I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
Edgar Allen Poe

The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
- H. L. Mencken

Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
-Bertrand Russell

What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...
-James Branch Cabell

January 04, 2018 - 9:31 a.m.

Shopping Cart of Shove

I woke up before 7 this morning and didn't go back to bed. That's rare. I started to take a nap now but decided to write instead; once again I don't know what I'm going to write about. I should at least touch on the end of the world.

My plan was to go to Aldi on Tuesday but me being me I procrastinated and put it off till yesterday. I then put it off until early evening. Then I missed the bus by less than a minute. I go shopping during the evening rush hour because the buses run more frequently, the next one was scheduled just 15 minutes later. I have new way of handling just missing the bus. I walk towards the far end of City Island where the bus starts its route. Walking is better than standing or sitting and when it's cold it means I get onto the warm bus earlier. It's most about keeping me amused while I wait.

Getting to Aldi is frustrating; a bit part of why I put it off, it takes two buses and a 15-minute walk. The prices are great, which is why I make the effort.

I was good and made a list. It was headed by milk, that's vital for making hot chocolate. I had just a little left in the fridge. When I got to the store I realized that I had forgotten something important. Snow was in the forecast today. That means that there will NEVER be food deliveries again! All the smart people stocked up for the coming apocalypse. There was no milk. There was no produce. The smart people had bought the last fresh food that will EVER! Stupid people like me will have to wait until tomorrow to get milk. They had half & half, I'll survive.

Most people in the world are considerate but they don't attract out attention. When we interact with them things go smoothly, and minds stay focused on whatever they had been focused on. There are far fewer rude people, but they demand our attention, so we notice them. As you might have guessed I ran into a doozy at Aldi. Aldi has very wide aisles, they also have very large carts. There are always a few people that leave their carts unattended and blocking aisles. When I find one, I look to see if the person will move it for me and if they don't I move it. I know it's wrong, but I hope they get worried that it was stolen while they left it. Yesterday there was one egregiously placed. Nobody seemed to be attached to it though there were plenty of people around, I stopped at the cart and looked around hoping someone would move it. Nobody did so I pushed it off to the side. That attracted the attention of the cart's person. She walked over and snarled at me, "Thanks for moving it, I could have done it." I resisted saying, "but you didn't." I did respond. I said, "sorry, I didn't know whose cart it was." She glared at me.

I finished my shopping and went to checkout. There shortest line had one person whose things were being rung up and the woman from the cart who was standing there on the phone. She was not putting her things on the belt. She didn't have her cart with her. It must have been with her friends. She just decided that blocking a checkout line was a good place to make a phone call. I said, "excuse me." She reluctantly moved just enough for me to get by and glared at me. I thought of Christine Lavin's song, "Shopping Cart of Love." In it the store manager calls Christine's friend, a solipsist. That was unjust in the song but an apt description of the woman I encountered.

Later that night I got decadent. I made a hot chocolate out of half and half. That's a special treat. Argo Tea serves that and the don't even charge extra for it. You need to make it at least once; it's the definition of rich. I made it with the world's best hot chocolate. That more than makes up for a solipsistic person.

Today's project will be to find my overshoes. The ground is going to be covered in snow for a while. I have to find what Nicholas, the mischievous sprite, did with them. He also stole the aluminum foil again. We had a new hardly used roll and it's gone. I had to buy more. He was extra sneaky last week. On New Year's Eve when I was getting ready to go out I could not find my portable charger. It was not by the wall charger and it wasn't in the pocket of my bag. That's the only two places I ever put it. I charge it on my couch. My couch has other things on it. I picked them up. I looked under the cushions, not charger. I looked in my bag, perhaps it was in the wrong pocket. It wasn't anywhere. Then on New Year's Day I put my spare battery in my bag and there was the charger, exactly where it was supposed to be. Nicholas took and then returned it. I'm glad I told you about Nicholas. You should know that I'm not just an idiot, that I have to deal with a sprite that moves things around. Everything is his fault.

Wow, I finished this before the WFUV Question of the Day is over. It's 9:25; that's two hours earlier than I usually finish. Maybe I'll take that nap now.


I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.





Memories: Not that Horrid Song - May 29, 2018
Wise Madness is Now In Session - May 28, 2018
The NFL and the First Amendment - May 27, 2018
On The Road Again - May 26, 2018
Oliver the Three-Eyed Crow - May 25, 2018



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Horvendile January 04, 2018
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