9/7/23

 Thursday, September 7, 2023

In bed around 10, up at 6:24 after some time on brr.  60°, high of 67°, cloudy.   AQI=22, wind NNW at 13, 10-13/22, 0.4" rain in last 24 hrs.  The sun rose at 6:22 and will set at 7:16, 12+54.

Dinner with Chris last night, intermediate stop between Door County and home to Connecticut this morning at 5 a.m.

Old Folks at Home.  a/k/a Suwanee River by Stephen Foster, a minstrel song composed in 1851, sung in blackface, and the state song of Florida.  Some of the original lyrics:

Way down upon de Swanee Ribber / Far, far, away

Dere's wha my heart is turning ebber / Dere's wha de old folks stay.

All up an down de whole creation / Sadly I roam

Still longing for the old plantation / and for de old folks at home.

All de worl is sad and weary / Eb'rywha I roam

Oh, darkeys, how my heart grows weary / Far from de old folks at home.

I thought of this old paean to comforts ofchattel slavery andthe  happylife on forced-labor plantations  this morning while thinking of Geri's and my life with Lilly, an old man and his old wife living in their old house with their old dog and their hearing aids.  "What did you say?" "What?" "I couldn't make out what you said." "I can't hear you when you're facing away from me." "Am I mumbling?" "You're mumbling."  This situation can become problematical to the extent it becomes an irritation, at least when one of the parties is irritable for any reason.  Old folks at home have some challenges to deal with.

VA video conference with Jill Hansen at the VA.  Always helpful, a great benefit, my personal pharmacist.

Lunch with LOA after a good visit in the house with Geri.  We had lunch at the Highland House, great conversations including his experiences in the federal court in Atlanta, working against some of the defense lawyers representing DJT and other defendants in Fani Willis' RICO case re the 2020 Georgia election.  He's been a good friend, one of the best, a real buddy, since our first year as students at MULS in 1967, 55 years +.

One Year Ago:  Took my 2014 Volvo to Fields Volvo-Jaguar-Land Rover, the one and only Volvo dealership in southeast Wisconsin, 27 miles and at least 40 minutes with no freeway delays from my home.  The other 2 dealerships in Wisconsin are in Madison (80 miles away) and in Appleton (100 miles away.)  Time for "regular maintenance."  "Regular maintenance" cost over $800 BUT that included the oil change, normal filters replaced, and brake fluid ($253) and a FREE complimentary multi-point vehicle inspection, "A $69.00 value!  The big cost item was the 5 year maintenance service described only as "19 CPVM  $521.50"  Unexplained "shop supplies" cost me $25.32 and the required contribution to Wisconsin annual revenue was $40.01, for a total of $840.05.  I would feel bad about all this if it weren't for that FREE complimentary multi-point vehicle inspection which reminded me that I hadn't merely spent the better part of $1,000, but had actually SAVED $69.00.  On the other hand, I am wondering whether I should be glad or sad that there was nothing about the car that required fixing or replacing, i.e., the car was in great shape at 41,477 miles, only needing 'regular maintenance', an oil change, and fresh brake fluid.  💭💭💭

. . . . . . . 

Made some progress on the Calder knockoff.