The Ugly American

I have to write about this, what my wife was telling me. Thanks to our senile president, Americans are universally disliked and saying that one is an American is not very advantageous. Everybody is looking at the US as a joke. Nobody takes it seriously anymore. They are all convinced that America is responsible for the current war and will be responsible for any future war. In Europe they are blaming America for the economic problems, also. 

The dollar is now not accepted anywhere in Europe. Either the Euro or the local currency are to be used. Even money changing places make exchanging dollars difficult. Over $1,000 they require passport and other identifications. Thankfully, ATMs still work. They are non-political.

My wife was telling me that when she went through the entry passport control at the Vienna Airport she showed her American passport the officer asked if she had another passport and when she showed her Hungarian passport the American one was practically thrown back at her. She was also advised not to show her US passport in the future.

At her hotel it was the same scene. They did not want to touch it, they treated it like if it were contagious. I was always so proud wit my American passport. Now we are in a time when we have to hide it if possible. This is the time of the Ugly American, again. At least this was the way in Austria. I am not saying that there is a general dislike of Americans but if there is it would not surprise me at all.

The general belief is that America and Biden are responsible for the Ukraine war. Not that they caused it but for the fact that they do everything to extend it instead of trying to end it.

Nice to be an American.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a legal holiday. The country is closed, summer supposed to start. On that note I am taking the day off.

Sunday

 Sunday, again.

Another trip

Abigail is living a very difficult life, Besides studying she doesn't have much else to do except figuring out what to do with her spare time. And that is not an easy thing to do. Her current boyfriend lives not far and they do get together whenever it is possible. The boy is also home a lot, loves to sleep late and doesn't come up for air until the afternoons. I used to do that, too.

Anyhoo, Abigail's big brother lives in Florida and she decided that because she has all these empty hours she would go to visit him. By the way Abigail had her last final exam on this Tuesday and now she is finished with her third year of college. Boy, how time flies! 

So, on Thursday morning she got up at the crack of dawn and her mother took her to the airport for an early flight. Can't say that she (Abigail) was not apprehensive about the trip because she never ever flew alone. This was the first time. But she managed it like pro and got there without a hitch. Her brother was waiting for her at the airport and the fun begun.

She left on Thursday and was coming back on Sunday. Not too short, not too long, just enough for them to be together. Also, to give her time to catch up with her boyfriend before she takes off on Tuesday with her girlfriends for a daytrip to Six Flags.

Very busy life. Fortunately, life will solve her spare time issues because on June 5 she is starting work in a mandatory internship required by her college program. This is a seven or eight week work program that is for five day a week, full day work. Now she is supposed to see what is awaiting for her in the real world. We'll see how she likes it.

Oh, this particular internship doesn't pay any salary. It is more of a prestige situation and high on the academic ladder.

Trip

I mentioned before that my wife's grandmother passed away in Hungary a little while ago. Her funeral was scheduled for last Friday, and my wife flew home for the occasion. This was an unscheduled trip that only lasted a few days. How can you schedule a trip for a funeral unless you are the president of the US of A?

Being the good wife that she is, she made sure that Abigail, Robin and me will not go hungry while she is away, so she made enough food for us to last for those days and plus many more while she is not home. I can not complain, there was plenty. 

Flying into Hungary is not an easy thing to do so instead flying there she chose Austrian Airline to Vienna which has direct flights from JFK. A very good friend of hers lives close to the Austrian border and they came to the airport and picked her up. Nice people!

The flight there was uneventful, full plane, not very good seat. Coming back on the other hand was very comfortable because she selected to sit at the emergency exit and that gave her much more comfort. What made the trip a little unpleasant was the arrival here. The plane took off right on time from Vienna. Conditions were good and it arrived at JFK  Airport 20 minutes early.

The flip side of this early arrival was that there was no empty gate to pull up to. This happens frequently, at least in New York when the plane arrives early. I remember one time coming home from St. Maarten the captain said he had good news and bad news: the good news was that we got home early, good tailwind, the bad news was that there was no gate to stop at. 

