Tired of Peopling

 I am tired of peopling.

I am tired of adulting.

I am tired of dealing with bots.

I'm tired of people. I'm tired of idiots who don't even know which side of the road to walk on as pedestrians when there are no sidewalks. I'm tired of people who think it's perfectly fine to toss their unwanted cans, bottles, mattresses and fast food trash along the road. I'm tired of people who blindly follow a lying, cheating, money-grubbing pedophile and believe every lie he tells them without bothering to fact check his claims. 

I read somewhere that AI believes that people who are tired of adulting are feeling overwhelmed by the burdens and responsibilitis, the monotony of routines and the pressure to conform. When my daughter was a teenager, she couldn't wait to be an adult, not have to go to school or have a mom set limits, etc. Now that she is a single mother of a 4-year-old son, she really knows that adulting isn't what she once thought it would be.

Being an adult comes with incredible responsibilities for most of us: having a job, worrying about money, taking care of a family, saving for the future, and dealing with the emergencies that invariably appear.

I have been retired for 15 years, and I'm still tired of adulting. Within the past month I have had to have my roof repaired ($2000) and have two large trees trimmed to prevent future roof damage ($1600). Estimated income taxes were just paid. I spent dozens of hours battling with an insurance company. There are three recall notices on my car, so it's going to spend time at the dealership next week to get those things taken care of.

I recently returned from a great trip to the Canadian Rockis national parks. I got to take lots of photos, and the weather was beautiful. But being part of a group of 24 travelers on a bunch, at meals, etc., really strained my limits. I skipped the group dinners two or three times so I could get a break from the noise and the crowd.  I had to do that for my mental health. The people were fine. There were just too many of them.

So yes, I am tired of adulting. I would love to sell my house and buy a place not too far away, on a couple of fenced acres where my dogs (plus a couple more) could run and play without the need for a daily walk. My dogs don't like other dogs, so having a safe place for them to run and explore would be wonderful.

Clinging To Life

I came across this image while going through thousands of photos on my laptop in search of good images that have been overlooked.

I posted it to my social media page with the title Clinging to Life. And this is precisely what this small pine tree is doing. It somehow managed to put down roots surronded by rocks somewhere in the red rocks of Utah.

Clinging to life is precisely what I and many other non-cult members are doing these days as we watch our democratic republic be turned into a country we no longer recognize. It is a country where all three branches of government -- executive, legislative and judicial -- have surrendered their authority to the whims of one person who is steadily marching us down the road to becoming a fascist nation.

We are holding on and trying to figure out how to navigate this new country as our fundamental rights are stripped away. We are trying to come up with money to buy groceries as prices seem to increase each week. We stand by as we watch our country pick fights with other, smaller nations as a prelude to a declaration of a national emergency.  

Life is stressful in this country for those who understand and reject what is happening. We don't want war. We don't want to stand by and watch Russia escalate its unwarranted war against Ukraine. We don't want to watch as Israel starves innocent people in Gaza as retribution for the actions of Hamas. We won't stand by as women's rights are stripped away, and as members of the LGBTQ community face still more discrimination. We are horrified as the dictator in the Whie House continues with his illegal power grab with the consent of the Congress and Supreme Court.

I Will Not

No, I will not 'chip in' some money because I signed a petition.

No, I will not review my visit to a physician.

No, I will not review my purchase of a package of dish cloths.

No, I will not sign a petition so the company or the nonprofit can then bombard me with emails. 

No, I will not donate to a GoFundMe for some random person.

No, I do not, and I will not, create an account.

No, I will not donate to any politician regardless of party.

No, I will not provide my e-mail address so I can get pricing information online.

What’s with all the requests for me to review a visit or a purchase? These things are always worded in such a way that negative responses are very difficult to make and very rare to add. I really doubt that my review of a package of dishcloths made in India is going to add value to anybody's shopping experience.

So please, stop bombarding me and everybody else with countless requests for money or reviews. Enough already.

Life Without

 I saw something online this morning, one day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was murdered, that struck a chord.

