By Fred Owens
I
was getting kind of discouraged and feeling like a patsy. The last
straw was one I bought two sticky buns at Gelson's and they overcharged
me. I didn't object. I was too embarrassed. Why was I being so meek? Why
did I not say something and insist on the fair price?
I
decided to hold a pep rally. Go Fred Me. ...... It's like GoFundMe but
much cooler, and it doesn't cost any money. It's more of a vibrational,
psychological boost. Go get 'em, Tiger......
I want to be a hero like Gary Cooper in High Noon.
He ended up facing the desperadoes all by himself, but first he asked
for help. That's a hero to me. You ask for help. And if you get help,
good. If you don't get help and you're sure you're right, then you face
the desperadoes alone. That's me -- like Gary Cooper. That makes Laurie
like Grace Kelly -- don't you think?.
In
California we're asking for help from the federal government to help us
rebuild fire-torn communities. But let's be clear. That's our money. We
have paid many billions in taxes to the feds for just this reason --
disaster relief. So now we are asking for the money. as a courtesy.
Truly it's our money and we need it back now.
In Praise of Nancy Pelosi. The
really cool thing about Nancy Pelosi is that she sets the Republicans
an edge. In the last issue of Frog Hospital I only mentioned her name.
For doing that I got some unusually nasty mail from people who ought to
know better. Are they afraid of her? Good. So better show her some
respect.
There are those among the Democrats
who wish to replace Pelosi with someone younger and more progressive.
That will happen in time, but not yet, not yet. This year, this session
of Congress is Nancy's time. This is her moment, high heels and all.
She's going to go out a winner.
Trump is showing his Age. Trump
skipped ceremonial duties in Paris because of the rain, and he did not
lay a wreath on Veterans Day. I suspect he is just getting old and
tired. He's 72 and it's starting to show. Hey, Mr. Strongman, better get
some rest because you ain't what you used to be.
Trump has no Friends. A
lot of old guys his age, they get up early, 6 or so, and they go to the
local cafe and have coffee with other old guys and talk about how
things aren't what they used to be. Trump ought to do that. Go out in
the early morning and have coffee with his friends. If he had any
friends.
Bruce Byers gets KIdney Dialysis. Bruce
Byers is a man my age and a friend from the Santa Barbara Kiwanis Club
where we go to have lunch on Wednesday. Bruce's kidneys -- he has two --
have gone the distance, but they are per-squat now, at less than ten
percent of function, so he needs the dialysis. He goes three times a
week, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, for three hours each time. Bruce
occupies a comfortable recliner next to the machine. The nurse hooks the
tubes up to the port in his chest, one going with blood to be rinsed
out, the other with cleaner blood to be returned. It is a miracle of
progress that we can do that and keep living. I visited him at the
dialysis center on Thursday. He seemed fairly cheerful considering. For
his three hour stint he has a smart phone and a laptop. On the laptop he
was watching Japanese animie cartoons.
"I
watch them to keep up on my Japanese. I lived in Japan for two years
and became somewhat conversant." Now, just what Bruce was doing in
Japan for two years I do not know. I could have asked. He is on two
waiting lists for a kidney transplant. The transplant is the only way
Bruce ever gets off the dialysis machine. But his overall health seems
good and I liked his smile. More about Bruce next time.
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