My wife's plane idled outside for about 25 minutes before it was finally able to unload. Pain in the tuchus. But all's well that ends well.

President

We are getting to the season when politicians start to feed horse doo doo to the public. And that is because the race for president of this country is beginning. I know it looks like it is early but as far as they are concerned it is never early enough to get their names into the minds of the people.

Since the senior citizen in the White House announced that he would run again the list of democratic contenders is pretty short. On the other hand, the republican list is growing by leaps and bounds. There is the former governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, a senator from South Carolina Tim Scott and the current governor of Florida Ron DeSantis. Now, this last guy must think that the whole country is stupid. He has been campaigning for months all over the country but never announcing that he wanted to be president.

Then why all these speeches and visits from Indiana to New Hampshire? Just because he likes to talk and travel? Well tonight he is supposed to announce on Twitter that he wants to be president. Very intelligent, as far as I am concerned. 

The first two on the list are lukewarm if at all. DeSantis is very controversial as far as I am concerned. He is also not very well known in the country. Now he is making a name for himself as the night who slays the Disney dragon. According to the polls, Trump is still leading. He at least has name recognition while the rest lack that.

Next November 2024 is the election and before that, in July 2024 is the primary. That is where the decision will be made for the nomination. I am very curious to see what will happen. For a year and a half we will now hear what is good for us, which one will be our savior and whom we must vote for. I just love it when I am told what to do.

Interesting country, America.

Interesting country Awhat is good merica.

EV

EV is short for Electric Vehicle. Right now the automotive industry is going crazy promoting their electric cars. If I were younger and looking forward to many years of driving, I would be scared of the future of driving. The way I see it there is still a lot of controversy and confusion about these battery operated cars.

My biggest hang up is the distance such a car can go to before the battery runs out. Or it is not the distance but the time that is essential. I have been to traffic jams that lasted hours and we either did not move or just moved inch by inch. How long a battery will last in those situations? What can one do when the car stops dead on the road because it ran out of juice? 

I looked at various comparisons and the show distances between 200 miles and about 450 miles. Why in the world would I buy an electric car that has the capacity only about 200 miles? As far as I see it these are totally unreliable.

They came up with some rule that by 203something gasoline driven cars will be no longer made. What about trucks? What about the 18 wheelers? They don't have batteries strong enough for these trucks. The other thing is that it is not frequent that one can see tractor trailers at gas stations. The reason is that they have 100-150 gallon tanks and these tanks hold enough fuel for quite a long triup. Batteries will never be able to match it. At least not by 203something.

Still, there are more and more electric cars visible in the city. I don't know where they charge them. These traditional neighborhood gas stations that we use do not offer charging opportunities, so what do people do?

Car makers are also desperately trying to present their brands as the real and best choice. Mercedes is advertising two years of free (prepaid) charging and two years of free service.

For the time being give me the good old fashioned and reliable gasoline engines. That is just like us, old people: reliable.

The US $

When there is somebody, someone or something that is bigger, stronger or more successful than the rest it is natural order of things to try to disestablish that entity. Make it fail and eventually fall. That is the story with the US. The world is watching and quietly grinning at every misstep, every calamity this country suffers. Their attitude is that "you see, you are not as strong as you made us believe".

Some years ago, maybe 15 years ago at one of my trip to Hungary, we flew in to Budapest International Airport. After collecting our luggage and before picking up the rental car we usually stopped at the nearest airport cafe/pastry shop for a little refreshment. Not having any Hungarian currency on us never created any problem. The US dollar was always accepted. Until the last time. At that time we were told that they no longer accepted US$. They Accepted the Euro, Zloty, Rubel and a myriad other currency but no dollar. It was very surprising to us. Fortunately, there was an ATM nearby and I was able to withdraw from my US account in Hungarian Forint.

