Journals: 2005(4)by Ric Carter |
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TRANSCRIBED NOTES ETC:
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(( INDEX )) >> NEXT >> CONTENTSHolding Pattern Again: 7/11-15, 7/9-10, 7/4-8, 7/3, 7/2, 7/1 Some Days in Reno: 7/1, 6/30, 6/29 Readying For Reno: 6/29, 6/28, 6/27 ACCOUNTSRECENT STUFF:SIGHTINGS: | ||
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We're still preparing (in subtle ways and otherwise) for a drive towards (but not across) the Arctic Circle, hopefully departing around the end of July. NOTE: This is not a bLog so you don't have to read it upside down, except for the CONTENTS list. | |||
Readying For RenoMonday 27 June 2005 - Greater Volcano again
A day of frantic (or at least dogged) keyboarding. Can And it doesn't help that MY tinnitus has ramped-up to a new level, the inside-the-ears dental-drill noise whirring ever louder, making concentration and balance and sleep difficult. I read a recent National Geographic article on caffiene, how nightlife clubbers imbibe gallons of energy drinks and dance all night to loud music. Hmmm, caffiene and decibels: welcome to the tinnitus and hearing-loss club, kids. What? What did you say? Tuesday 28 June 2005 - laying around the houseI got fuck-all done on those detail pages; tinnitus makes concentration nearly impossible. So what? Well, on each page I have to attend to about a dozen details, and remembering which is which is difficult with a high-pitched roaring behind my forehead. Ay yi yi... :HISTORY: Meanwhile I'm reading a brief history of Europe's 15th century; and I recall Barbara Tuchman's A DISTANT MIRROR which drew parallels between that momentous time and our 20th century; and I recall recent reviews of the last century's horrors; and I recall reading of Kepler's time. And I consider this: Biblicists argue that the great slaughters of the 1900s were authored by secular regimes, by monstrous Hitler and the ever-more monstrous Stalin and Mao, not to mention the slightly less monstrous Pol Pot and Mobutu. Thus one should turn away from atheism and embrace somebody's favorite god, right? Yet the greatest-ever European slaughter, killing off maybe 1/3 of the population, was that of the Black Plague, which to a believer could only have been authored by {JHWH} Himself. And not far behind that are the ravages of the 100 Years War (battling Xian despots) and the Counter-Reformation (battling Xian creeds). The faithful are bloody enough. Even within the atrocities of WWII (cf. the Holocaust and other widespread ethnic cleansings and the horrific sieges of Leningrad-Stalingrad-etc), what stands out are the city-burnings: fire-bombings of Tokyo-Dresden-Hamburg-etc, culminating in Hiroshima-Nagasaki, perpetrated by the Xian Allies against the Evil Heathens of Germany and Japan. Yes, 50,000 or 100,000 civilians dead in a flash! Now look back at pre-machine-gun-era sieges and burnings of European cities and we can see similar death tolls; they just took a little longer to achieve then. The faithful aren't always hurried. And 20th century slaughters may only have been so vast because there were so many more people available to kill. OK, enough of that. I can't concentrate enough to draw any conclusions, other than maybe that the righteous always denounce the unrighteous, then employ their methods when convenient, or something like that. And I certainly can't project any trends into the future. G'zz, I sure wish I just had voices in my head and not these whining sounds. | |||
Wednesday 29 June 2005 - ready to roll?EARLY MORNING: Pulling another all-nighter, I managed to finish the COATI WORKS site. Except for correcting some prices, maybe, and adding a PayPal link. But enough of that. My tinnitus is down a little. It's 5:20 AM now and I've got to get some sleep, we drive to Reno in a few hours. [Why Reno? Maybe I'll tell y'all later.] Hope we make it OK. Oh yeah, last evening I washed dishes and listened to GW Bush's "major speech" on Iraq, Funny, he mentioned 9/11 a dozen times, but Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with that. Are his handlers keeping this from him? And he talked a lot about "the mission" without ever saying how we could discern "mission accomplished." I've seen various analysis of the lies etc and even Fox mentioned that the one applause incident was staged. Can you say "phony presidency?" LATER MORNING: Last evening Maureen's mom Bobbie called to say that her sister Ginnie was in ER in Sacramento. This morning we learn that she's suffering acute kidney failure. This should be manageable. We'll still go to Reno as planned, but we may be visiting in Sac this weekend. Keeping our fingers crossed...
