Day 1811

Thursday, December 28, 2017

It finally slowed down at work, allowing me a few hours to work on Alice's appeal.  I packed for our trip tomorrow and relaxed after dinner.

Day 1810

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

I slept in this morning, missing racquetball.  Work was busy again, surprisingly.  I updated my finances and prepared for our LA trip coming up this Friday.

Day 1809

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Left Alice's at 4 and went to the gym to work off a little of yesterday's ginormous meal.  Work was busier than I'd anticipated. 

Day 1808

Monday, December 25, 2017

Merry Christmas!  It was a very low-key, quiet, totally peaceful Christmas, which I've come to appreciate in my older years.  I joined Alice's family for some amazing food at the Dim Sum Club on Van Ness.  So good.  I love this restaurant, especially the sweet & sour pork, which is the best I've ever had.  There was so much food I thought they were going to roll me out of the restaurant when all was said and done.  I spoke with family, read a few pages on my nook and phone, and just took in the day. 

Day 1807

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Alice's Air BnB is starting to look really nice.  She did a great job picking things and making her downstairs unit feel comfortable. 

Today was a very quiet, relaxing day.  I went to Macy's for some last-minute stocking stuffers for Alice and Austin.  I'm all set for tomorrow!

Day 1806

Saturday, December 23, 2017

Spent most of the afternoon reading several personal essays from Patrick and Katherine for their college applications. Alice made her delicious salmon poke for lunch. So good.  We switched Alice’s bed with the futon downstairs in preparation for Alice’s Air bnb in February.  We needed Pete’s help because the mattresses were so heavy.

Day 1805

Friday, December 22, 2017

Work was surprisingly busy (again), considering it was the Friday before Christmas.  I did take an extended lunch to pick up a few last-minute stocking stuffers for Alice and Austin.  After work, Alice and I went to the Pans for dinner.  Patrick made beef Wellington, which is so delicious.  His recipe was fantastic, just like Gordon Ramsey.  They gave me a very generous gift card for helping them with their college essays.  Amy, like my sisters and mom, really knows how to decorate a room.  Their tree was beautiful and nutcrackers, lights, and of course Christmas music filled their living room and dining room.  We had a very enjoyable evening.  Patrick and Katherine weren't accepted to their first choice school (Penn for Pat and Stanford for Peaches) so they were discouraged about the entire application process, but they'll have many schools offering them sizable scholarships in March.  That's what I'm predicting.  These two are very ambitious and talented.  They'll go far in life!

Day 1804

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Alice has enjoyed taking care of Mr. Birdy.  The bird is very fond of her. 

Lots of work today and once I came home, I just ate dinner and watched a few political shows.  It seems to be my drama of choice these days.

Day 1803

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

No racquetball today.  I slept wrong and my neck is sore.  This getting old thing is really getting old.

Day 1802

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Left Alice’s at 7:50 a.m. and arrived at work at 8:30. I had many jobs in the morning but it slowed down in the afternoon.  I went to Powell and Market for a little Christmas shopping to look for gifts for Alice. I continued work on Alice’s appeal and hope to wrap it up this week. I came home at 6 and updated my stock portfolio.  I bought a bunch of large cap stocks and ETFs on Sunday.  With $1.5 trillion in free stolen money from the Gov't, corporations will live large for a while.  I'm still in shock Republicans actually got away with this.  Watch the deficit balloon to new heights.  It's inevitable.

Day 1801

Monday, December 18, 2017

Racquetball, several jobs at work, including Word Perfect docs and Power Point slides. Maybe tomorrow will be a little less busy. After work, I went to Alice’s and helped Austin assemble his new bed frame. We had sushi salmon and rice for dinner. Alice is taking care of Elaine’s pet bird Mr Baby. He’s called Mr. Baby because he says "Mr. Baby" all the time. He's a cute bird. I also tried to get Alice's Sonic replacement modem working but it wasn't connecting properly.  Not sure why.  Bed at 10:15.

Day 1800

Sunday, December 17, 2017

Spent the day wrapping up last minute Christmas gifts, talking to Tristan, practicing, and continuing work on Alice's Appeal.  I was at home this weekend which was nice.  I think I needed a few hours of down time.  Oh, and I also shifted so much 401k capital to large cap stocks and ETFs in order to collect the 20% free money coming to corporations courtesy of future generations.  Thanks, Millennials for failing to vote last year and in effect allowing Trump to rob your future dry.  Oh, and thank you as well, Trump supporters in the rust belt who own no stocks or funds whatsoever, for voting against your own interests to allow this insane con artist to line the pockets of the rest of us and especially his billionaire friends with endless unnecessary riches, all at your expense.  Keep hating Hillary and attending his white supremacy rallies, since that's about all you'll ever get from this pathetic sham who really truly loves the poorly educated.  What a selfish disgrace this tax bill is.  When the bottom falls out...and it will surely fall out one day...oh, it's gonna hurt bad.  Especially for the chronic poor who will get nothing from this orange monster.  

