Striking Differences

We are settling in here in Texas and I am constantly struck by how different and yet similar our life here is, compared to our life in Philadelphia. The most obvious thing is the weather. I grew up in San Diego, so I’m familiar with warm winters. But it’s been twenty years since I lived in southern California. And, those twenty years have been filled with snow, freezing rain, sleet, ice storms, and just plain damn cold weather every winter.

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Settling In

Our stuff is arriving on Tuesday! Yay! The driver called this afternoon to give me the update. “Sounds like you’re in an empty house.” “Yes, I am. How’d you guess?” (said with slightly sarcastic tone as I listen to the echo). “I can hear the echo. How’d you like me to fix that for you on Tuesday morning?” “I’d love it! When?” “Between eight and nine.” “Great!” (while silently thinking, okay, gotta get up early on Tuesday!)

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Moving

Moving and job hunting are, according to what I’ve read, the two most stressful things you can do. I’ve done a lot of moving and job hunting over the years, and I have to say, I completely agree. We just landed after a two-state move, Pennsylvania to Texas. It’s been almost twenty years since we moved anywhere. We didn’t even move into different apartments in Philly. We stayed in the same city and same apartment for twenty years. Then we moved almost 2,000 miles away.

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Tolerance

What does it mean to tolerate something? What do we mean when we say that tolerance is something to strive for? People are fond of saying that they have no tolerance for intolerance. But according to the definition of the word, they therefore are intolerant, regardless of the targeted nature of their intolerance.

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Moving Forward

So…we are moving to Texas in a few weeks. We haven’t moved anywhere, not even within the Philadelphia environs, for almost twenty years. This is going to be quite the adventure. It’s been stressful too, and I haven’t been writing. I need to get back to the writing since that’s the only way I’ll manage to finish book #3. My plan is to alternate packing and writing for the next couple of weeks. If I can finish the first draft, I can then do editing which, for me, is a lot easier. Then, send it off to beta readers before the final push of packing and moving.

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I Aim to Misbehave

This report is maybe 12 years old. Parliament buried it, and it stayed buried ’til River dug it up.

This is what they feared she knew. And they were right to fear ’cause  there’s a whole universe of folk who’re gonna know it, too. They’re gonna see it.

Somebody has to speak for these people.

Y‘all got on this boat for different reasons, but y’all come to the same place. So now I’m askin’ more of you than I have before. Maybe all.

As sure as I know anything, I know this: They will try again. Maybe on another world. Maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, 10, they’ll swing back to the belief that they can make people…better. And I do not hold to that.

So no more runnin’.

I aim to misbehave.

 – Mal Reynolds, Captain, Spaceboat Serenity

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Punishing the Unvaccinated to Assuage the Fears of the Vaccinated

I just read a piece in Reason talking about Leana Wen’s (now working for CNN natch) contention that the unvaccinated should be confined to their homes. That due to their refusal to get the vaccine they are causing problems for those people who chose to get vaccinated. With that statement, in addition to loudly demonstrating her love of all things authoritarian, Wen absolutely undermined any arguments from the CDC, FDA, or FICUS that the vaccine is effective.

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Neighbors

My neighbor Bill passed away last week. I just found out yesterday when we ran into his son. Bill suffered a stroke a little over two years ago and his youngest son moved back home to help his mom take care of Bill. We first met Bill at a block party almost twenty years ago. We had just moved in and our landlord (and neighbor) lived, and still does, two doors down. He and his wife made sure to let us know about the block party. It was a great way to meet all the neighbors.

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Happy Independence Day!

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

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