And I got those prices corrected on the website. Now all we need are some
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SLOGANS:BRING'EM HOME ALIVE JAIL THEIR LEADERS  BUSHISMS:One who speaks three languages is trilingual One who speaks two languages is bilingual One who speaks one language is monolingual One who speaks no languages is G W Bush | ||
Reno For A Couple DaysWednesday 29 June 2005 - rolled, alreadyEVENING: Nice day but hot. I'm too exhausted to remember details of the drive over the Sierra Nevadas. Sales are going well; I'm not supposed to disclose any more than that. We dine at the Nugget Casino in Carson City. Dinner specials here are served in the coffee shop, a geriatric ward with keno monitors and clean garish carpet. Old light rock music wafts gently from the overhead speakers but few of the clientele can hear it. At the counter is a young woman in brief pink slack 'n' blouse and a big black leather cowboy hat. Maybe she's bait. Maureen's tinnitus diminshes as her laryngitis increases, rendering her woozy. She can't adequately hear, talk, think, drive, walk, etc. Yet somehow we stumble onwards, and haven't yet hit anything expensive. We're staying in Reno at the Sands Regency, where last we sojourned two years ago after our last Guatemala trip. Our excuse then was to see a Frida'n'Diego exhibit at the local art museum. Our 15th-floor room then faced east, towards the incandescent downtown and dry sunrise ranges. Our 15th-floor room now faces west, overlooking the partier-filled pool and higher suburbs, few high-rises. The sun sets ruddily over a low gap in the mountains, freight trains roll past us down from Donner, a bit of midweek traffic crawls below, and Reno oozes into the distance. NIGHT: Reno at night from on high, glittering so differently from Taxco. And all so rectalinear. Commercial lights flicker, home lights burn, emergency lights flash — a city of sporadic separated lights arrayed in severe lines. Those flashing lights, that's an ambulance pulling up to the hotel door as a fire truck sirens past. I didn't look closely at the gamblers downstairs, didn't assess their ages — did excitement or despair stop an overticked old heart? Or maybe it's due to some day-old overpriced room-service feast. We sampled the in-house eateries here two years ago and the food's not very appetizing or fresh. I guess smokers don't mind. We took care to bring our own sandwich makings. US-style hostelries roar like endlessly dyspepic robots. Climate control exacts an aural toll. And outside, nearly everyone has their own car. Oh yeah, the interstate is just 1/4 mile away. What noise? Say what? Thursday 30 June 2005 - floating above RenoEARLY: Trains rumble by slowly at regular intervals all night with plaintive intermittant horns announcing their passage. I was awakened (awoken?) early by a driver coaxing wierdly suggestive low moans from his horn, echoing sensuously across the high-desert valley, but most are satisfied with tender diesel blasts at the required crossings. The tracks pass less than 1000 feet / 300 meters from our room. Our big sliding glass window has a stop on its track — don't open more than four inches. But it's easily levered over the stop, giving a yard-wide aperture. I don't feel like falling 15 floors but I'm sorely tempted to toss something or maybe spit at the neon-flooded cars stationed helplessly below. Have YOU ever spit from a high place? MORNING: Greasy breakfast at the greasy in-house Mel's Diner franchise, serenaded by denatured doo-wop etc. With the meal voucher provided by management, it was almost