The new Sony “Stupid Piece Of Shit”
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/sony_releases_new_stupid_piece_of
Yet another "must have" product from the fine people at Sony (as brought to you by The Onion)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year 2009
It's finally here! No, not the phone books... 2009!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
This year I opted to stay home and watch the festivities on TV... while being safe, cozy, and warm. No chances of any trouble.
As is my custom around the Holidays, and while waiting for midnight to appear, I was watching TV. Watching the news more specifically.
While spreading my New Year's good tidings and cheer to everyone in my phone address book, I realized what I was watching on the news - the biggest fireworks show in town. Jews and Palestinians blowing the shit out of each other. Oh happy day. Give it a break. Religion and real estate can both kill ya. Ugh! Then a few other gruesome stories about Holiday unfestivities. Good grief!
It was my friend who actually suggested the idea of the big Middle East fireworks show.
All I could think of was God Bless America (or anywhere else but there). I was lucky to be in a warm home, with electricity to run my TV, and had money to buy things such as Sparkling Cider, while enjoying the Holidays.
We take a lot for granted in the free world. I mentioned the above to give you all a moment to reflect and respect what it is that you, we, all have. No matter how small or how much, at least we have something, or someone.
So in the new year, take a few moments in the day to acknowledge the things around you, so that you can better appreciate the things that make you happy.
But most of all... make yourselves a great 2009!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
This year I opted to stay home and watch the festivities on TV... while being safe, cozy, and warm. No chances of any trouble.
As is my custom around the Holidays, and while waiting for midnight to appear, I was watching TV. Watching the news more specifically.
While spreading my New Year's good tidings and cheer to everyone in my phone address book, I realized what I was watching on the news - the biggest fireworks show in town. Jews and Palestinians blowing the shit out of each other. Oh happy day. Give it a break. Religion and real estate can both kill ya. Ugh! Then a few other gruesome stories about Holiday unfestivities. Good grief!
It was my friend who actually suggested the idea of the big Middle East fireworks show.
All I could think of was God Bless America (or anywhere else but there). I was lucky to be in a warm home, with electricity to run my TV, and had money to buy things such as Sparkling Cider, while enjoying the Holidays.
We take a lot for granted in the free world. I mentioned the above to give you all a moment to reflect and respect what it is that you, we, all have. No matter how small or how much, at least we have something, or someone.
So in the new year, take a few moments in the day to acknowledge the things around you, so that you can better appreciate the things that make you happy.
But most of all... make yourselves a great 2009!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
What I Got For Christmas - Broken, Again!
I had to share this tale of my recent misadventure.
Two weeks before Christmas and I'm out working late in a neighborhood whose street light had apparently gone out. While crossing the street, I knew there was a curb ahead, but couldn't quite figure out where. Slowing down and paying attention might have been a good idea at this point.
Just then... left foot meets curb, and a moment later... right knee meets cement pavement. Nice. Snap, crackle, pop.
I feel around it, all seems OK. I walk to, and into the front door of the home. I look at it indoors. No apparent swelling (yet), so back to work I go. By the time I got home though, my knee was swollen to something the size of a canteloupe. Great. Damage apparently done after all.
Let's keep in mind that last year, I sweetly crushed my entire left hand fingers in a broken, slatted garage door, resulting in some breaks. I thought, let's top that off this year with a new injury.
The next day, off to the Urgent Care I go. The first doc looks at my knee and simply "ooh's and aah's" for a few moments. He requests an X-ray. The X-ray tech woman, of East Indian descent (not necessarily a major issue of the story, other than a slightly cultural attitude towards me, and somewhat argumentive), takes between 6 to 8 different view shots. This strikes me odd, and makes me question her credentials. A knee X-ray for this type of injury usually is 2 shots. I should know, I've done this before plenty. She then proceeds to shoot X-rays of my other knee as well. I can tell you that this lady did not like to be second-guessed, nor her work commented upon.