Today it seems the dollar is losing its charm it used to have. Countries are organizing to start to turn away from the dollar and start a gold backed universal currency. I don't know if this is good or bad, this is above my pay grade. but I am sure that in the future when traveling it will not be as convenient to spend the dollar as it used to be. This is also scary because everybody is rooting for our fall from the financial and economic heights we are occupying.

I remember when years ago I could go to money changing places in Budapest, and as many places I visited that many different rates were offered. And each one was pretty good but some were even better. Now, nobody wants to touch the mighty dollar.

What this world is coming to?

Sunday

 Sunday is a day of rest. Do I really need it? Yes.

More USPS

Here is something to continue my May 19th outburst about the USPS. For the last couple of days my certified mail is being recorded an "On the way to the destination". The destination is in Florida and it is currently traveling from Sarasota.

Pony express could have reached it faster than the way it is now. Now, if I relied on the USPS recording system I would have believed that it was still on the road. But no, I do not believe them I called the party the mail was sent to and I was told they already received it days ago. Hurrah!

This was a certified mail which means every movement is supposed to be electronically recorded. How can they not record this? Is the mail person so busy that he or she has no time for a five second electronic recording and that way put everybody's mind at ease? Or that person is just so unqualified that possesses no knowledge about how to do it and just doesn't care about the importance of that piece of mail?

This underlines my earlier description of the US postal system. The Postmaster General this week before a congressional committee announced that they are a well organized entity. He probably doesn't rely on the mail, that is why he can make such a statement. Also, on the top they have no idea how things are at the bottom.

Mickey Mouse

I don't like Disney. I don't like their parks and I don't like their supposedly squiggly clean tv shows. Basically, I don't like their phony attitude. I can't help to think that in their parks all the characters that show their eternally happy faces, like Mickey Mouse and others shelter a human person who is having human problems, probably family tragedies but must hide their feelings behind those idiotic masks.

The public is unaware of these individual stories and probably are not even interested. Disney thinks the world of itself. Under the reasoning that they are probably the biggest employers in Florida they are convinced that the can dictate policy. And this puts them on a warpath against the current governor.

The governor wants it his way while Disney wants it their way. There are no winners in this, only losers. Disney already cancelled a proposed $1B office park in Orlando, closed a hotel and closed down some rides in a Disney park. The governor doesn't realize that the entire Orlando area is living off Disney. If they take their business elsewhere the area might just become a ghost town.

Disney is aware of this and are threatening to do just that. Thousands of people would be unemployed, home prices would plummet. Why Disney thinks so much of itself? Why do they think that they can do whatever they want?

I have never been to a Disney park and have absolutely no interest in seeing one. It is so phony that it is just ridiculous.

Their attitude just underlines my reasoning why I do not like Disney.

USPS

It is scary how inefficient today the United States Postal Service is. When I came to this country I was stunned by the things the Post Office was able to do and reliable their service was. From the outset everything was very casual, yet they were extremely reliable. This reliability was inside this country as well as for international service. My letters to my parents and their letters to me made the overseas trip in seven days. 

I could send Christmas cards overseas a week before the holiday and they got to their destinations. Might that be in Europe or in Australia. Canada needed no special postage. It was sufficient to put the same stamp as let's say to Philadelphia. Now, it is a foreign country and needs special stamps.

Oh, where those good days went?

Now, the Postal Service is as bad as any third world country. First of all it is totally unreliable. Just an example: we mailed a letter to Cleveland, Ohio to a legitimate business address. Slowly, but it got there. At first attempt they were no able to deliver it because the business was already closed. They never attempted a second delivery, instead kept the mail at their post office for ten days and then returned it with a note that said incorrect address.

I wander if the postal service is so bad in other countries?

Christmas cards they just do not deliver. For some reason mass mailings containing all kinds of scams and begging for monies seem to be more important than good wishes for friends and families. This is very sad. And at the same time their rates are increasing. For what? There is no one to complain to, nobody can and will do anything about it. Believe me, I know because I tried. They are having these congressional hearings about the rate increases but not about the quality of service.

