INTERESTING TIMES

When I can't sleep, if I lay there long enough and still fail to doze off, I get up and download whatever is on my mind into my journal.  Paper journal or here, it works the same, gets the thoughts out of my head.

There must be an east wind tonight, or some very strong weather on the coast.  It's blustery, and damn near dry.  We've been getting long strong rain from an atmospheric river that pulls moisture from the far side of Hawaii, but tonight no rain, just wind enough to keep the chimes going all night.  There's a waning half moon shining through high clouds enough to light up the bathroom.

We watched a movie called Train Dreams last night, on netflix.  Will found it by searching for high-rated movies on rotten tomatoes.  The movie was surprisingly good.  Will's son likes "slow film" which is to say, films in which there's little dialog, and the actors don't really act much, leaving each of us to fill in what we think they might be feeling behind the limited action.  This would have been that except there was a fair bit of dialog, and acting.

It's been a while since I drove much--my last cross-country road trip was years ago, and my daily life doesn't take me more than an hour or two from home, normally.  Over this last week I drove a lot, going to meet up with friends to run rivers.  There was something strange about the way the traffic flowed on the interstate.

If I went at a reasonable speed in the middle lane, a great number of vehicles would simply follow along at the same speed.  After dark and in the rain, at least, they seemed to not notice that the cars ahead of us were increasingly leaving us behind.  There was a lane to my left so anyone in a hurry could have blown by, but they didn't.  This resulted in me having a lot of space in front of me, which I really like.  It happened several times, and I swear it has never happened to me before.

I theorize this change is because of adaptive cruise control.  The vehicle I drive doesn't have it.  My cruise control is only adaptive in so much as I bump the speed up and down due to conditions, and I do.  I'm cautious and conservative but attempt to keep pace with the main traffic flow, for safety reasons.  If the main flow is too fast for my taste you'll find me poking along in the slow lane.

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”

— Albert Einstein

You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.

--Joseph Goldstein

I'm leaving my home in Portland, Oregon to visit family in eastern Tennessee.  My family needs help.  I'm in the airport now, waiting for my first flight.  

The airport was different this time with a fancy wooden dome over the entry area, and wooden chandeliers and whatnot.  They're promoting Oregon as a tree farm.  They're also promoting Portland by having Portland themed everything on display, and lots of Portland-based businesses selling their wares.

The TSA screening was also different this time. Different baskets, different conveyors, different everything.  I'm glad we don't have to take out our computers anymore.  

The thing that stood out the most was the pat-down I received after going through the x-ray machine.  I have two replaced hips, which are visible on x-ray.  Instead of noting the joint replacements, the machine flagged me as possibly carrying something dangerous in the upper thigh area, and I got my butt and thighs quite well examined by a gloved woman.  You'd think that with the modern technology of x-rays they could avoid having to get so physically intimate with customers.  It was not pleasurable.

I am an independent, politically.  I lean left on social issues and right on fiscal issues.  I believe that the best arguments from "all sides" need to be addressed for us to have the best policies.  I believe that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  This is the reason that we put the people in charge, so that we can kick out politicians when they get so comfortable with their power that they start serving their cronies instead of we the people.

I was NOT stoked when Biden got elected the first time.  He was already too old for my taste, and very much a career politician.  I wasn't stoked about Kamala either, though I'm glad to see our society putting women in positions of power.  But what happened during their first term was generally good.  The MAGA media machine that paints them as evil is full of shit.  They are not bad or wrong; they are doing the best they can to serve us, the people, by keeping our government functioning to provide services and stability and moderate the influence of big business on everything.  Biden and Kamala did better than I expected.  

In my view the FTC, Federal Trade Commission, is one of the most important federal agencies because it confronts monopolies and all business practices that are unfair to we the people.  And under Biden and Harris the FTC has been doing great work.  Big business doesn't like it, but too bad, because we still have at least a vestigial democracy and I hope it continues to be that.

1. LJ appeared in April 1999, the year when I ... the last year that I worked full time on the river.

2. As a child, I wanted to become a ... didn't have a plan

3. My favorite school subject was ... science, art, music

4. The tune of my carefree youth is ... boat on a river

5. A book (or an author) that influenced me: Deborah Tannen, Don Miguel Ruiz, Forrest Carter, Daniel Kahnemann, Joel Kramer, oh so many!

6. A city (or cities) I truly love: no love affairs with cities.

7. I started an LJ blog in January 2006 because I wanted ... to have a place to write out my thoughts and maybe connect with friends or make new friends.  Later I used it for note-taking.

8. The catch phrase that nearest and dearest recognize me by. . . "Denial is the biggest river."

9. A movie I’m never tired to watch again: unclear, probably none.

10. When I was 25, I liked to . . . do enders at the falls.

11. I can’t live a day without . . . ...there is nothing I am so dependent upon.

12. An LJ post I’d like to recommend to everyone . . . nope.

13. I’m proud of . . . surviving my childhood.

14. If I could give advice to myself from 1999, Buy specific stocks.

15. My favorite LJ blog(s): Neptunias.

"Peace is joy at rest.

Joy is peace on its feet." 

--Unknown

“Truth out of season bears no fruit.”

—Meng-tzu, Chinese philosopher

When I first moved to Oregon I didn't make the trip down to the Wild & Scenic Rogue for quite a few years.  I was busy with school, and then trying to start a practice.  I was also quite pleased with how close Idaho is--for the whitewater paddler, there are few summer destinations more pleasing than Idaho. One time I applied for a Rogue permit in the lottery and got it, then gave it up because other things got in the way.  Then, finally, I got on a summer trip down there and enjoyed it.  On that trip I was rowing a "Clampitt" raft (stuff hanging off it all over) and following Pat's lines.  This time I thought a lot about Nelbert, who died last week.