I go back to the first doc. He calls in a consulting doc. They concur that I "must have" a fractured knee. BUT, "it may just be ghosting," although neither was too sure.
The consulting doc feels around both knees, pulls them apart, puts them together, stares, and asks me, "Which knee hurts the most?"
I answer, "Um... that would be the one that I injured."
He says, "Well, it appears that they are both broken."
I say, "Really? How interesting, since I only hit one of them. Are you suggesting that my other knee now has an immaculate 'sympathy' break?"
He stares blankly, and then sums up that I'm a smart-ass who knows nothing about medicine or procedures. I sum him up as a dumb-ass who doesn't know what a broken bone looks like, and so assumes that they are all broken. Stalemate we are in.
They put me in a leg immobilizer, along with crutches, to prevent me from bending the knee and "to not cause more damage." How interesting, since the immobilizer itself is now crushing down (with metal rods) on the very spot that is supposedly broken. How is that going to heal?
I wear it for three days as instructed. Upon the third day, my leg is totally black and blue, bruised. I stop wearing the immobilizer. My the next day, my leg swelling is considerably down, and no bruising. My knee pain has diminished greatly. The immobilizer itself apparently had caused more damage.
Follow up to the above story -
10 days later, I see an Orthopedic Specialist, who was scheduled for me by the original doc. I get a new set of X-rays - only 2 shots this time, correctly.
The OS doc looks at the X-ray and asks me, "Who told you your knee was broken?" I told him the referring physician. First, the OS doc has never heard of him. Second, he says, "The guy must be an idiot. There are no signs of any fracture ever having happened." No breaks. No fractures. No bone injuries at all. In fact, it was simply bursitis. Bruising. Made worse by metal rods being forced down on it for three days. The OS doc says, "Duh! You hit your knee. It swells. Simple medicine. That's how it happens. Then it gets better." We both agreed.
So this leaves me with a fear for other people who have to see an Urgent Care doc, and their late-night X-ray flunkies, who really don't know what they're looking at, but have to appear busy and informed. And that original X-ray tech - a few polite manners, and learning how to do her job properly would help.
So... now all is well. Just another adventure tale for me to pass on.
Two weeks before Christmas and I'm out working late in a neighborhood whose street light had apparently gone out. While crossing the street, I knew there was a curb ahead, but couldn't quite figure out where. Slowing down and paying attention might have been a good idea at this point.
Just then... left foot meets curb, and a moment later... right knee meets cement pavement. Nice. Snap, crackle, pop.
I feel around it, all seems OK. I walk to, and into the front door of the home. I look at it indoors. No apparent swelling (yet), so back to work I go. By the time I got home though, my knee was swollen to something the size of a canteloupe. Great. Damage apparently done after all.
Let's keep in mind that last year, I sweetly crushed my entire left hand fingers in a broken, slatted garage door, resulting in some breaks. I thought, let's top that off this year with a new injury.
The next day, off to the Urgent Care I go. The first doc looks at my knee and simply "ooh's and aah's" for a few moments. He requests an X-ray. The X-ray tech woman, of East Indian descent (not necessarily a major issue of the story, other than a slightly cultural attitude towards me, and somewhat argumentive), takes between 6 to 8 different view shots. This strikes me odd, and makes me question her credentials. A knee X-ray for this type of injury usually is 2 shots. I should know, I've done this before plenty. She then proceeds to shoot X-rays of my other knee as well. I can tell you that this lady did not like to be second-guessed, nor her work commented upon.
I go back to the first doc. He calls in a consulting doc. They concur that I "must have" a fractured knee. BUT, "it may just be ghosting," although neither was too sure.
The consulting doc feels around both knees, pulls them apart, puts them together, stares, and asks me, "Which knee hurts the most?"
I answer, "Um... that would be the one that I injured."
He says, "Well, it appears that they are both broken."