It appears to me that nobody is overseeing the postal service and that is why their performance is so piss poor. No wonder that FedEx and UPS are doing such good business. They are reliable.

Good country America?

Ukraine

I am sure everybody noticed how this Ukraine story is slowly being relegated from the fron pages to the back pages. It is getting to be e non-news item. People in general are losing interest in that whole story. I am sure that one day it will end just when that one day will be nobody knows.

There will be no winners just losers. In my opinion it will end as the Russian Afghan or the US Afghan fiasco ended. Quiet withdrawal. No fanfare, no declaration of victory. And then the reconstruction will begin. Right now, Zelensky is traveling around Europe begging for money. This is getting very tiresome and I'm sure the politicians are getting tired, also.

Interesting to hear the frequent military reports. They are feeding us a line that everything is ok, the Ukrainian military is winning, killing the enemy, and taking back territory. Since the internet is open, we can read that in the Russian side they are also winning. So, who are we to believe?

I wonder if and when that thing is over will all these refugees will return home? Or they will just stay in their new homes? The media always shows the bombed buildings in the cities and villages. But when we look closer for Kyiv pictures, all their buildings are standing, and life appears to go on normal. I am convinced that if the Russians wanted to bomb that city they would have had long time ago. 

Something like this can not go on forever. Even one year is too long. It must end. It appears Mr. Z just doesn't care if his country is bombed to shreds. When peace will break out he will go around, hat in hand asking for more money. He is good at that.

Illegals

I came to this country as a political refugee. That was 66 years ago. Prior to entering the country I was kept in a refugee camp exclusively for those who wanted to come here. In that camp we were thoroughly interrogated about our past.

Reasons for no-admittance was communist party membership, spouses who left their partners behind and some other reasons. I was under 21, had no party affiliation and did not leave a wife back home. They also tried to weed out non-desirables without 100% success but overall, the ones who eventually received permission to enter were not all bad. There were lot of professionals, doctors, engineers, lawyers who just wanted to have a better life. And most have succeeded.

This mass of immigrants wo are attacking the southern border are primarily uneducated, unqualified mass of humanity. I wonder how many engineers or doctors walk across rivers or climb the fences in order to get in.

The other day a woman was interviewed on television. She said they were moving out of New York because they were here for seven months and found no jobs at all. I ask. Who in the right mind will hire an illegal to work? No documents, no permanent address, speak no English and no trade or profession of any kind? Nobody will.

And these poor and desperate souls imagine that this is the land of milk and honey. They imagine that once they get here, they will be received with open arms and job oportunity galore. The sad truth is the milk is sour and the honey dried up.

Self defense.

It appears more and more that whenever a non-white person gets killed while doing something illegal, that person immediately turns into a saint, a martyr and a model of society. But when it happens to a white person it is just a short news item if at all.

During my working years I did use the subway every day. I came across all kind of savory and non-savory characters. Many a times I wished I could have smacked that person but I am not the fighting type. This ex-marine had enough of this constant annoyance and stepped up. He did what he was taught to do in the military, and in the process he protected his fellow subway travelers from that homeless person's violent behavior.

Now, he is being crucified for that heroic act. In 1984 Bernie Getz shot four black men on the subway in self defense because he was convinced that they were about to mug him. For this he was convicted on various charges. It appears that self-defense is only applicable within certain color limitations. The certain public opinions would rather accept victims than survivors of such attacks.

The person wo unfortunately died as the result of a chokehold was homeless, had mental problems, had several arrests and was menacing the passengers. 

Where was the City when he needed help? Where was his "loving" family when he needed help? Does his family looking at this event for a chance to enrich themselves? Will he join the long list of such victims for "sainthood"? Because every one of them, regardless of police records were shown as pillars of society and the best family men the world could hope for.

I hate to see all these liberal demonstrators, whites and blacks demanding justice. Where were they when help was needed? Where was good old Sharpton when help was needed? Probably home counting his money.

Good country, America?

Saturday-Sunday

 Saturday I was very busy all day and that is why I could not get to writing. Sorry about that.

