’ seems to have replaced all the other descriptions of a person closely familiar with you. It applies no gender or previous cultural bias.

Partner is one associated with another especially in an action: associate, colleague our military partners throughout the world.

Partner is a person with whom one shares an intimate relationship: one member of a couple.

Partner is either of two persons who dance together.

Partner is one of two or more persons who play together in a game against an opposing side.

Partner could be described as the better half, consort, mate, significant other, spouse, ally, associate, colleague, companion, friend, husband, participant, spouse, squeeze, wife, accomplice, assistant, buddy, chum, cohort, collaborator, comrade, confederate, crony, date, helper, helpmate, mate, pal, playmate, sidekick, teammate, coworker, sweetheart, woman, girl, lover, fiancée, inamorata, querida, steady, girlfriend, bird, mot, patootie, dona, bibi, lady, lady friend, lady love, young lady, betrothed, leman, lover, sweetheart, loved one, love, beloved, darling, dearest, young, man, man friend, man, escort, suitor, wooer, admirer, worshipper, follower, live-in lover, cohabiter, common-law husband, the love of one’s life, the apple of one’s eye, the object of one's affections, jong, fella, baby, date, lover, boy, flame, fancy man, boy toy, sugar daddy, boyfriend, intended, swain, beau, steady, gallant, paramour to name but a few.

The term ‘partner’ is rather generic without any emotional connection. A partner could be a roommate or a business associate. Both could be connected with financially or even romantically but the term ‘partner’ will never relay that to another.

The Lone Ranger had a partner in an Indian called Tonto. In the original series no one questioned their relationship together, but in this time of gender transitions and acceptable taboos, one can wonder of their ‘partnership’. 

Ke-mo sah-bee; often spelled kemo sabe, kemosabe or kimosabe is the term of endearment used by the fictional Native American sidekick Tonto in the American television and radio programs The Lone Ranger. It has become a common catchphrase.

Ultimately derived from gimoozaabi, an Ojibwe and Potawatomi word that may mean “he/she looks out in secret”, it is sometimes translated as “trusty scout” or “faithful friend”.

Dodge Ball

Dodge ball is a team sport in which players on two teams try to throw balls and hit opponents, while avoiding being hit. The objective of each team is to eliminate all members of the opposing team by hitting them with thrown balls, catching a ball thrown by an opponent, or inducing an opponent to commit a violation, such as stepping outside the court.

OK, lets examine this ‘sport’.

I know many activities between people are called ‘sport’ or ‘playing a game’ but it is actually warfare.

We haven’t ventured very far from the gladiators. Our species love blood sports.

Think of boxing where two people get into a restricted space and punch each other silly. Think of football where lines of gigantic men rush against each other and knock each other down. Think of NASCAR racing where the speed isn’t as important as the wrecks.

I learned about dodge ball in junior high school. Before that we didn’t have gym class where a bunch of overweight out-of-shape white boys would put on undershirts and shorts and run around a wood floor and learn what the term ‘push up’ and ‘sit up’ and ‘jumping jacks’ meant.

Some kids had been playing toss football or a ragtag baseball, but this was disciplined physical training. The teachers were called ‘coach’ and the fundamentals of basketball, football, baseball and even tennis were taught.

After running laps around the field, the class was broken into teams to oppose each other in the game of ‘sport’.

On rainy days, we had to be inside for a good game of dodge ball.

There was something sadistic about lines of boys throwing balls at each other. Back in the day, these were basketballs and when thrown right could smack a kid down flat. Quickly one found out who their friends were. They also found out who their enemies were.  

The goal was to get hit first so as to avoid the salvo coming to the remaining team members being bombarded.

I think the ‘game’ was to teach flexibility and rise quick responsive time, but it was just about survival.

Supposed we used baseballs. Then we could have had some carnage.

I think now they use Nerf balls that are like throwing a pillow. No harm, no foul.

If you are creating a game where the goal is to reduce the members of the opposite team by hitting them why not have a strategy?

Pick off the weakest members then barrage the other until they are overwhelmed.

Sounds like war to me.

Then we had to take showers together.

Electricity

I like electricity. It powers my microwave, my light bulbs, my computer screens and my clocks. My parents were introduced to electricity (yes, I’m that old) but when I’d flip the switch on the wall, there was light.

