It’s 2025 and this is no longer Carter Country

I saw this reimagined American flag in the New York Times shortly after the presidential election, it’s accurate of course but frightening as well.  I’m still in a state of shock that so many would vote a convicted felon with the moral compass of black mold back into the White House.  All of his poison and “lazy lies” didn’t hinder his path there at all.

“Truth, justice and the American Way” no longer belong in the same phrase of words.  

I’ve shared it here before, but my first presidential vote was for Jimmy Carter’s second term.  I’m not as old as many of my friends at the senior center (or ones I know in the blogverse), but Carter still feels like a century ago.  To be honest, I had no plans to even vote back then, but in the summer of 1980 I was 18 and required to register for Selective Service.  All young men born after Jan 1, 1960 had to.

When I went to the Post Office to register, I was asked if I wanted to register to vote as well and that surprised me.  Was I really old enough to vote?  When I was asked what party I said Democrat without giving it a second’s thought. 

I can still remember my older brother Duke having a good laugh at the possibility of me getting drafted should they reinstate that (he was born in ‘59 and exempt) but when I told him I was looking forward to voting for Carter in November, he had a fit and told me to grow up. 

Republican through and through, I wonder what he thinks of Trump?  Actually, I don’t want to know.  We haven’t spoken in decades.

Well, I’m just rambling here and don’t know what to say.  I don’t want to share my forecast for the next 4 years, so I’ll just say RIP Jimmy Carter (and democracy as many of us knew it).  I won’t say “Happy New Year” but “Hopeful New Year” instead.

 

 

Beware the ogre? We have missing water, missing people and strange snow angels

This morning I awoke to no water—I need to brush my teeth, I need coffee!  After checking my phone for alerts from our landlord, headed downstairs to see if a notice was in the lobby.  While waiting for the elevator, up walks my neighbor Darla.  I said Happy Holidays, she said the same.  I asked where our water was, she said she didn’t know.  I said “So where’s our friend Charlie?  I haven’t seen him downstairs for two weeks now.”

(Charlie is the name we gave our 60ish neighbor who talks to no one; he wears khaki shorts and a matching baseball cap, takes a pack of cigarettes downstairs every morning, stands outside our apt building and smokes for 2-3 hours.)

Darla said “Where have you been?  They booted him out after Thanksgiving.”

I said “What?? Why?”  Darla shrugged her shoulders.  I said “I know he wasn’t the friendliest of people.  If you said hi he’d look down and make growling sounds in his throat.  If you tried getting on the elevator and he was on there first, he’d shake his head no and block your way until the doors shut.”

Darla said “Yeah we all have our quirks.”  I said “He did talk to Pearl that one time.  He asked her for the phone number of the girl she’s always with, and when Pearl said ‘That GIRL is half your age and my DAUGHTER’  he said ‘Does she have a boyfriend?’”  

Darla laughed and said “Yeah, other than Pearl he mostly kept to himself.”  I said “That’s right.  When he had an issue with the couple who lived above him, he never confronted them.  He just banged on his ceiling every night with a broomstick, and complained to Steiner the people upstairs were committing lewd sex acts.”

Darla shrugged her shoulders again and said “Well, I guess we’ll never know.”  Right then, Janet comes out of her apartment and her eyes lit up.  She said “I thought I heard voices out here!  I’ve been worried about you, Mister!”  I asked “Who?  Me?”  She said “I haven’t seen you in ages!  I was about to call Steiner to ask about the water and why the tenant in 401 never comes out of his apartment!”   

I said “I don’t live in 401.  I live in 402.  Dee lives in 401.”  Janet said “She never comes out either!”  I said “I’ve been sick and Dee is a hermit.  Please don’t ask Steiner to check on us.”  Janet said “I’m the mama here and worrying is what I do!”

Janet is a stout black woman who lives in a 2 bedroom apartment with 3 problem foster children.  Just the other day on my way back from the laundry room, her oldest, an 11 year old boy, was lying on his stomach on the floor between our apartments.  His arms were outstretched and he was sweeping them up & down, like he was making a snow angel, face down.  In the carpet. 

When I asked him if he was okay, he stopped what he was doing and said “Yes”.  He then went back to making his carpet angel as I walked away.

Janet if you’re going to worry about anyone, I think your neighbors should be the least of your concerns.  Still no water, but I just remembered I have a full Brita water pitcher in the fridge.  As for Apt #414, with the new ogre sign on it’s door, a hip young couple lives there and you couldn’t meet a nicer pair.