Sunday I always skip so, this is now a long weekend.

Shabbath Shalom

When I was a young lad growing up in Hungary, before the soviet system really pushed itself upon us we still had weekly religious education in middle school. Every religion went to a different classroom where the appropriate instructions were given. In the last years our teacher was a well know Budapest rabbi. He thought us how to read and made us rea from the prayer books. Naturally, our performances were graded at the end of the school year.

This teacher also made us to go every Friday afternoon to a student sabbath service in Budapest's main synagogue. This used to be a student service and kids from all over the city came. There were boys and girls together and we spent most of our time fooling around with the girls. Also, because our knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet was less than acceptable it was very difficult to follow the ongoing service.

Teachers walking between the isles always corrected us by turning our prayer books to the correct pages. Well, this was then.

Tonight my wife and I decided to attend the Sabbath service at New York's Temple E-Manuel on Fifth Avenue. It is a beautiful temple and we were there several times already. It is a reformed congregation and the service is primarily in English. And so is the prayer book. Well, it is half and half. But that makes it a lot easier to follow what goes on.

So, tonight we went there. It started at 6pm and lasted an hour. Driving home to where we live , another hour and the night is done. I just didn't have any more time to do a serious writing.

Shabbath, Shalom!

 

Equality

Speaking of equality. When one watches a basketball game on television, one can clearly see that there is no such thing as equality. Money and fame speak loud and clear on these games. There are the so called front row seats, used to be the benches. These are the seats that are filled with the celebrities and their families.

I don't know what these seats cost and I really don't care but undoubtedly, they are the best seats in the house otherwise they would not be filled. These so called celebrities don't want to mingle with the common people. They don't want to rub shoulders with the crowd because they are afraid something might rub off on them. es They easily forget where they came from and that their popularity is thanks to the common people.

Interestingly, many bring their children to these games and to these cherished seats. At closer watch one can see that these kids rarely show any interest in what goes on. They would rather spend their times on their phones doing what kids do on their phones.

And it does not matter where these basketball games are played in the country, they can always find rich and famous people to seat them up front.

Equality, my foot.

Politics

I like to watch the US Senate at work on C-Span. They show an uninterrupted broadcast from the Senate chambers where the senators come together for various business activities. Since I have the time, I watch them. I can tell who are popular and who are not. I love to see where "arch enemies" stand together and smilingly converse. 

I am not sure that all their conversations are directed to the betterment of themselves or the country or they are just discussing the recent sport results. For instance when Bernie Sanders strolls into the chambers, he just walks through. Nobody talks to him, or he doesn't want to talk to anybody.

There are over 1,200 government positions that need to be filled by the current administration and needs Senate approval. This administration is there for a year and a half, and they are still voting to fill these positions. It is interesting to watch the vote.

Since this is a democratic administration every republican senator votes against the nominee. They just com into the chamber and announce "Nay" without any hesitation. This is all a time consuming circus. There is a democratic majority so naturally the nominee will win. Why waste time?

Here is another political remark.

Hunter Biden, the president's innocent son is being investigated by the Justice Department forever, at least since some time last year and they are still nowhere. Republican New York congressman Santos was investigated by the DOJ for various criminal things since he was sworn in this January. Today he was arrested and brought to court.

How come the republican's case was so quickly presented while the democratic president's son's case is still on somebody's desk? Is this politicking or what?

Harry

I can't get over what an idiot this prince guy and his mulatto wife is. There is not a sane person in this universe who wouldn't give his or her right arm to be member of the British royal family. But for her this is not good enough. And prince stupid blindly follows her.

They bear the royal titles like they mean something in this country. Here they are just Mr. and Mrs. Here he is not more of a prince than Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband Frederic Prinz von Anhalt. They can ask to be addressed as such but they are still just Mr. and Mrs. here in this country.

I would like to know how will they explain to their children that while their grandfather is the king of England, they are not any different than any other common American child. They have no right to any royal privilege and only because their mother didn't like the tone she was treated while in England.