Electricity is the presence and flow of electric charge. Using electricity we can transfer energy in ways that allow us to accomplish common chores. Its best-known form is the flow of electrons through conductors such as copper wires. ... An item, which allows electricity to move through it, is called a conductor.

I know someone somewhere (I think it was called Vepco) ran power lines on the same poles that were used for telephones. They would run a line over your yard and hook it up to a glass cylinder with a rotating wheel meter on the outside of the house. Inside there was a metal panel with glass fuses. If too much power was used the fuse would blow and have to be unscrewed and replaced before the lights would come back on.

No one yet has found a way to Bluetooth electricity so we are still wired to make Siri answer our questions.

How is all this power made?

The three major categories of energy for electricity generation are fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and petroleum), nuclear energy, and renewable energy sources. Most electricity is generated with steam turbines using fossil fuels, nuclear, biomass, geothermal, and solar thermal energy.

Coal and gas are burned to heat water and turn it into steam. The steam, at a very high pressure, is then used to spin a turbine. ... The moving magnets cause electrons in the wires to move from one place to another, creating an electrical current and producing electricity.

Sounds like an easy process. Heat the water, turn the wheel, create the power and send it down the line to your house.

There would be no Beatles without electricity. There would be no television without electricity. There would be no vacuum cleaners with electricity (they were called brooms). There would be no hair dryers, washer/dryers, refrigerators, phonographs or Internet without electricity.

A fossil fuel is a fuel formed by natural processes, such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms, containing energy originating in ancient photosynthesis. ... Fossil fuels contain high percentages of carbon and include petroleum, coal, and natural gas.

Remember the dinosaurs?

Seems when they all died they turned into puddles of fuel for all our needs.

As a fossil fuel burned for heat, coal supplies about a quarter of the world’s primary energy and two-fifths of its electricity. Some iron and steel making and other industrial processes burn coal.

Before the compression turns it into diamonds, there is coal.

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements; chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.

Coal is formed when dead plant matter decays into peat and is converted into coal by the heat and pressure of deep burial over millions of years. Vast deposits of coal originate in former wetlands—called coal forests—that covered much of the Earth’s tropical land areas during the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and Permian times.

The extraction and use of coal causes many premature deaths and much illness. Coal industry damages the environment, including by climate change, as it is the largest anthropogenic source of carbon dioxide, 14 Gt in 2016, which is 40% of the total fossil fuel emissions. As part of the worldwide energy transition many countries have stopped using or use less coal, and the UN Secretary General has asked governments to stop building new coal plants by 2020.

The largest consumer and importer of coal is China. China mines almost half the world’s coal, followed by India with about a tenth. Australia accounts for about a third of world coal exports followed by Indonesia and Russia.

My first house had a little window in the basement. It was the coal chute for a delivery truck to open and pour coal into my basement allowing me the pleasure of stocking the furnace like a locomotive. I’m not that old, but it was a reminder of not a distant time.

The smoke from coal power plants is exceedingly dangerous to human health. When coal burns, the chemical bonds holding its carbon atoms in place are broken, releasing energy. However, other chemical reactions also occur, many of which carry toxic airborne pollutants and heavy metals into the environment.

Many weekend would spend time in the park by the river watching the endless line of railroad cars filled with coal ride east to the power plant. I can still hear the rumble from my house in the middle of the night.

Coal ash dust is generally known as particulate matter (particle pollution) and the dust particles can harm the lungs when inhaled. Workers increase their risk of harmful side effects when they inhale the smallest coal ash dust particles.

So what happens with the ash when the coal is burnt?

So far as benefits in the garden, coal ash can help break up compacted clay, improve drainage and probably add at least small amounts of nutrients (although not as much as wood ash). ... The coal was mined from the Earth and burned, so it’s akin to lime, greensand and similar minerals used in gardening.

Just like that charcoal in your Hibachi grill there is left over ash. It was easy just to throw it into the trash and forget about it, but what about the power plants burning tons of coal?

Coal the dirtiest, most lethal energy source we have. But by most measures it’s also the cheapest, and we depend on it. So the big question today isn't whether coal can ever be “clean.” ... It’s whether coal can ever be clean enough—to prevent not only local disasters but also a radical change in global climate.

Although natural gas burning emits less fatal pollutants and GHGs than coal burning, it is far deadlier than nuclear power, causing about 40 times more deaths per unit electric energy produced. Also, such fuel switching is practically guaranteed to worsen the climate problem for several reasons.