 

 

One more about the holiday luncheon, better pics coming & feeling at peace with things

A couple days ago a friend sent me this photo from last week’s Holiday Luncheon at the Greenstone Church and asked if I was singing here (yes).  Anyway, two things came to mind:

1. That woman across the table from me in orange is another friend from the senior center, Cussin’ Connie.
2. Whoever took this photo has a camera that’s much better than mine.

Before the caroling began, I asked Connie if I could take her picture for my blog.  She said “You better get that #$%^@ thing out of my face if you know what’s good for you.”  

Mary (or Debbie, I can’t remember which) said “Connie you better watch your mouth, we’re in a church!  Why won’t you let Doug take your picture?  Are you on the FBI’s Most Wanted List?”   Connie said “I soon WILL be, if you don’t shut the $%^@ up.”  Then she looked at me and winked—she’s a rascal.  She’s also 91 and inspires me to think young.

Anyhoo, seeing this picture really motivated me to upgrade my own phone, a 2021 Moto-g with a lousy 13 megapixel camera. 

I just got this 2024 Moto-g Power with a 50 Megapixel camera.  It’s 3/4” inch larger in screen size, but light as a feather compared to my old one. 

 

I actually picked this out last December, and put it in my Amazon shopping cart.  It was $299.99.  Then I got sick and held off buying a new phone.

So when I went on Amazon a couple nights ago, this phone was still in my cart but marked down to $199.99.  A nice discount, but was it worth being in pain for a year to save $100?  Nope.

Speaking of that long covid but on the road to recovery, I’ve gained back 6 pounds of the 52 lbs I lost this year, just in the last 2 weeks.  How did this happen?  I still weigh 46 pounds less than last December, and I intend to KEEP it off. 

(But the sooner the holidays are over, the better; I have a box of Christmas cookies in my freezer I still plan on gobbling up.)

Yesterday morning while sitting on my couch and transferring everything from my old phone to my new one, I could hear my neighbor Donna’s television coming thru the wall loud and clear.  It’s usually Gregorian chants (I think she watches a Monastery Channel 24-7) but this time it was the news. I knocked on her door and asked her to please turn it down a little, my apartment is a news-free zone.

She laughed and said wouldn’t it be nice if we could really do that, tune out the news completely.  I smiled and nodded my head, but I wasn’t kidding.  Sorry, I still can’t accept the fact that Trump… nevermind.

So last night I asked my friend Diana if someone important dies or something big happens in the world, would she please let me know about it.  She doesn’t watch the news either, but sees headlines on Facebook.  She said okay and asked “Did you hear about all the recent drone sightings?”  Nope—it’s the first I’ve heard of it!

And I’ve never felt more at peace not knowing too.

 

A holiday luncheon for silver singles is served

Well, I made it to that luncheon at the Greenstone Methodist Church, and was happily surprised to see several of my favorite people from the Lutheran Senior Center there too.

There must’ve been 75 attendees, but I only counted 4-5 men including myself.  A young man played music from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on the piano (he wasn’t included in my count) and we sang Christmas carols after dessert. 

I won the poinsettias at our table—well, it was more like a tie.  “The winner at each table is the person with a birthday closest to November 2.” 

My birthday is October 31, 2 days before.  Mary’s is Nov 4, two days after.  So we declared it a tie, and after assuring that Mary didn’t want them, gave these to Elaine, a nice lady who sat between us.

I only managed to take a few photos, but thought I’d share them here.

Here’s myself & my orn—I mean good friend Mary.  She said “Don’t tell people who read your blog I’m ornery! The last time you mentioned me you said I was ornery!”   Okay Mary, my lips are sealed!

I was so happy to see my gals Gerri & Evvie.  (I accidentally hit the video button on my phone instead of the camera button, so they’re a bit blurry.)  When Gerri first told me about this single senior’s luncheon, I could’ve sworn she said “Swinger’s luncheon”.

 

Lunch is served—it was a very nice mandarin orange salad with cranberries & walnuts, warm croissant and chicken & swiss cheese quiche.  It was REALLY good, and they also served a hot cranberry tea punch that surprised me, how tasty it was.  I gulped down 4 cups of the stuff.

 

And finally, I forgot to take a picture of our dessert (green & red swirled cupcakes) but they sent everyone home with a big box of assorted Christmas cookies (below). They’re sort of famous for these, they bake them annually right there. 

I still don’t get it, the free grub just for being a swinger I mean single senior, but I really enjoyed it; I’m mainly thankful I got to spend a couple hours with so many friendly faces.

EDIT:  For those who asked about the cranberry tea (punch) recipe, here it is--I only had it steaming hot, but trust me it was delicious.   