The poster prayed that Kirk's death will serve as a wake-up call so that no more spouses, children, parents, relatives and friends will have to experience life without a loved one.

Just imagine if this prayer becomes reality. What if people didn't have to live life without .. food, shelter, education, security, personal safety, recognition (the kind we all need, not the kind celebrities crave), positivity and hope.

The only things people should be forced to live life without are scarity, fear, abuse, hunger, persecution and all the other things that we should no longer have to fear.

What a world devoid of life without wouold be. We can't create a world in which no one is forced to live a life without, but shouldn't we at least try?

Let Us Never Forget

 On this 24th  anniversary of worst terror attack in American history, I believe that Sept. 11 should be a national holiday. 

It should be a day to remember all those who died that day while going about their daily lives. September 11 should join other days of remembrance such as Memorial Day and Veterans Day. We should cancel Columbus Day, which is a minor holiday celebrated by the federal government, but not by anyone else. And it is an insult to Native Americans who resent having to honor a man who enslaved and killed so many of their ancestors.

Let us instead honor the nearly 3,000 innocent people who died on that beautiful September day in 2001. Let us also honor those first responders -- police, firefighters and paramedics -- who rushed in to help the victims. Sone 343 New York firefighters and paramedics died that day. An equal number later died of 911-related illnesses.  

Seventy two peace officers died in the line of duty on September 11, with an additional 229 who died of related illnesses.

These attacks killed people of all ages, from young children to senior citizens. They killed US citizens and immigrants. They killed men and women, people of all races, ethnicities and , religions. 

And let us honor the survivors who will forever carry the physical and emotional scars of that day. Let us honor all who were forever scarred by the memories of Sept. 11, 2001. 

Let us remember how Americans came together in the aftermath of that terrible day, in love and support of each other and of this great nation. It didn't matter the gender or nationality or economic status of the victims. We came together as one nation, united in grief. People lined up to donate blood. Other nations, including our adversaries, offered their condolences and their assistance. Our race, out ethnicity, our religion, our political beliefs, ididn't matter. What did matter was that our country had been viciously attacked, and our fellow Americans had died.

Now, more than two decades later, our country bears no resemblance to the united nation we became on that horrible day. Politians go out of their way to attack colleagues of the other party. People feel emboldened to murder those with whom they disagree. Despite the dangers of forcing a religion on others, Republicans are trying to force the United States to become a Christian nation.

Seeing what our country has become and what is happening to our freedoms and rights literally makes my stomach churn.

Let us work to regain the sense of a common humanity, a nation united, that we experienced in the aftermath of this horrible day. Wei need to work on rekindling that sense of unity, that sense of togetherness.

As NBC News anchor Lester Holt commented at the conclusion of a story looking back on the aftermath of 9/11, "What has happened to us?"

Above all, let us never forget.

Our Country Is Broken

It's been obvious for a while that our country is broken. 

There aren't just tears in the fabric of our country. There are gigantic chasms in our country. The chasms are so large that I wonder whether we will survive.

If you don't like somebody, grab a gun and shoot them. If you don't agree with someone's politics, grab a gun and shoot them. If somebody cuts you off in traffic, grab a gun and shoot them. If you disagree with someone's religion, just grab a gun and shoot them. If you want to add a bit of excitement to your life, grab a gun and shoot somebody for fun. This is the world in which we live.

It doesn't matter whether you are a Democrat, a Republican, an independent, a socialist or whatever. Gun violence is not the answer.

I have been around for some seven decades. I have never seen the country where I was born, the country in which I grew up and was educated and worked, the country I love, in such a mess.

Reasoned political discussions are non-existent. We live in a world of threats and insults, starting with the highest political positions in the land. Everything, including our beloved national parks and lands, are for sale to the highest bidder. Political appointments go not to the most qualified, but to those with the most money offered and to those who put loyalty to politcs above loyalty to the Constitution. The rule of law means nothing. There is one set of laws for the wealthy and well connected, another for the middle and working classes, and still another for immigrants.

Can the fabric of our country and of our society be repaired? If it can be, what is it going to take to start the repair process? To start the healing process? 

Welcome to America 2025.