I say, "Really? How interesting, since I only hit one of them. Are you suggesting that my other knee now has an immaculate 'sympathy' break?"
He stares blankly, and then sums up that I'm a smart-ass who knows nothing about medicine or procedures. I sum him up as a dumb-ass who doesn't know what a broken bone looks like, and so assumes that they are all broken. Stalemate we are in.
They put me in a leg immobilizer, along with crutches, to prevent me from bending the knee and "to not cause more damage." How interesting, since the immobilizer itself is now crushing down (with metal rods) on the very spot that is supposedly broken. How is that going to heal?
I wear it for three days as instructed. Upon the third day, my leg is totally black and blue, bruised. I stop wearing the immobilizer. My the next day, my leg swelling is considerably down, and no bruising. My knee pain has diminished greatly. The immobilizer itself apparently had caused more damage.
Follow up to the above story -
10 days later, I see an Orthopedic Specialist, who was scheduled for me by the original doc. I get a new set of X-rays - only 2 shots this time, correctly.
The OS doc looks at the X-ray and asks me, "Who told you your knee was broken?" I told him the referring physician. First, the OS doc has never heard of him. Second, he says, "The guy must be an idiot. There are no signs of any fracture ever having happened." No breaks. No fractures. No bone injuries at all. In fact, it was simply bursitis. Bruising. Made worse by metal rods being forced down on it for three days. The OS doc says, "Duh! You hit your knee. It swells. Simple medicine. That's how it happens. Then it gets better." We both agreed.
So this leaves me with a fear for other people who have to see an Urgent Care doc, and their late-night X-ray flunkies, who really don't know what they're looking at, but have to appear busy and informed. And that original X-ray tech - a few polite manners, and learning how to do her job properly would help.
So... now all is well. Just another adventure tale for me to pass on.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
My New Pet - Nature's Little Killing Machine - A Venus Flytrap
Sunday, Nov. 30th. -
Cheech & Chong were downtown, performing for the first time in about 35 years. I wanted so badly to go, but I was too exhausted from work and lacking sleep. Instead, I went to the Grocery Outlet to see what goodies they had in store at the cheap grocery palace.
It was there that I found the item I had wanted for so long. Years I had thought about owning this, this interesting development of nature. And so I bought myself my latest pet - a Venus Flytrap.
Yes, nature's little killing machine. Long before Audrey II of "Little Shop Of Horrors," there were the Venus Flytraps.
These things are sturdy! They can only survive in the bare minimum of dirt - no fertilizer. Just water seems to do them fine. Lots of it. And humidity. But they are fascinating. These little leaves that lay open, inviting, with what could only be described as seductive eyelashes outlining them. And when the unsuspecting critter happens to enter between the leaves - snap! The bug is caught. Within the next 10 days, digestive juices take out all the liquid and nutrients, leaving a dried carcass behind.
For those of you who know me, it might seem appropriate that I would get such a morbid plant. The hints of vampirism. The evolutionary ideas of meat-eating plants taking over the earth. The ghoulish way in which it dispatches its prey. These are all fascinating visuals (to me, anyway). But honestly, in my adult days, that was not the appeal that got me to bring my new baby home. My reason is much "further from home."
The Venus Flytrap is native only to the humid, boggy areas of the Carolinas in the United States (North Carolina, more specifically). There are stories, not wholly verified, that these particular areas are ancient meteor impact sites. That may be true. But then comes the question if that makes the Venus Flytrap a possible extraterrestrial life-form. Maybe. Again, no confirmation. It is true that to this day, scientists still don't know what makes it able to move it's leaves, and so quickly. The other thought is that meteor impact sites generally leave a lot of minerals around, which the plant could use, along with the nitrogen-rich soil. Interesting either way.
So... back to my Sunday with my new pet...