tolerable. With a small slot winning via the house-provided gambling voucher, breakfast was almost free. A tolerable deal. Don't come to a gambling paradise and expect free meals; but with careful perusal of the room and food specials, one can stay in Reno for only slightly more than moderate Mexican expenses. At least here, one can drink the tap water. Around town, at the hotel and beyond, we see cars and SUVs with colorful waxed-on inscriptions such as VIRGINS IN SPANDEX and OREGON SUCKS and volleygirl slogans. Maybe there's a volleyball tournament in Reno? Let's check the entertainment guide. EVENING: Sales in Reno today were DISMAL, prices offered are ridiculously low. So back to Carson City for another; now just one more to go. Up to Virginia City even but no luck. There's no need to do more than stroll 1/4 of VC, we've seen it all already and it doesn't improve. But more houses are climbing up the steep slopes. We expect Bisbee to eventually pull a VC, become an expensive theme park. Maybe we'll have moved to Nicaragua by then. We took the old scenic (steep-rough) Toll Road down from VC to Reno. At one point, Maureen screamed "LET ME OUT!" but it was no hassle, just an optical illusion of dropoff doom. We survived to cash in a gift certificate (thanks, Wayne and Bev!) at Barnes & Noble (where a Chilean clerk said we MUST see the Atacama Desert), emerged with a tour guide to Western Canada and the Arvo Pärt PASSIO neominimalist CD. Then to Safeway for cheap meal-makings, and we snuggle back into the hotel. We'll handle a few final details tomorrow, then head back homeward, mission mostly accomplished. Friday 1 July 2005 - evacuating Reno againWe're up with the sun, had less of a (subsidized) greasy hotel breakfast, but less winnings on the house-supplied voucher, so breakfast was overpriced. Around the hotel we see lots of volleygirls; oriental women dressed strangely in stylish clothes and ugly military footwear; gamblers attached to their O2 cylinders — gimme another jackpot before I die! Back in the room to pack, we look out over bright streets and long shadows and the climbing interstate highway and a slight brown haze blanketing the surroundings. 100°f is forecast for today, so we're getting out just in time. We drive thru town past a flashing sign announcing THANKS RENO FOR VOTING US THE HOTEST ADULT SHOW. On the bus-stop bench out front are old feebs and young goths of all genders. We pass a decrepit auto-court, SWISS MOTEL: IT'S CHEEZY! We stock up at a discount grocer and pass the in-store video poker parlor. I think some markets here also have indoor shooting ranges. IN THE PASS: It's a beautiful day to drive over the Sierra Nevadas, and many folks are doing so on this first day of the July 4th holiday weekend. Still snow in the higher elevations but it's melting fast. We pass blue lakes that three weeks ago were frozen over, watch meltwater cascade over steep rocks. stop to catch some sunshine undiluted by clouds or atmosphere, then head on home. |
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Resume the Holding PatternFriday 1 July 2005 - Greater Volcano againWe return from Reno to our hot home. We dream of rolling through the Canadian Rockies and beyond to the boreal forest, the MacKenzie country, the Yukon. But we're here for now. The latest word on Aunt Ginnie is that she's both better and worse, so we'll head to Sacramento tomorrow to visit. Sister Barbi is also better and worse. but NYC is too far to go to visit. I'm not sure what good such visits accomplish, but I'm willing to try. At least the car is air-conditioned.