High-level radioactive waste management concerns how radioactive materials created during production of nuclear power and nuclear weapons are dealt with. Radioactive waste contains a mixture of short-lived and long-lived nuclides, as well as non-radioactive nuclides. There was reported some 47,000 tonnes of high-level nuclear waste stored in the USA in 2002.

The most troublesome transuranic elements in spent fuel are neptunium-237 (half-life two million years) and plutonium-239 (half-life 24,000 years).

Consequently, high-level radioactive waste requires sophisticated treatment and management to successfully isolate it from the biosphere. This usually necessitates treatment, followed by a long-term management strategy involving permanent storage, disposal or transformation of the waste into a non-toxic form.

So if coal, fracking oil and gas, nuclear are not good power sources, then what?

Wind? Solar?

I’ve got to power up my cell phone battery or I will not get the last FOMO!

Our forefathers didn’t have smart speakers. Their phones were dumb. When energy conservation meant how much oil in the lamp to read the next chapter was precious.

I don’t have all the answers. I ride a bike. I heat with gas. There is only one light on at a time. It is not totally carbon free, but it is the best I can do.

The question is what do we do with all this coal sludge after it burns.

Like all our other cast offs, we dump it in the ground or pour it into the water. There it sits and intermingles until it becomes toxic, then we complain about it.

So here is an option.

Send it all into space!

We like to shoot off rockets and fill the atmosphere with shiny object that will allow us to dial up people on the other the side of the globe to comment on their Twitter feed.

We (and I use the communal ‘we’) have a history of pushing our waste onto someone else’s land, so here is the idea.

Shoot the stuff out into space!

All that plastic stuff that is worrying your mind that has a problem being recycled and is conflicting your best effort with a pile of trash…. Shoot it out into space.

Save the whales the trouble of eating those plastic straws… Shoot it out into space.

Landfill full? No problem…. Shoot it out into space.

No more space in the cemetery? …. Shot it out into space.

First test it out on the moon. Make sure you put it on the backside so we can still view the man-on-the-moon.

If not we can just shoot it out into the deep blackness and introduce any other celestial travelers our trash. What better way to introduce us?

They all fall down

CRASH! BAM! BOOM!

“What the… Why am I on the bedroom floor?”

A little back-story.

A normal evening brings me into the music room to log in the computer purchases and food consumption of the day and then check social network to see if anyone has anything interesting to say. Some times You Tube presents something to require headphones.

So it was this evening.

Normally my limit of 12-silver bullets will suffice, but whatever I was watching went longer than my stash. The options were water or coffee or…

My brother’s family had presented me with Christmas treats that fell off the Budweiser loading dock so the refrigerator was full of sorts of unfamiliar concoctions never tasted.

So I pulled one out and went on with my show and new refreshment. Little did I know that this unknown and untried alcohol beverage tasted like soda pop. 

As previously stated, I know my limit and know the results of passing that limit, but these candy flavored drinks can be so bad (think vaping) and I had plenty to get through the night. From what I saw the next morning in the recycle bag, I certainly tried.

The next note is to know my bed is a single. To turn over requires sliding back into the space the other side was lying on. There is little wiggle room.

Also my bed is higher than most beds. There is a frame that holds the mattress and foundation 3 feet above the floor to slide storage underneath. At that height is it easy to swing legs around and pop up standing.

Except in this case.

Dazed and confused I am entangled on the floor with little space between the bed frame and the dresser. Starting to struggle through the situation reality came by.

“Did I break something?”

Now at this age of the white wolf, a fall could be disastrous no matter the reason. The phone was beyond reach. Perhaps just lay here until the morning but the floor is uncomfortable.

Somehow I managed to pry myself off the floor back onto my feet and my legs still worked. Climbing back into the mattress, I went back to sleepy time.

Since most nights are 3-hour naps, the radio reminded me what time it was when I’d awake to wander down the hall.

The next morning as the sun came up, the pain from my free fall reminded me of the late night tumble.

That was when my body scolded me for over-consumption. My butt must have a big bruise and my right calf muscle was stretched. My shoulders felt sore but there was no blood on the floor.

The residuals of pouring that much alcohol into the body were evident so today was to be a ‘time-out’ day.

The sweats and the shakes and heart palpitations and overall uncomfortable body feeling brought me back time and time again to the mattress.

The sun went down and the next day the sun came up and so did I. Some of the pain was still there, but both legs moved and I could sit and energy was coming back.