I bring it to show my mom. You know, for giggles. She gives it a discerning look and appeared to rather not want to talk about it. I placed it on the kitchen table and proceed to explain how it requires bugs to suck the life out of them. At that point, after taking the lid off of the plastic container it came in, I told her that indeed it would be best to find a bug soon - as the plant can crawl out... "and it will find you!" This didn't sit too well with mom, who rather sternly recommended, "Put the lid back on! You put it on and keep it on! You make sure it stays on." HA! Oh, great fun indeed.
I now have told several friends about my new acquisition. One girl commented that she liked it because it rhymed with "penis." I then began thinking, it starts with a V, and the name Venus is in fact the Goddess of Love. V also begins "vagina." Hmmm... It in fact does have a subtle vaginal shape to it, with the sprouting hairs around it. And in fact, it does trap meat, and suck the life out of it. Well... now I'm getting a bit too visual, but you get the idea. Who knows what one was thinking when they named it. As far as Venus - it has nothing to do with either the planet, nor any Love Goddess. But it is a flytrap. Who knows.
In any case, it is now fodder for a new film script I am thinking of. I got the flytrap right after seeing the new National Geographic story about a moth that has evolved from eating plant nectar, to now sucking blood from animals (including people). This is in Siberia, and is a true story. So... nature evolves to "thin the herd" of mankind. Yes! Interesting, and necessary. Who needs 6.5 billion people on this small orb of a planet. It's time for nature to eat people, instead of people eating nature. But I digress into my usual sociopolitical nature. I'll save that for another blog.
I'm off to find some bugs.
Cheech & Chong were downtown, performing for the first time in about 35 years. I wanted so badly to go, but I was too exhausted from work and lacking sleep. Instead, I went to the Grocery Outlet to see what goodies they had in store at the cheap grocery palace.
It was there that I found the item I had wanted for so long. Years I had thought about owning this, this interesting development of nature. And so I bought myself my latest pet - a Venus Flytrap.
Yes, nature's little killing machine. Long before Audrey II of "Little Shop Of Horrors," there were the Venus Flytraps.
These things are sturdy! They can only survive in the bare minimum of dirt - no fertilizer. Just water seems to do them fine. Lots of it. And humidity. But they are fascinating. These little leaves that lay open, inviting, with what could only be described as seductive eyelashes outlining them. And when the unsuspecting critter happens to enter between the leaves - snap! The bug is caught. Within the next 10 days, digestive juices take out all the liquid and nutrients, leaving a dried carcass behind.
For those of you who know me, it might seem appropriate that I would get such a morbid plant. The hints of vampirism. The evolutionary ideas of meat-eating plants taking over the earth. The ghoulish way in which it dispatches its prey. These are all fascinating visuals (to me, anyway). But honestly, in my adult days, that was not the appeal that got me to bring my new baby home. My reason is much "further from home."
The Venus Flytrap is native only to the humid, boggy areas of the Carolinas in the United States (North Carolina, more specifically). There are stories, not wholly verified, that these particular areas are ancient meteor impact sites. That may be true. But then comes the question if that makes the Venus Flytrap a possible extraterrestrial life-form. Maybe. Again, no confirmation. It is true that to this day, scientists still don't know what makes it able to move it's leaves, and so quickly. The other thought is that meteor impact sites generally leave a lot of minerals around, which the plant could use, along with the nitrogen-rich soil. Interesting either way.
So... back to my Sunday with my new pet...
I bring it to show my mom. You know, for giggles. She gives it a discerning look and appeared to rather not want to talk about it. I placed it on the kitchen table and proceed to explain how it requires bugs to suck the life out of them. At that point, after taking the lid off of the plastic container it came in, I told her that indeed it would be best to find a bug soon - as the plant can crawl out... "and it will find you!" This didn't sit too well with mom, who rather sternly recommended, "Put the lid back on! You put it on and keep it on! You make sure it stays on." HA! Oh, great fun indeed.