For her it was probably easier to give up what she never had but se also made her weakling of a husband turn his back to the most famous family in the world and hide away somewhere in California. It was bad enough that Harry lost his mother at an early age, but this woman made him lose his one and only brother and father the current King of England.

They probably demand their staff to address them as prince and duchess but they don't realize that everybody finds this ridiculous, and they are all laughing behind their backs. But once gets stupid there is rarely a reversal. They stay that way.

Coronation

Saturday I had the "fortune" to watch Charles III's coronation. I could not watch the one 70 years ago for a few reasons. One, I did not know it happened. The other I did not know who the royalty in England was since I lived in a total communist state, and finally we had no TV. Actually I don't think anybody had TV in Hungary back then.

Ok, speaking of democracy. I just love all the princes, princesses, lords, sirs, peers and earls and God knows what other titles sitting in the cathedral while the common folk were standing outside in the rain. The entire thing reminded me of a Disney parade. The golden carriage they were leaving in was gaudy and tasteless. The entire ceremony might have been steeped in tradition but still it was long and boring.

The money spent on this charade could have been better spent elsewhere. Ok, so his mum died and he automatically became king. Why not just leave it that way? Why all this fuss about being crowned? This will not make him any more of a king than he already was. Also, besides ruling over his family what other authority does he have? Nothing!

The constitutional monarch stays out of politics, can not take sides just help charities. Shake hands and kiss babies. And rake in the money the family holdings produce. Not a bad life. Not for the monarch nor the heir. Anyway, with prince Idiot (Harry) there it gave room for some more gossip. One more comment: the concubine Queen is so ugly that it is hard to look at her. But then why look at her?

Sunday

Sunday the day of rest! 

Spring?

We have such a lousy spring that it is unbelievable. Most of the week it was raining. At first they said there was not enough water now, they are saying it too much what they have. Friday. Saturday, Sunday promised to be nice. By Tuesday and Wednesday the rain promised to return.

There were days when we had heat in the apartment. We also took out the winter bed covers that haphazardly were put away during a recent heatwave. We naively thought Summer was just around the corner. Well, if it is, it is a big corner.

I had a bad cold a week ago, I got out of it and now it is back with a vengeance. My nose is so stuffed that it is unbelievable. It seems that if one gets a cold and then over it he is not immune to get it again. Not fair! I want my money back.

They want to put men on Mars and the Moon but still can not cure the common cold. Why not concentrating on it first? Maybe if we would have a cold pandemic, they might find a cure very fast.

Privacy

It is unbelievable how we do not have any privacy any longer. No matter what we do, where we go it seems everybody knows it, everybody is aware of it. Privacy is in A Past tense. There is no such a thing. Everything we do is now public record.

My wife donated some money to an animal welfare organization and some money to a children's hospital. Now, the mail will not stop. Every animal protection organization and every children hospital is now asking for money. The funny thing is even if you just gave, they are sending demands just weeks after for more money.

We also did some traveling. Now every day someone calls saying that because of our recent travels we can receive this or that discount. Being the nice person that I am I don't curse them out just hang up and block future calls. This blocking doesn't work very well because they just keep coming back with different telephone numbers. Very annoying.

I know that many years ago the Motor Vehicle offices used to sell addresses. I don't know if they are still doing it but as far as I see it nothing is sacred, nothing private any more. The telephone companies are adding area codes because they do not have enough numbers. How come these telemarketers can come up with new numbers every ten minutes?

What annoys me the most is when a person calls and he or she can barely pronounce my name and hopes to sell me something. Do these people honestly believe that somebody will start conversing with them when they can barely speak English?

Good country America!

PRISM

 The PRISM Undergraduate Research Program (URP) offers selected students in science and math majors the opportunity to engage in the process of research while completing their degree as part of  the Undergradu­ate Research Program.