Saturday 2 July 2005 - dipping into SacramentoEarly afternoon, I drive Maureen and her mother Bobbie to hospital in Sacramento to see Aunt Ginnie, who is doing MUCH better. We're told that her previous physician Dr McCloud was negligent in monitoring medication levels, leading to the acute renal failure. As it is, she's due to be home tomorrow, with a visiting nurse to monitor her. Her son Wayne flew in from Baltimore and will stand watch for a few days, then we'll take turns with her daughter Beth and family. It's hot. Yesterday's local temperatures were the highest of the year. Summer is definitely upon us. We look forward to jumping in Beth and Brad's pool again, daily. Enroute to Sac we stopped at the bustling Sloughhouse produce market. Maureen and Bobbie went into the vast open barn for veggies whilst I lay on buzzing grass under dense conifer varieties and considered the tropical heat. Returning, we stopped across the road at the Gold Rush-era Sloughhouse Inn where Bobbie bought us a fine old-California meal. She's very happy her sister isn't dying yet. Las Abuelitas, both widows and living a block apart, they talk constantly and go everywhere together. Sunday 3 July 2005 - back on the homesteadNow it's Maureen's teeth. She didn't have the grace to get an agonizing toothache a month ago (cheap Mexican dentists) or a month from now (Canadian national healthcare). She had the exquisite timing to pick 3 July, when almost all dentists are off on holiday. So she'll just have to wait til Tuesday. More painkillers, soft food, etc. Yow.
Meanwhile the day is too hot, and the forest-obscured nights here aren't conducive for photography in the dark. Bother. So I'm indexing and putting online my old game notes (click here) for your perusal and amazement. Independence Day, the movieMonday 4 July 2005: The painkillers aren't working for Maureen's teeth. We didn't go anywhere or do anything, except what's become usual around the house. Tomorrow we get to a dentist early, then post stuff on eBay 'til my hands wear off. I could use some independence today, but here we are. Tuesday 5 July 2005: Down early to the local dentist. He sez she needs a root canal and the best guy for it is in Stockton and we can get an appointment RIGHT NOW. So we dash down the mountain and across the valley, 80 miles each way, like driving over to Sonoma County again, Yow. Today is shot Root Canal, Part I, is done. Come back in a week for Root Canal, Part II.. Wednesday 6 July 2005: A walk around the ridge; our first swim of the season (B&B's pool is so nice!); a fixup of the jewelry dimensions (sorry, wrong numbers); an exhausted nap; and suddenly it's too late to start the eBay auctions today. So mañana for that. Seriously. But Maureen's mouth doesn't hurt now, so all is well. Thursday 7 July 2005: Al-Qaeda bombs in London. Shit. But I can't simply follow the news, I *MUST*.start the eBay auctions, even though the time is dicy at the other end. So I slave away the day, and finally achieve some results. Will the trickle increase into a flood? Friday 8 July 2005: Some BUY-IT-NOWs, some watches, a bid. At least we're ahead on the listing costs. So I slaved away the morning and almost finished the eBay postings; then we drove Maureen to Kaiser-Folsom for an audiology test, the latest phase of having her head examined. The prospect: nothing to be done. So she's going daft AND deaf. But I'll keep her anyway. And Aunt Ginnie is back from hospital!! |
Church Signs: IN A CHANGING WORLD, DEPEND ON GOD'S UNCHANGING WORD. (Even a broken clock is right twice a day.) GIVE GOD WHAT'S RIGHT, NOT WHAT'S LEFT. (Forget about the center.) ARE YOU BORN AGAIN! (I wanted to but Mum said no.) London Attacks: It's conspiracy theory time. Who has done this before, and who stands to gain from doing it now? The most obvious perps are IRA (Irish) and al-Qaeda, based on their past acts. But note the context: the G8 summit is on in Scotland, London beat Pasis for the 2012 Olympics yesterday, and China is trying to buy UnoCal Oil. This op is likely not the work of ETA (Basque) or French revenge for losing the Olympics. But the focus at the G8 now shifts from Africa (debt relief, AIDS) and Kyoto (global warming) to anti-terror security; and attention shifts away from China. What is YOUR guess? | ||
Between-Holidays weekendSaturday 9 July 2005: After eBaying and sleeping all day, we eat Chinese (amidst much chatter) with Las Abuelitas (Ginnie and Bobbie) and Ginnie's space-scientist son Wayne, who flies back to DC tomorrow as his Hubble Space Telescope career spirals into the atmosphere. Outside the bar-restaurant we encounter a slightly dykey gal carrying a Pomeranian dog, and she talks awhile about her relationship with Misty (the dog) and its kin-dogs: Alvin, Simon, Theodore. Pomeranian chipmunks? I fear to ask. Shall I talk about the eBay sales experience? Doing that right is always hard tiring work. Posting numerous similar but unique items, especially when fatigued, leads to entry errors. Never time to do it right, always time to do it again -- just like in software development. I will be EXTREMELY happy when this is over and I can slave away over something else.