I now have told several friends about my new acquisition. One girl commented that she liked it because it rhymed with "penis." I then began thinking, it starts with a V, and the name Venus is in fact the Goddess of Love. V also begins "vagina." Hmmm... It in fact does have a subtle vaginal shape to it, with the sprouting hairs around it. And in fact, it does trap meat, and suck the life out of it. Well... now I'm getting a bit too visual, but you get the idea. Who knows what one was thinking when they named it. As far as Venus - it has nothing to do with either the planet, nor any Love Goddess. But it is a flytrap. Who knows.
In any case, it is now fodder for a new film script I am thinking of. I got the flytrap right after seeing the new National Geographic story about a moth that has evolved from eating plant nectar, to now sucking blood from animals (including people). This is in Siberia, and is a true story. So... nature evolves to "thin the herd" of mankind. Yes! Interesting, and necessary. Who needs 6.5 billion people on this small orb of a planet. It's time for nature to eat people, instead of people eating nature. But I digress into my usual sociopolitical nature. I'll save that for another blog.
I'm off to find some bugs.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
It's Always Fun When I Cut My Throat
It's always something with me. I know that most of you might not have heard about my latest mishaps and adventures of the past week, so I thought I'd share. And yes, the title is true.
WEDS. OCT. 8th - sometime around 11 am.
I'm moving a dresser out of a house, on flat ground, with Gilbert going backwards. I had just come out of the door onto the cement walkway. Someone had thought it a good idea to have thoroughly soaked the new sod. I barely stepped off of the pathway, completely twisting my ankle as I swayed towards the grass. A split-second decision had to be made: 1) Drop everything, and smash the dresser into the cement walkway, or 2) pull and toss the dresser towards the grass in hopes of saving it, but muddying everything. I opted for 2.
Four people watching me, and no one can explain what happened next. A completely freak accident.
I swung the dresser to the right, thus putting all of its weight, combined with mine, completely onto my now twisted (and still twisting) ankle. Collapse time. Somehow, I ended up partially underneath it, but was able to yank it up, and roll out from under it WHILE setting it on its path down into the grass (safely, I might add). I did a strange roll out from under it, and pulled myself upright.
As I was getting up, Gilbert points at me and exclaims, "Now THAT'S a professional!"
As I straightened out, and as I was realizing something wrong, everyone just stared and said, "You need to check yourself out and get to a doctor."
Somehow, as I pulled the dresser, the sharp corner of the dresser caught my skin at the Adam's apple, as it continued upward, poking into my larynx (wind pipe) just under my jaw. As my head snapped back the other way (to follow it), the skin broke loose from the corner. thus cutting my throat. What I didn't realize until later is that it almost punctured my larynx. That would have ended everything rather quickly for me. I am damned lucky (well, luck isn't damning exactly, but you know).
So there I stood, checking my breathing but hearing no gurgling sounds. Good! Swallowing was another story. That hurt like a bitch. I thought about it for a minute and figured, if I can still breathe, I may as well finish the job at hand that I had begun - albeit in pain.
At the end of everything, a group assessment was made about what I should do. Everyone agreed I should be off to the doctors. However, I had no time for appointments, as I had to be in L.A. in the morning. I'd do the Urgent Care thing. At this point, a couple of comments were made -
Gilbert: "Dude, you're not going to be able to swallow for a few days."
Me: "Yes, BUT, that means I'll eat less and lose weight."
Gilbert: "That is going to leave a major mark."
Me: "Yes, BUT, chicks dig scars. It means I have a story to tell. I'll tell them it was a gang fight or a mugging."
(It's all about perceptions.)
So, by 9 pm that evening, I was seen by a doctor. I explained it all to him, along with my personal assessment. I said I was really only there to find out it it was going to be Motrin or surgery. I got lucky. It was Motrin.
The end result was that I have a contusion on my larynx, which seemed OK, but may be more serious, along with the cut across the throat (although not that big). It should have only lasted about 3 days. I'm going on a week now, so I'm going to get seen again, as there was also a possibility of a small fracture or tear in the front of the larynx. Otherwise, I was good to go.
