On 3/15/20, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Miriam,
What it tells me about the state of things is that you love Cinnamon
Raisin bread...toasted. It also tells me that we are creatures of
habit.
I also have eaten the same breakfast for years. Two slices of toast,
any kind of bread will do, spread with either butter(heavy), or peanut
butter, or jam. I also have a banana every morning. And a cup of
black coffee, which I drink while sitting at my computer.
Over the years little has changed in the sort of meals I eat. What's
changed are my physical habits. Just a few short years ago I would
make my breakfast and sit at the dining room table, consume my food
while listening to NPR, and then rush out to do a bit of road
maintenance or brush clearing, then look at my email, call clients,
set appointments, and if the generator is running I'd toss in a load
of laundry or run the vacuum. Today I grab my breakfast, wobble to
the office while trying not to slosh coffee on the floor, sit at my
computer and rest a bit before looking at the accumulation of email
and spam.
As for the road maintenance and the brush clearing? We hire a robust
young man to do it for us.
And if Donald Trump is reelected and has his way in the reduction of
Social Security and Medicare, and if the state of Washington declares
it can no longer pay retirement benefits to its former employees,
Cathy and I will be forced to attempt to sell our home and ten acres
in a buyer's market. The young man will be out a job, the propane
company will be out a customer, the local grocery stores will no
longer have our support, the doctors we've seen for years will have to
get along without our visits, the internet will lose our business, and
the birds and small critters will no longer find fresh food in the
mornings. The Jarvis' will, like millions of oldsters, have moved to
a back bedroom in one of their children's or grand children's homes,
helping to pay for their own reduced income.
With our growing Senior population, the reduction or termination of
the hard won support network will ensure that we rush headlong into
our worst depression ever.
It will add a new wrinkle to the meaning of poverty. Gads! I seem to
be talking myself into voting for Uncle Joe, despite his Wall Street
leanings.
I think that if I were younger, and could learn a new language, and
could embrace colder weather, I'd move to Norway, sing Home, Home on
the Fjord and learn to love Pickled Herring.
Carl Yarvis, singing Ya Sure Ya Betcha, I dun Tank I Do!"
On 3/15/20, miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
There are shortages in the stores. Everyone apparently rushed to the
stores
on Thursday and Friday. In most of the stores where we buy stuff, there
was
no bread, no toilet paper, a shortage of cleaning products. We couldn't
get
the brands that we usually buy. Luckily, Melanie found my Cinnamon Raisin
bread this morning, in a store where we never buy food. It's what I have
for
breakfast each day. What does that tell you about the public's state of
mind? People are terrified and it's taking the form of hoarding.
Miriam