You might wonder just which holidaze bracket this weekend. Last Monday (4 July) was USA's Independence Day. The previous Friday (1 July) was Canada Day. Next Thursday (14 July) is Bastille Day. Wash down your
Sunday 10 July 2005: Another morning keyboarding, another afternoon in the pool, another evening shooting at low-flying UFOs. Nothing to see here, folks; keep moving. Well, there is that news story that the Vatican is abandoning JP2's position in favor of scientific evolution and backing the cretinists and unintelligent design demagogues -- look here for details. I saw comments to the effect that "OK so religion is retarded -- is this a surprise?" and "Yeah but you don't usually see them jumping up and down screaming LOOK WHAT A RETARD I AM!!!!" And this brings up thoughts about that old Grand Inquisitor and new pontiff Papa Ratzi's old Nazi and recent Star Chamber ties, and his propensity to purge any Catholic figure who is not totally supportive of a power-grubbing party line. But I'd invite Catholics to deal with their own demon. And The Week Goes OnMonday 11 July 2005: Work early, sleep late, work more, ship some, swim late, work more. I'm finally done with this round of our eBay and Coati Works listings, but some more will go to eBay for the second round, relisting whatever doesn't sell this time. Now I have a couple days to do other things — but those days are already spoken for. Aaargh. Tuesday 12 July 2005: eBay sales have been trickling in, but we abandon commerce this afternoon to drive Las Abuelitas up Carson Pass for a tea-time picnic. It's Bobbie's birthday and Ginnie's outa-da-hospital fete. We're at Woods Lake at 8000 feet among hemlocks and lodgepole pines in a glacial-gouge granitic cavity hemmed between vertiginous cliffs and a lateral moraine. The sheer rocky crags are burdened with snow. A high lonesome waterfall feeds a string of cascades to the shore. Bugs abound but we brought DEET. Maureen's slaved-over menu is a hit; a splendid day. Wednesday 13 July 2005: Work early, sleep real late, stagger around, swim late, work more. Wickedly hot today and the heat wave will only increase. At Beth and Brad's pool, Brad's kid Gavin and friends Josh and Jolie and Jordan splashed noisily and happily. Wetness helps. And we'll need it even more tomorrow, I fear. BASTILLE DAY, 14 July 2005: French Revolution Day! Ooh la la! Sacre bleu! Bon chance! Merde! Merde indeed, as 1) we drove down to Stockton for Root Canal Part II (Maureen says it hurts worse), 2) the heat is incendiary (we maxed out at 108°f), and 3) eBay auction results are VERY disappointing. And we didn't even have time to jump in the pool. Sacre bleu! Let's go play in the sprinkler.
Friday 15 July 2005:
Sleep late, work a bit, dodge the heat. Then Sharon and Fred show up -- they've just arrived from New Jersey, the old house is sold, they're transitioning into the rental and awaiting the completion of their new Clouds move in; the day is no longer so hellish. Back home, and we assemble a fine simple feed, S&F's first rest and home-cooked meal in some time. Meanwhile, a couple more eBay sale trickle in, almost enough to pay for Maureen's dental work. We should have enough left over to make the Canada-Alaska trip. I hope. Click here to see what happens next. |
 MORE-TO-DO LIST:Drill a hole in the wall, run a net cable to Maureen's desk. (Probably not) Order a Sony laptop battery? Get the little DVD burner working. | ||
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Ric Carter, ric@sonic.net, www.sonic.net/~ric, copyright © by OTRSS