THURS. OCT. 9th -
I'm off to L.A. by plane. Between waking up, and mid-flight, I discovered that the pain in the upper larynx had dissipated. But, the pain across the Adam's apple area was definitely increased. AND, apparently I had gotten minor whiplash from the incident. That's a first for me. I've never experienced that before, and not too thrilled with it. The ankle, throbbing like a ... well, yeah. Only it hurts. Anyway, off to L.A. I go, only to have to drive back later that day. I had to meet with a graphic designer client who works for ABC, and is moving out of a large, beautiful mansion in Pasadena. Somehow though, this meeting also includes meeting his handymen - a guy, with missing teeth and dirty t-shirt, sporting a total blaxploitation 'Fro with a Goodie comb stuck in it (straight out of a bad 70s film), and his partner, some cranked out stoner guy who hangs out at Home Depot for work. Nice diametric of people I meet within one hour.
FRI. OCT. 10th -
A relatively peaceful day, on the road, having a leisurely drive back. What a change.
SAT. OCT. 11th -
Me and a friend are up in Marin (Mill Valley, more correctly), sitting around waiting for someone. Around us are giant Eucalyptus trees. Within a relatively short while, we notice a large Turkey Vulture appear and sit above us. Soon after, another appears. About 10 minutes later, the first one swoops down to rest a bit closer. Roy and I begin discussing how vultures tend to only circle and approach prey that is either already, or soon to be dead (like in the film Westerns on the desert). So we ask each other if we want to flip a coin to see who it's going to be - me or him. We both decide it's not such a good idea. Above us, the vultures loom just a bit closer again, making us just a bit more wary. So we chase them off. But the thought behind it all still stuck for a while.
Anyway, it's now Tues, Oct. 14th, and I am still around, happy and (relatively) healthy.
As I think back, I've survived some major car accidents in the past (no injuries to me somehow), been hit in the head more than a could of times with hard objects (including an actual mugging), had a couple of surgeries, cancer (let's not forget that), other illnesses, and now the throat thing that really could have had a quick and bad ending. And yet, I have made it through.
When I was asked the other day, "Just how many of your lives have you used up already?", my answer is only that I am way beyond any cat. I've probably used up the first nine just in my childhood. Someone, somewhere, wants me here for a bigger and better reason than just to exist. Something to think about for anyone as we go through life and have experiences, or learn from the experiences of others.
Signing out,
Phil :)
WEDS. OCT. 8th - sometime around 11 am.
I'm moving a dresser out of a house, on flat ground, with Gilbert going backwards. I had just come out of the door onto the cement walkway. Someone had thought it a good idea to have thoroughly soaked the new sod. I barely stepped off of the pathway, completely twisting my ankle as I swayed towards the grass. A split-second decision had to be made: 1) Drop everything, and smash the dresser into the cement walkway, or 2) pull and toss the dresser towards the grass in hopes of saving it, but muddying everything. I opted for 2.
Four people watching me, and no one can explain what happened next. A completely freak accident.
I swung the dresser to the right, thus putting all of its weight, combined with mine, completely onto my now twisted (and still twisting) ankle. Collapse time. Somehow, I ended up partially underneath it, but was able to yank it up, and roll out from under it WHILE setting it on its path down into the grass (safely, I might add). I did a strange roll out from under it, and pulled myself upright.
As I was getting up, Gilbert points at me and exclaims, "Now THAT'S a professional!"
As I straightened out, and as I was realizing something wrong, everyone just stared and said, "You need to check yourself out and get to a doctor."
Somehow, as I pulled the dresser, the sharp corner of the dresser caught my skin at the Adam's apple, as it continued upward, poking into my larynx (wind pipe) just under my jaw. As my head snapped back the other way (to follow it), the skin broke loose from the corner. thus cutting my throat. What I didn't realize until later is that it almost punctured my larynx. That would have ended everything rather quickly for me. I am damned lucky (well, luck isn't damning exactly, but you know).
