It is now 5:32 AM. I woke up earlier than usual and so went to the gym earlier then usual and thus have more time than I normally do this morning.
Let’s start with this past weekend. We went down for “A Day Out With Thomas.” The purpose of the trip really was to join friends and get a picture in front of the life sized Thomas. Ren isn’t nearly into Thomas as Kai was; this is due to the fact that Kai has moved on and Ren wants to play with the same things as Kai. All of this costs about $200 but it makes a decent memory.
After that we went down to Paso Robles to meet up with Kazuko and her family. I’ve known Kazuko for almost 20 years; we studied in France together and got together a few times when I was living in Japan. I’ve learned that I’m much better than most at keeping in touch and part of the reason is I’ve always been very adept with computers and the internet; thus, I never lose information and in this case contact information. It also seems I have a very good memory as I remember very clearly the old times and can easily pick up wherever we’ve left off. I’ve learned that most of my acquaintances my age have trouble with this. Time degrades friendships and people forget.
Anyway, our families have gotten together these past two trips to Japan and now her husband had the opportunity to go on sabbatical in Santa Barbara. Since Paso Robles isn’t too far from Santa Barbara we asked if they’d like to join us for wine tasting and to check out the California Mid-State Fair. They did and we had a nice time at Tooth and Nail Winery then the fair.
Now for some random thoughts:
I have an idea to write down my experiences living and growing up in Golfview Woods. I have very good childhood memories and I’d like to get these down before the memories fade too much. The problem is just finding the time and motivation. I guess this time of day would work but I think I’d feel a bit rushed.
*Note: I wrote it LINK
Trump continues his buffoonery across the country and he was right: Republican voters are the dumbest voters which is proven daily in their support for him. It is quite amazing really in that he can say just about anything and still get wild applause. I’m still baffled that in a country where we have mandatory schooling and the best universities in history that such a vast amount of people can still be so stupid. Whether we know it or not yet, this has changed America for the worse and I imagine something history will point to as part of a long, slow downfall of this empire called the USA. If something as sacred and important as our democratic process – which pretty much defines us as a nation – can only produce two candidates such as these something is incredibly wrong.
I have to say I’m incredibly astounded at the amount of influence Fox News has in shaping the minds and opinions of its viewers. Most of their ‘news’ is absolute crap and a good amount of the population eat it up! Seems to me humanity is not intelligent enough to keep pace with technology and the barrage of information thrown at us. Fox viewers do not have the ability to think critically: they are told what to think by attractive women with big boobs who appeal to base emotions, most often that of rage!
Anyway, I write this for my own benefit, to read in about ten to fifteen years for entertainment. It will be interesting to see if it is possible for Republicans (Trump supporters) to become even dumber than they are now. I wonder if the Republican party will even resemble what it looks like now, or perhaps even exist? The GOP has absolutely shattered and it will be interesting to see how it evolves.
This is not to say that I’m a big fan of the Democrats at the moment either. I still hate that our candidate is the wife of a previous president even if she is a long term public servant. Successive family members in power makes for a banana republic in my opinion.
Putting the politicians who briefly steer the ship aside, where is America heading? We’re in a perpetual state of war and the main target has changed four times since I’ve been alive. It looks like ISIS is becoming just a flash in the pan and America is setting its sights back on Russia for the long term. My current thought is that America and the constant need to find an enemy is the greatest threat to world peace; however, I’m certain any other country would do the same given the same amount of power. We are just not advanced enough as a species to live peacefully with those who are not in the same tribe. Money, power, greed and God, these are the things that make the world go-round.
