Goodwill Hunting, Senator Angus King and Ismo

On the way to the grocery store I dropped off a heavy-ass blender to Goodwill and decided to go inside on the off chance that they'd have a vintage mahjong set for pennies on the dollar. No such luck but I did notice they were selling sweaters for half off their normal price of $6.00. I have never bought clothing at Goodwill or The Salvation Army although I've shopped both places for collectibles off and on my entire adult life. But I've gained enough weight this winter that I'm running out of clothes that fit so I looked through the sweaters. The first and only thing I picked off the rack was a Ralph Lauren, shawl collared sweater with leather trim. With the help of Google's Reverse Image Search I found the same sweater for sale at vintage clothing stores for prices ranging from $180 to $60. I snatched that sweater up and headed toward the puzzles and game department but found an unlocked dressing room along the way. The sweater fit! I had intended to take it home and if it didn't fit I'd just donate it back. For less than a cup of coffee I could do that. Isn't that amazing! The only regret I had in buying it is I got so excited I forgot to read the care tag and at home I learned it couldn't go in the dryer. It tied up my kitchen table for twelve hours while it air dried over a large towel and garbage bags. That's a sweater that won't be moving to assisted living with me, where they turn every special care garment into Barbie doll clothes. Not that I'm planning that move any time soon. But one can never plan too far ahead...that's been a life-long motto that doesn't work as well now that I'm older than television and silly-putty.

My old blender was glass and nearly impossible for me to lift with my right hand and arm which is bothering more and more to the point I'm dropping stuff and a few months ago I had purchased a Ninji, Fitness blender for $59 which only makes single serving size blended drink. Smoothies are all I need a blender for these days. Still, I was reluctant to give up my bigger better, bad-ass blender but my days of trying to make fresh cranberry sauce and forgetting to put the top on the blender thus blasting the ceiling with red berries bits are over. It sounds stupid, I know, but it was a hard decision to close that door of my life even though that blender was just another reminder that I'm getting old and I have to make concessions for my decline in physical dexterity and strength. Boo-hoo. I am not bad-ass anymore. 

In case you haven't figured it out by now the word I'm enamored with today is "ass." There was a comedian from Finland in Facebook Short Reels yesterday named Ismo and he was making fun of how many ways Americans used the word 'ass.' Dumb-ass, badass, lazy ass, grown ass man, move your ass, half ass and a piece of ass. He joked that you can add 'ass' to anything to make it sound cooler. So expect a few more 'asses' in this post.

Another uplifting thing I saw in the Shorts was a speech given by a Senator from Maine, named Angus King. I would call it a profile in courage and I hope it's the beginning of more people in government pushing back. He stool before the senate and asked the Republicans if there are no red lines that they won't cross. It's a long speech about protecting the constitution and how Elon Musk is at odds with how the constitution is supposed to work. If you get a chance to listen to this speech it will make you feel hopeful. Like hearing the opening solo in what you assume will be an opera of epic proportions as other voices join in.

“We’re experiencing in real Time exactly what the framers most feared,” King said.“The framers were so fearful of concentrated power that they designed a system that would be hard to operate. And the heart of it was the separation of power between various parts of the government. The whole idea, the whole idea was that no part of the government, no one person, no one institution had or could ever have a monopoly on power, Why? Because it's dangerous," King explained. "History and human nature tells us that. This division of power as annoying and inefficient as it can be, particularly to the executive, I know because I used to be a governor, is an essential feature of the system, not a bug. It's an essential, basic feature of the system, designed to protect our freedoms. Now, this contrasts with the normal structure of a private business, where authority is purposefully concentrated, allowing swift and sometimes arbitrary action. But a private business does not have the army, and the President of the United States is not the CEO of America.” 

I have a busy week ahead with something going every day starting with a super bowl party tomorrow. (I write on Saturdays for my upcoming Wednesday posts.) I don't care a flying fig about the super bowl but our social committee here at the CCC has ordered a meal from a great Italian restaurant in town so I'll go with my little tray of lemon curd tarts to add to the desert table. It's my go-to, always-have-the-ingredients-on-hand dish to pass. I've also got two appointments off campus this week that I'm dreading. 

One of those appointments is with my primary doctor. He never talks about the elephant in the room---my weight. In the twenty years plus I've been going to him he's seen me loss and gain back the same 50 pounds several times over. I want to talk about it this time but at my age and with other medical complications I predict he won't give me anything to help other than sympathy. He's as skinny as the proverbial rail and can't gain weight..."Can't change our genes." I feel quite hopeless on the topic. Stay tuned. I'll let you know in a coming post if my fat ass has a chance of dropping a few pounds. ©

Until Next Wednesday.