Monday, September 28, 2020
Not too bad at work. Read some bridge pages and played a few hands. Finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert's City of Girls. I took my time with this book and enjoyed it completely. The NY City chapters and all the details that brought such wonderful life to the City of Girls show made this story. Once Vivian left the City, the novel settled into something less interesting. Still, there's so much to admire here. What a wonderful, gifted writer Elizabeth Gilbert is.
Sunday, September 27, 2020
Bicycle ride, making pancakes on the Blackstone grill, watching the Seahawks win! Enjoyable day today.
Saturday, September 26, 2020
Off to SF in the a.m. and Home Depot for accessories for the shed. We had lunch at Panda Express and then headed home for an afternoon of reading, relaxing and watching some financial videos.
Friday, September 25, 2020
A day of organizing, catching up, reading. Not too busy at work. Getting my daily update from Glenn Kirschner.
Thursday, September 24, 2020
Mailed off my passport application today. It took a couple of hours to assemble everything and fill out the form properly. Hopefully in 1-2 months, I'll have my passport. Not sure I'll ever need it, but why risk things when I have the opportunity to set up shop in another country.
Catching up on so much right now.
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Took the MINI in for repairs, gasket replacements, about a $1,200 job. It should ride well for the next year or so.
Resting after a seriously busy four days. Watched two episodes of Billions. Pretty good.
Monday, September 21, 2020
It was a slow day at work, luckily, allowing me time to get going on the shed. With the foundation done, we started putting together the shed piece by piece. All the early prep was completed by lunch. Then came the walls. We got everything done except the roof, which we'll do tomorrow. Almost there.
Started a new Kindle book that I checked out.
Saturday, September 19, 2020
Began work on Alice's shed today. Got the pier blocks in. Still lots of work left.
More stock market predictions:
Sunday, September 13, 2020
Went to Home Depot today to buy lumber for the foundation for Alice's shed that's coming this week. Lots of home project coming up.
More bridge with Kevin and a little reading.
I love listening to Glenn Kirschner wade through the corrupt Barr DOJ.
Saturday, September 12, 2020
Took the weekend off and played bridge with Alice, made food, and stayed in doors due to the bad weather.
Monday, September 7, 2020
Reading the New Jim Crow for Thursday's firm book club. I've read chapters 1-3 and now ch. 5. This is a detailed book loaded with information. Worth the effort.
Hand hamburgers for lunch with Austin and Hannah. Tarts for dessert. Took a nap in the afternoon and played bridge with Alice's friends for an hour from 3-4. Tomorrow will be busy at work, so after dinner I'll review what I need to do.
Sunday, September 6, 2020
Had a great walk and talk with Glenn, Dorian, Jamil, Lee, and Tiger. We walked from Glenn's to Lakeshore and back, about 90 minutes. Adam, Ari, and Ron then joined us for a good two-hour discussion about the events of the day, race, the election, and stories of our past. It's a great great group.
Came home at 12:15 and took a nap for an hour, then headed to IKEA for two cocktail glasses (one broke last night). IKEA had haphazard items and disorganized areas. It looked a bit like a disaster. I wonder if that's the new normal. I waited in line 10 minutes to get in and checked out quickly using self-check.
Hannah and Austin cooked dinner for us tonight, a Japanese cabbage pancake cooked on the Blackstone griddle. Very good!
Played two hours of bridge with Kevin in the evening. Fun!
Monday, August 31, 2020
Up early to read, post on Facebook, work, prep dinner, read more, and catch up on this. So behind, thanks to all the time reading and Facebook is taking up. I can see why people post on Facebook. It's fun and amazing with the world as your audience. Wow!
Talked to Rob Holland for 30 minutes today. What a treat!
We're 64 days until the election. Nervous as hell, but optimistic that the orange beast will go down in flames. Ever the optimist, I'm told.
Sunday, August 30, 2020
Went to Home Depot in the morning for potting mix and other supplies. We replanted one of Alice's trees and she spent an hour or so in her garden while I spent the afternoon playing bridge with Kevin. We made steaks for dinner, so good!
Listened to another Peek Prosperity video. These are so good. The markets...hmmm.
Saturday, August 22, 2020
A wonderful lunch in Kenwood with Michael and Alice.
pic
Came home in the afternoon and read, then went on Facebook and posted. I'll be posting a lot between now and the election.
Watched Glenn Kirschner. I watch him regularly now.
Friday, August 21, 2020
An incident at work came about last night when someone mentioned a few non-pc pictues on HB's Facebook page. They were up cartoonish sumo wrestling suits that were part of a fundraiser eight years ago. A few emails were sent among the HB RACE group. I sent one as well:
I have a dozen or so racquetball buddies who I Zoom with every Wednesday morning for an hour as a way of staying connected during Covid. Since George Floyd, our hour together has become a deep, sustained discussion of race, racism, white privilege, white supremacy, chapters of American history we were never taught, and the national reckoning we're currently in the midst of in America.
This past week we talked about a presentation by Jeffery Robinson, ACLU Deputy Legal Director (link below). This magnificent presentation has been with me all week, in particular, the foundations and cornerstones that exist in this country and the Lee Atwater-style coded messaging that has been used to great effect and is still used by political parties, institutions, society, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOPGpE-sXh0
We all have an archive of our past as documented in photo albums, writings, letters, emails, Facebook posts and pics, and we're now called upon to revisit that archive with clearer eyes. It can be a humbling and at times embarrassing exercise, but it is also a necessary, inspiring and good exercise that is simply an extension of the reckoning we're living through.
Like many of you, I find great comfort and solace in work. Staying busy is just a wonderful thing. But I also find great joy and inspiration in connecting with the people I care about, which is perhaps what has made these past five months of sheltering in place so challenging. I wonder if there might be any interest in a weekly one-hour forum or discussion group where those of us who would like to can come together and just talk about and listen to all of this profoundly heavy stuff that is rising to the surface for everyone. I'll help put it together if given the green light.
The Washington Post had a great op ed denouncing Trump. I approve:
A second Trump term might injure the democratic experiment beyond recovery
Thursday, August 20, 2020
What a relief! Biden's acceptance speech was problem free. And inspiring! Nicely done, Joe!
Monday, August 17, 2020
Lots to do these days: (1) training classes I'm helping with, plus (2) classroom volunteer work I'm getting ready for (Google Classroom and
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Not my first choice, but I see a lot of upside to this pick. She's a strong prosecutor who will go to the mat for Biden when calling out Pence, Trump and Trumpism for what it actually is (white supremacy and America at its worst). Obama undoubtedly had a hand in selecting Senator Harris and he can mentor her to perhaps fight harder for the right side of justice and not just the side that has the power. Here's her chance for redemption and her opportunity to show us all that there's more to her than sheer opportunism. We'll see. I know a few of my astute political friends are over the moon with glee at her selection. If every registered Dem votes in November, Trump will lose in a landslide. At the end of the day, Biden's pick helps the cause. Crazy times ahead between now and Nov. 3!
Monday, August 10, 2020
Great ad from the Lincoln Project:
One of the best yet!
Work, a little reading, a little stock market / financial shell game studying. Seriously, the market makes no sense to me. Only a matter of time before the whole thing goes up in smoke. Hopefully after I'm long gone. The US will die a slow death. But it is dying. 