So there I stood, checking my breathing but hearing no gurgling sounds. Good! Swallowing was another story. That hurt like a bitch. I thought about it for a minute and figured, if I can still breathe, I may as well finish the job at hand that I had begun - albeit in pain.
At the end of everything, a group assessment was made about what I should do. Everyone agreed I should be off to the doctors. However, I had no time for appointments, as I had to be in L.A. in the morning. I'd do the Urgent Care thing. At this point, a couple of comments were made -
Gilbert: "Dude, you're not going to be able to swallow for a few days."
Me: "Yes, BUT, that means I'll eat less and lose weight."
Gilbert: "That is going to leave a major mark."
Me: "Yes, BUT, chicks dig scars. It means I have a story to tell. I'll tell them it was a gang fight or a mugging."
(It's all about perceptions.)
So, by 9 pm that evening, I was seen by a doctor. I explained it all to him, along with my personal assessment. I said I was really only there to find out it it was going to be Motrin or surgery. I got lucky. It was Motrin.
The end result was that I have a contusion on my larynx, which seemed OK, but may be more serious, along with the cut across the throat (although not that big). It should have only lasted about 3 days. I'm going on a week now, so I'm going to get seen again, as there was also a possibility of a small fracture or tear in the front of the larynx. Otherwise, I was good to go.
THURS. OCT. 9th -
I'm off to L.A. by plane. Between waking up, and mid-flight, I discovered that the pain in the upper larynx had dissipated. But, the pain across the Adam's apple area was definitely increased. AND, apparently I had gotten minor whiplash from the incident. That's a first for me. I've never experienced that before, and not too thrilled with it. The ankle, throbbing like a ... well, yeah. Only it hurts. Anyway, off to L.A. I go, only to have to drive back later that day. I had to meet with a graphic designer client who works for ABC, and is moving out of a large, beautiful mansion in Pasadena. Somehow though, this meeting also includes meeting his handymen - a guy, with missing teeth and dirty t-shirt, sporting a total blaxploitation 'Fro with a Goodie comb stuck in it (straight out of a bad 70s film), and his partner, some cranked out stoner guy who hangs out at Home Depot for work. Nice diametric of people I meet within one hour.
FRI. OCT. 10th -
A relatively peaceful day, on the road, having a leisurely drive back. What a change.
SAT. OCT. 11th -
Me and a friend are up in Marin (Mill Valley, more correctly), sitting around waiting for someone. Around us are giant Eucalyptus trees. Within a relatively short while, we notice a large Turkey Vulture appear and sit above us. Soon after, another appears. About 10 minutes later, the first one swoops down to rest a bit closer. Roy and I begin discussing how vultures tend to only circle and approach prey that is either already, or soon to be dead (like in the film Westerns on the desert). So we ask each other if we want to flip a coin to see who it's going to be - me or him. We both decide it's not such a good idea. Above us, the vultures loom just a bit closer again, making us just a bit more wary. So we chase them off. But the thought behind it all still stuck for a while.
Anyway, it's now Tues, Oct. 14th, and I am still around, happy and (relatively) healthy.
As I think back, I've survived some major car accidents in the past (no injuries to me somehow), been hit in the head more than a could of times with hard objects (including an actual mugging), had a couple of surgeries, cancer (let's not forget that), other illnesses, and now the throat thing that really could have had a quick and bad ending. And yet, I have made it through.
When I was asked the other day, "Just how many of your lives have you used up already?", my answer is only that I am way beyond any cat. I've probably used up the first nine just in my childhood. Someone, somewhere, wants me here for a bigger and better reason than just to exist. Something to think about for anyone as we go through life and have experiences, or learn from the experiences of others.
Signing out,
Phil :)
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