Old and Getting Older

 I’m every bit 90 now, and feeling like it. How does it feel?  Well, I awaken each morning , knowing I really have nothing to do. In olden tymes, I would awaken, get up, shower, dress, knowing I had a purpose—going to my job to do something useful for someone, for a fee-my salary.  Sometimes, I would write down what I was doing and have it published in some form.

But in any case, I knew each day, I had to accomplish something for someone else.

But now, there is no “someone else”. I am done, with doing theoretically useful tasks for other people.  Now, I am stuck with observing the world. And what do I see daily? I see a madman whom the American people elected to the Presidency doing stupid things daily designed to hurt other people . . . people he does not even know.  And why is he hurting other people he does not even know? Well, because he can, as a way of demonstrating that he is in charge of America, and he can do anything he wants, and no one is allowed to interfere. NO ONE!

And so he is deporting people he thinks should be deported? Why? Because he can. It is his way of demonstrating that he is in charge of America. He is acting like King Donald I.  Now I have two theories about all this. Theory One is that Donald now actually believes he can do anything he wants. He thinks MAGA faithful elected him to be King Donald. And he is pissed at America, and he intends showing America that he is pissed. Why is he angry? Well, because other folks said he is an idiot-malenfant (well he is, but he does not like hearing that).  He thinks he is perfect in all respects, so to hear other people say he is an idiot, really pisses him off. And now his MAGA’s gave him unlimited power to take revenge on that outside world. So he is doing just that.

Now the second theory is that The Donald is beholden to Vladimir Putin, maybe even on his payroll, Yeah, he is an employee of the Czar of Russia.  He looks at Czar Putin and he sees a dude who apparently does whatever he wants in Russia, and no one holds him to account.  And at some stage, Putin bought him . . . maybe it was that period when he was 41, bankrupt, visited Russia and then came away with banks loaning him money to buy a grand hotel, Remember that? And maybe he has been on a Russian payroll ever since.  Now what would Putin love to see happen In America? Well, it would be great were America to simply die. Yeah, American institutions would disappear and the entire American government would just break apart and go away. And America would then no longer be a feared adversary. No, it would just be a pathetic little country with essentially no government, ruled by a pathetic old man called The Donald, a man who would do whatever Vlad Putin told him to do. Yeah, that’s my second theory.  And  maybe they are both operating at the same time.

Now what I really do not understand is why the existing American government is allowing Trump to do what I described—just destroy the entire American government.  Yeah, that makes no sense to me.  But it is what I keep watching, and I am beginning to think, maybe it’s all cuz I’m 90 and I just do not understand anything any longer. Maybe I am just dreaming about the destruction of the American government, and it isn’t really happening before my eyes.  Do you think? So, this is all just a horrible dream, and maybe I will awaken sometime in the next century and all will be well with America. OK, so dream on Richard. Awaken next century and all will be well. Won’t that be nice?

Running for Old People

So, too soon we grow old, and too late we grow smart . . .
Ahhh . . . the days do grow shorter as we approach our elder years.
“Approach . . . what do you mean approach? You’re firmly in the grip of elder years.”
No, no, no. Haven’t you heard? I’m approaching 74. That’s the new 47.
“hahahahahahaha . . . yeah right. Face it, you’re an old geezer.”
No, really. I know I’m approaching 74, but I feel much younger.
“What, you feel 73 ½?”
No, I mean, I feel younger. I feel much as I did in my . . .hmmm . . . how do I feel? Fifty? Sixty? Not forty, surely. I don’t know. I just don’t feel 74. I know I can’t run 13 miles any longer, but still . . .
“What, you ran 13 miles once? On purpose?”
Yeah, I used to run every day, to escape mental fatigue during the Reagan years. I had fixed runs of 3, 6, and 13 miles. I could run mostly along the C&O Canal. I would run to cleanse my mind of Reagan crap.
“So, bubbaluh, what have you been doing during the last 8 years? Running like 50 miles a day to cleanse your mind of the Shrub?”
Well, that’s a problem. And it does relate to being older.
“Old.”
Older.
See, since I can’t run like I once did, we now walk, and do some weight exercises. It’s nice, but not like running. And the Shrub has been wearing us all out. He’s relentless. Every time you think he’s surely at the end of his tyranny, he finds some new way to be outrageous. Puts a strain on all of us. Tough to remain mentally healthy with him at the helm. It’s kind of like having a totally crazy man steering your cruise ship. You’re trying to enjoy yourself, and he keeps doing totally crazy things. I mean, who would have guessed running the economy into the ground, no below ground, right at the end? I thought maybe he might try to bomb Iran, or some other crazed act at the end. But overseeing the second Great Depression. Man, that took some forethought. He’s truly going out with a Big Bang.
“So, now you feel better?”
No, why would you think that?
“Well, since you can’t run any more, seeing as how you’re really old, I assume that you have adopted ranting as the backup alternative to running. See, if you continue to run your mouth, it’s kind of like marathon running. A new form of mental health, in these stressful times. Running for old people.”
Oh.
OK.