PRISM is the abbreviation of Program for Research Initiatives in Science & Math. As the above explanation says it is for students in science program at Abigail's college. She qualified and is an active participant in this program and she really loves what she is doing. Yesterday there was an annual PRISM Symposium where students exhibited what they are currently working on.

Frienda and family were invited to this event and naturally we went to see it. I tell you honestly, I had no clue what these kids were doing. The titles of their research programs were so convoluted that I only understood the words "with", "and" and "the".

Abigail's project is titled The Design of Novel Metal-Based Anticancer Drugs with Terpyridine Ligands. My friend's son is a doctor and he might appreciate this but for us simple folks this is like Sanskrit. But when she explained it I kind of understood it. Still this very abstract for me.

After all the speeches and presentations there was dinner which was pretty good. The best part of dinner was that we had to stand in line to get served and while I stood there with my cane a nice lady came up and told me she would bring me my food. Sometimes it is advantageous to be a cripple.

After dinner we drove home. The three of us plus the boyfriend. My wife invited us all to a nearby teahouse which we know and like. They have good desserts and teas. So, by the time we got home was close to 10pm. Poor Robin was left home alone since 2pm but he behaved like a champ.

So, this is the story of Wednesday. It was a long but good day.

Late

It is late, I am tired. It was a long day and at 9:30pm it is not yet over. Nothing is wrong just too much activities for an old bloke like me.

If I can I tell it tomorrow.

Sad

About a week ago some event happened in my wife's family in Hungary. The event was sad and the first result was that my wife's phone did not stop ringing for several days. I couldn't believe how "popular" she suddenly became. I have to add that she has a fairly large family over there. Aunts and uncles not even mentioning cousins. Plus mother and sister and family.

Everyone was calling her once or more in those days. Primarily for asking for advice and also forwarding information. It was a good thing that she has two cell phones because each one was ringing, practically nonstop.

Now things quited down a bit and I think she is missing all that activity. We were just talking about this that how many people are there for her and in opposite I have really no one as far a family goes with the exception of one cousin/friend. I said I envy her for this.

Her response was that years ago I had a bunch of friends with whom I used to meet regularly. Unfortunately, because of my age, people died out from around me. This made me sad. It seems that longer one lives the lonelier he/she gets. If one is lucky enough to stay healthy and the inner mechanism keeps on ticking, and he outlives his surroundings he will wind up as a very lonely person.

Is this the price we might have to pay for a long life?

Classes

Technology is great. When I think back to my time in school, I don't believe the difference between then and now. Abigail is sick. She has a very bad cold. I had it two weeks ago and now she has it. It was expected since we all live in the same household. My wife had short run of it but now, she is ok. I just hope Robin won't catch it.

Anyhow, Abigail is sick (and also the boyfriend). Today she went to school but instead of 4pm she came home at noon. Just now she had been walking around the apartment with her tablet in her hands and I can hear a man's voice saying some pretty boring stuff. I asked her if this was school, and she said yes. Apparently, this particular class is given online and not life. Meaning that the instructor is visible, but the students are not. So, they can be doing anything and be anywhere while connected online.

Every Friday morning, she is having an online class that she attends or listens to from bed. What a way to learn. In my time we had classes every day and many time Saturdays, too. Here, she has classes for four days where she must be in and one day online. At least laboratory classes are not online.

I just wonder how knowledgeable these kids will be after they graduate and get jobs. Employers will expect smart people when they hire them. They didn't teach that in school is not an acceptable excuse for not knowing things.

Something else just came to my mind.

When I was going to school, a million years ago, at start of every semester we bought our textbooks. They were always scary and thick textbooks on the subject of that particular class. On the first day of each class the instructors told us what chapters we would study from and what chapters we would skip.

I always wandered that if those particular chapters were in the textbooks, they must have been important. Not studying them wouldn't leave a gap in our knowledge? What would happen if somebody asked me for instance of those things. I couldn't say "they didn't teach me that". Would be pretty embarrassing

Anyway, I survived.

Sunday

Back to my old schedule. Today is Sunday and that means "Never on Sunday".