Some OJ and a couple cups of Java, dress like I knew what I was doing and out the door. The cooler air felt good and the sunshine was refreshing.

As I do everyday to get rid of the aches and pains, I strapped on my helmet and went out to the street not knowing if I could ride. The pace was slower than usual but as usual everything started losing up.

Tomorrow I expect to feel even better.

Two-oh-Too-oh

Another day in ‘Just Another Life’ and it is sunny.

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets were my earworm for the year. It just has a walk able beat and some strange signature changes. But this is a new year and I’ll have to find a new one.

Smoking with your chicken seem to get some laughs about the countries restricted age to purchase cigarettes until Preach did the research and found the truth. Guess when you have one working arm you can’t conduct the congregation.

Impeachment hearings filled the end of the year. Hours and hours of our leaders telling the same stories over and over again shows us what we pay them for. The best part it will flow into this year as well.

Speaking of which this year will be election time and the airwaves will be filled with smiling faces saying ‘Vote For Me’ but there are no coupons.

Black confederate statue made it to the Avenue of Monuments (well close enough on the favorite son tennis player boulevard). Not sure which unit he fought with?

Violence (for whatever reason) seems to be blossoming all over the world. While we can’t export pigs or soybeans, we have no problem sending bombs and planes to anyone.

Drinking seems to have become the most popular sport in town since the baseball team is going nowhere. Old warehouses are becoming breweries with craft beers of every size, shape and alcohol content. Pubs with rows of taps pop up on every corner. If you run into a light pole you can tell the police, “I wasn’t on the cell phone. I was drunk!”

Evictions seem to also be on the rise. Sort of like reprocessing your car when you can make the payments, but they can’t take your house, so they kick you out. Dump all your stuff on the front yard, but who wants to move into a house with someone else’s stuff on the lawn? How are you going to cut the grass?

Lawnmower came but hasn’t been assembled. The yard is pretty much ‘no maintenance’ but after the weed whacker cuts down the 4’ tall flowers, the rubble needs to be mulched. Easy solution once I get to it.

Tummy Temple had a few changes this year. They handed out these remote control scanners to speed up your time on the floor. They even have a call ahead and someone else will pick up your grocery selection and deliver it to your car. That is if you have a car. The little wire carts supposedly have a brake lock on them so you can’t take them away, but I see them all over the place. As one of the blue aprons said, “You see how that worked out.” As always there is a smiling face from the cute venue girl. Still everyday it is stepping into a weird movie set for an hour and some walking exercise.

Opioids (a compound resembling opium in addictive properties or physiological effects) and Suicides (the act of intentionally causing one’s own death) seem to be popular. At least they make the headlines. Both ease the pain.

Whistleblower became a title other than for a referee or a traffic cop. whoever it is must be a super hero because they have a secret identity.

Security or privacy seems to be all the rage for anxiety and stress. Ordering on your phone (that has your location, contacts, history and probably financial information) in an unknown Wi-Fi network to get the latest deal delivered to your porch only to find it missing when you get home. Maybe get some cameras to film the pirate so you can post it on You Tube? Be sure to note your address.

50^th anniversaries were popular last year. The end of the 60’s of the last century was viral but the Internet had not become popular yet. Hope the disco era’s memories do not follow.

Feisty teen girl from Sweden said what everyone else is too scared to say. It is the generation that will feel the effects of what the Boomers have enjoyed without thought of the future. What will happen when she starts driving and hanging out with boys?

Hinnies are everywhere. Everyone has one. Now all the ladies wear skin clinging yoga tights so it is obvious who is making two trips to the ice cream aisle at the Tummy Temple. Look but don’t touch.

Guns are everywhere too. Seems every day there is a shooting or two in town. Without guns it would just be a fistfight with a handshake and a black eye and missing tooth instead of yellow police tape. Some seem the need to carry guns like the ole West and some need to hide them. Guns have one purpose and the government says we can have them.

40^th anniversary of living in this abode came around last year. The house/home is still capable of holding all of my ‘stuff’ securely and is the place to sleep. The gentrification in this neighborhood means I could not afford to live here, but here I am. Aging in place.

VPM news and VPM music split to add to the constant changes. Still the best offer for unbiased news and classical music, it will remain my only reference to the world.

Death has always been a constant and avoided until your friends show up in the obituaries. As the sands of time run out there are fewer folks on the contact list.