Day 1799

Saturday, December 16, 2017

I stayed home today because Rhonda and Biff have a Christmas party at 6, while Alice will attend her uncle’s family dinner at R&G Lounge. I spent the day shopping on line, tidying up, and talking to Gwen, Jill and mom. Gwen is spending a week with her friend Debbie in Bellingham, and I’m so relieved. I didn’t want to tell her she was not welcome here. Gwen’s delusions have returned and according to Jill they’re here to stay. Her mind is permanently damaged. There is no joy whatsoever in talking with her. With Jill as her designated point person from now on, I’m in the background. I don’t see many conversations in our future. It’s as if she’s already gone. I did talk to Mathew for an hour or so and that was good! He was flying back from a drop interview in Dallas. He and Rathna live a few blocks from the Brooklyn Bridge in a very cool neighborhood on Worth St. They’re living the life. Rhonda and Biff’s party was a lot of fun. They have a new dog Oliver, who’s squirrely as hell and full of naughty energy. Biff makes the best Cosmos of all time, so I had threee throughout the night.

Day 1798

Friday, December 15, 2017

Our company Christmas party was today at Mezzanine on Jessie St. tucked behind Bloomingdale's.  We were there last year as well.  The food was good and the annual skit they do was so-so, but the best part was going home at 3:15!  I met Margaret on bus 29 and caught up with her before getting off at Lakeshore Ave. to get some money and a scone for Alice, who was waiting for me at my place.  We hung out for a few hours before joining Lisa, Richard, Margaret, and a few of Lisa's friends from work at a cute little Peruvian restaurant on College Ave. called Picquot.  We were there for 3 hours and had all kinds of delicious food.  A really fun evening!

Day 1797

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Busy at work and racquetball hit and switch league at night.  Came home at 9:45 sore and tired after such a long day.  Racquetball was fun.  Won my first 4 games and lost my last 3.  It was a struggle focusing after 9 p.m. 

Day 1796

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Timing off again in racquetball.  Frustrating.  Last rehearsal of the year was tonight.  Looking forward to two weeks off and will practice hard to get all the fingerings in my hands.

Day 1795

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

After work, I turned on MSNBC and Fox and watched the election returns for the Alabama Senate seat.  Had Roy Moore won, it would have represented another embarrassing low in American politics.  Thankfully, he lost, as he should have.  He'll go down as one of the worst candidates in history, an accused pedophile predator who is crazy and full of contempt for societal norms.  He lost, but barely.  Doug Jones won, the respected prosecutor who helped convict two of the four KKK members responsible for the 1963 Birmingham bombing that killed four school girls.  The African American vote came out in waves for him and the result was an amazing, if not improbable, victory!

It's so good to see Steve Bannon lose.  That man is a cancer upon this nation.

Day 1794

Monday, December 11, 2017

Ineffective in racquetball today.  It's like my timing is totally off.  Not sure why.  Practiced after work for an hour. 

Day 1793

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Shopped online for gifts and took care of a few chores for Alice.  Had a yummy steak dinner tonight that was so good. 

Day 1792

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Up at 5:30 and at Alice's by 9.  We went to Lowe's to return a bathroom mirror and Comcast to return my cable equipment.  Alice's Air BnB is coming along well.  Her contractor will put up the IKEA mirror I picked up for her and finish work in the bathroom.  The bedroom is small and will just barely fit a queen size bed, but the living room area is spacious and comfortable.  Alice had visitors for afternoon tea who have been advising her on setting up her Air BnB unit.  The busy season begins in March and Alice will have everything done by then. 

Jill texted me while I was practicing at 5:30 p.m. and said Gwen finally called her.  Jill was very angry with her for not contacting her on Friday and had been worried all day about her.  Gwen apologized but Jill continued to lay into her.  Instead of checking in each day, Jill told Gwen to call her in a couple of days, after a cooling off period.  Jill's only been Gwen's contact person a week and already she's exhausted dealing with her.  For me, without a goal like her divorce, I have little to say to her when she can't distinguish fantasy from reality.  To her they're the same thing.  The issue with Gwen is she's so off the grid and afraid her ex-husband is after her that no one really knows where she's staying.  When she turns her phone off, she's untraceable.  That will have to change. 

During dinner, Alice and I watched a couple of cruise videos of the Majestic of the Seas.  I went to bed early, around 9:15.

Practiced the first movement of Mahler for an hour.  I love Mahler!

Day 1791

Friday, December 8, 2017

Set up a new Nook that I got last week and wrapped up a very busy week of work.  Jill called worried that she hadn't heard from Gwen, who drove to LA yesterday to clean out her storage unit.  Only Gwen would drive to LA when there are several fires raging all over the place.  I told Jill not to worry, that Gwen has a history of turning off her cell phone and disappearing for a few days.  We'll see how that plays out.  Jill is a worrier and when Gwen calls Jill will be unforgiving.  Went to IKEA after work and picked up a bathroom mirror for Alice's downstairs in-law unit.  It's really starting to look nice.  I practiced for an hour or so, then went to bed around 9:30.  