The perks of being old and single, or widowed; I wouldn’t know about divorced

This is my Saturday dinner.  It’s a Texas brisket burger on a brioche bun (aka one fancy hamburger), fries and roasted broccoli topped with fresh parmesan.  For dessert, a slice of pistachio pudding pie.

On Saturdays I like to have a big breakfast, skip lunch and have my dinner 1-2 hours earlier, around 3pm.  I’ll enjoy the dessert later tonight, with some tv.

I feel like that character Wimpy in those old Popeye cartoons, always eating hamburgers.  I could eat one every night for the rest of my life and not tire of them.  But I’m not a kid anymore, so I only have one once or twice a week.

I wish I had something more to write about this week, but no luck.  Still tackling long covid symptoms, but getting 1-2 days a week that are more tolerable than the rest.  I’m hoping for a let-up in the next couple days.

Last night I was talking to my friend Diana (who lives in West Virginia) and telling her about an upcoming event I was invited to on the 10th, and hoping I’ll be well enough to attend.  It’s at the Greenstone Methodist Church, right next to my apartment building.

The Greenstone church; that’s my apartment building on its left

The last time I was at the senior center (a couple weeks ago) my friend Gerri told me about an event held at this church every year for single seniors, and I should call and see if I qualify. 

She said it’s a pretty fancy luncheon, there will be entertainment, poinsettias, and everyone will be sent home with a big box of Christmas cookies. 

I asked if she was attending, she said yes.  I asked how much it cost, she said there was no charge. 

I said “I don’t get it, what’s the catch?”  Gerri said “There is no catch!  This is a perk for being old!”

So I called the number she gave me, told them I was a member of the Lutheran Senior Center and was wondering if I met the criteria for this big wing-ding of theirs. 

The woman (Marcie) asked “Are you widowed?  Single?”  I said yes, single.  She asked “How old are you?”  I said 63.  She said “I didn’t get your name.  Are you male or female?”

I told her my name was Doug and I am very much a male.   Marcie said “You sound perfect.  See you on the 10th.”   That’s me alright—perfect!

Well, that’s all I’ve got to share right now—I could tell you about a great book I’m reading, “The Friday Afternoon Club” by Griffin Dunne, about growing up in the 1960s in the NY society pages, and how his sister Dominique’s death (she was strangled by an ex-boyfriend) changed his family’s lives forever.  That happened on Nov 4, 1982 and I remember that like it was yesterday.  Anyway, the book is hard to put down. 

I would like to give a special shout-out to my dear friend and former classmate Diana, who put in her final day of work on Friday.  She is officially retired, and like the old jingle from Total Cereal goes, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

And on that happy note, looks like it’s time for some TV and that pie. 

 

Erin and the 4th Turning: maybe there's hope for us yet

The other night I was talking with my friend & former coworker Erin, the only person I keep in touch with from my days at UPMC Health Plan.  We worked off & on together until my retirement, from 2000-2015.

I’m surprised we even became friends, she’s a bit younger than me.  I’ve always been more comfortable with people my age or older, but Erin’s different. Without giving away her age, let’s just say she was born when I was in the 10th grade. 

But we worked side by side for years, were sci-fi geeks and fans of The Walking Dead and Big Bang Theory.  

Where was I?  Oh that’s right—so we’re on the phone the other night, and she asked if I’d ever heard of a book titled “The Fourth Turning” or saw the video on Youtube.  Nope. 

So later that night I clicked on the youtube link Erin sent me and was very intrigued.

This man explains that throughout American history, from before the Revolutionary War to the present, our country has gone thru the same blocks of history lasting 80 years.  Each block is broken into four segments—High, The Awakening, The Unraveling, Crisis. 

Here’s a chart of our current history block.

The social scientist goes into elaborate detail on these segments, including ones earlier (for example, our last ‘Crisis’ segment saw the collapse of Wall Street, the Great Depression, the rise of Fascism, WWII). 

And then the 80 year cycle began anew.   Our history block above.

Here’s what I found particularly fascinating; this video (from 3 years ago) is based on a book written in 1997—where the author forecasts a crisis segment in 11 years, 2008-2028.  He had no idea what was coming.  But sure enough….

I know one can twist historical events to make anything fit their story.  For crying out loud, we celebrate Columbus Day and the man was a slave trader.  But you can’t deny we’re going through a pretty epic crisis in American history right now, and have been since 2008.  

So… four more years until the cycle begins anew.  I wonder if we’re truly on the cusp of the next High around 2028?  Fingers crossed.  If you want to check out the video, it’s only 10 minutes long and right here.  Here’s hoping history repeats itself.