Hot is hot. Global warming? Climate change? Call it what you will but for the folks looking at the thermometer, it was hot. Without the energy sucking air-conditioning, one must adapt.

Demonstrations were hot last year too. Pay inequity, equal rights, religious freedom, gender recognition, autonomy, Popeye chicken sandwiches, classroom size; there were lots of causes to take to the streets, make a lot of noise, give some speeches, sing some songs and break some windows. It is a tough way to get a bath from a water cannon.

Delivery was the most popular to add to the carbon cycle. Trucks driving up and down the streets, parking with the motor running to place a box on your doorstep, then drive off again. Our immediate gratification isn’t the only delivery. There is our trash delivery, our groceries delivery, our pizza delivery, our moving furniture delivery, our lawn maintenance delivery, our EMS delivery, our road repair delivery and ultimately our hearse delivery.

Single mothers have become a familiar title in our vocabulary. Feminist raising the banner of #MeToo and equal pay are burdened with the term ‘mother’.

Trust seems to be fading. Whether people are become more skeptical or fearful, deep-seated biases are separating us.

Anna Meredith was another musician caught at the Tiny Desk. Full of energy and some interesting musical twist the best part was…. they stopped on a dime.

Wedding dress was a good term for hoarding. With the trend for tiny houses, all your t-shirts will not fit in your closet. What if you’ve been married several times?

Plastic straws were but a symbol of all the trash floating around in our streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. Animals don’t drink through straws.

Taxes come but once a year. Actually they follow us with every purchase without notice. As they increase our politicians tell us to follow the new forms and happy days are here again. Unfortunately the taxes are not paying off our deficit and when the payment is due?

Childhood is but a memory now but others are just starting. Was it the best time or just a time without concerns? Life was wide open and the only reason you didn’t jump off that rock was a restraining order from a knowledgeable adult. You only get it back before you die.

Books seemed to be flourishing on talk-radio but no one was reading. Instead of a published work printed to give an opinion or a point-of-view (like journalism) readers were turning away from flipping pages to scrolling screens where anyone and everyone could publish. This is but an example.

IRA (Not the Irish Republican Army) but that pocket in the bank where you can keep your cash that the government won’t tax. That is until you are old. Place all your coins and bills and place them under the mattress.

10^th Anniversary of not working seems to be a reminder last year that retirement is OK. Still there are dreams of problem solving but that must be what dreams are for. The idea of waking every morning to dress up and spend hours with strangers to produce a product only to make enough to survive has now become a foreign contemplation of history.

Gender bending and redefining was all the rage last year. Everyone wanted to be someone else.

Dancing is becoming a lost art. Maybe it is the music? Maybe it is the movements are not passed down? Maybe we don’t want to get near enough to each other?

Ben Folds seems to like this burg. He comes here regularly and has wonderful performances. Got to get a backstage pass and reminded me why I don’t do this.

Families are the rage on social media. Look at all those cutie selfies and snap shots on vacation. Even the doggies get a chance for screen time. These post may have taken over the drunken bar shots. Maybe that is where families come from?

Batteries power our lives. Without them, nothing works. With them, there is a warning that they are running ou..

Black face was a thing last year. Seems lots of these public officials dressed up as Michael Jackson or some mammy num. Laws have been written but culture has not changed.

In God we trust is on your money and in your congress. Has it worked yet? Check paragraph #26 above.

Friends & trolls has become our appearance to one another. This has been happening for years, but now there is a recorded history.

Hospitality should be appreciated with more than a tip. Going to any establishment that serves is a treat. With some respect, admiration and acknowledgement for people who work hard to present you with food, clothing, cleaning, etc. only takes a moment.

Debates & rallies will be all the rage this year if you didn’t get enough last year. Like picking your fantasy team, the players keep shifting from caucus to primaries to delegates who head count at a convention to choose the prime time face for an opponent.  

Government shut down and the lights never went out. The Tummy Temple was full and the traffic moved fairly normally. People got shot. Other people got incarcerated. People bought goods and services (no matter the price) and life went on. Money was in the bank. Bills arrived as frequently as Amazon deliveries. The sun came up and went down without a pause.

Fast food president was the best remembrance of last year. Forgot what the winning team was that went to the White House and were greeted by a table of fast food. Makes one understand why so many winning teams decline the invitation. 

Another year goes by and another year waits. Take a deep breath and see what happens.