Day 1790

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Writing Alice's appeal for her long term disability.  It will take time to complete.  After work, I participated in the first of an eight-week long hit & switch doubles league at our club.  There are several fast, excellent, hard-hitting players who've joined.  Tonight we had 25 players total and Robbie stayed all night to organize who played with who.  It was a full-time operation.  It was a bit confusing and chaotic, but still a lot of fun and great practice getting used to playing with different people and different styles.  I didn't get home until after 10.

Al Franken announced he'll resign from the Senate in the next few weeks.  Lots of Dems are furious that the MeToo movement has come to this.  I get it.  I'm disappointed, too.  The timing of this really worked against him, with the Roy Moore election next week and growing resentment that our predator in chief is still there.  That picture really backfired on him.  Without that horrible picture, he's weather this, but with the picture, he couldn't have any more accusers of boorish, inappropriate behavior.  Instead, he had eight accusers, some anonymous, accuse him of inappropriate contact, mainly while taking a picture.  I read the Atlantic Magazine piece about Al Franken and it didn't do Franken any favors.  Anyway, the Giant of the Senate is departing.  He should have been given an opportunity to redeem himself (remember Edward Kennedy, anyone?), but I guess the times they are a changin'.

Day 1789

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

So, should Al Franken resign from the Senate after seven women have come forward with claims that he sexually harassed them?  It's a question many Dems are debating.  Given this moment in history and the political realities of Congress, Roy Moore, Trump, the MeToo movement, etc., I think yes, even though his actions are nowhere near what Roy Moore had done.  There are degrees and levels of harassment, but there's something wrong with defending the guy on our side while taking the high ground on all sexual harassers on the other side.  I'm a huge supporter of Al Franken and think he's funny, smart, disciplined, articulate, and a champion for so many of the causes I stand for; however, this undermines his credibility and influence, and quite frankly, I don't really understand how he could allow himself to be in this position in the first place, given his role as a Senator.  Grabbing a strange woman's ass while having a picture taken of him?  That's wrong.  Everyone knows that.  Normal guys don't do that.  Ever!

Day 1788

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Full day of news, got a new Nook in the mail, very busy at work, read another very long expose on Harvey Weinstein and his army of complicit enablers, then a New York Times lecture with NY reporters and Ashley Judd talk about the ongoing harassment story.  Practiced for 90 minutes after work.  A full day of stuff.

Day 1787

Monday, December 4, 2017

Racquetball, lots of work at work, little time for anything else. Came home exhausted and not able to practice.  

Day 1786

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Up at 6, chores with Alice, catching up on journal entries, spoke with Jill re Gwen about her floundering and inability to distinguish what's real and what isn't, appeal research, and through all of this managed to relax a bit.  Also practiced, which I'll need to do practically every day in order to tackle some of the hardest passages of Mahler's 4th.  My Fantasy season is over.  I started strong, but had several lackluster weeks.  A very average team, which makes sense I guess.  I just don't watch football anymore.  

Day 1785

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Saturday - Switch from Comcast to Uverse.  Update tech stuff, two loads of laundry, reading.  Cleaning at home.  There was a terrible accident this morning on the Bay Bridge, causing traffic jams all day long.  I stayed in Oakland as a result and took the time to catch up on everything.  To bed early.

Day 1784

Friday, December 1, 2017

Friday - Racquetball, work, lunch with Lillian, an hour on the phone with Gwen, home to phone calls with Jill and Nicole, then with Chris while the U.S. Senate shifts more than 1 trillion to the donor class in a historic tax bill that was written and passed with such haste and secrecy that you gotta wonder just how devastating this might be to the greater good down the road.  It's been a great year for greed, coruption, and pathological lying.  It's as if George Bailey is long gone and Pottersville is thriving.  The weathly and powerful run things and everyone else is just getting by with no hope in their cup.  I guess we'll see where we stand on mid-term night in 2018, but even if some of the GOP bums are voted out of office, the damage is already done.  It's a country of corporations.  The Corps have won bigly tonight.

Day 1783

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Thursday - Exploitation Nation.  That's what this crazy tax bill the GOP Senators are pushing through feels like.  Okay, I guess I'll load up on more stocks and wait until the bottom falls out of the economy...hopefully not until I'm long gone, but it'll most likely be sooner rather than later.  It just might not be typical human nature to save for a rainy day and save in general.  It's looking to pass and there's nothing the Dems can do. 

Day 1782

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

The notes still aren't in my fingers and tonight's rehearsal was challenging.  The second violin section is weak versus the first violin section, and if I can get some of these passages in my fingers I'll be one of the stronger players.  But that will take a while.  My standpartner doesn't have the best sense of tempo, so it's a bit of a fighter playing with her while trying to follow the conductor.  At any rate, I'm enjoying playing in an orchestra again.  It's bringing back all sorts of memories for me!

Day 1781

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Practiced the Hansel and Gretel overture for tomorrow's rehearsal.  I'm slowly getting the hard parts in my hands.  Slowly.  I love practicing with my silent violin.  It's so much fun.  Hansel and Gretel is a playful, lively piece, a perfect compliment to Mahler's 4th.  This will be a nice program.

Engelbert Humperdinck