Category: miscellaneous

Follow Up to Banned

This is all in reference to a post from last week where my preferred coffee shop banned a fellow customer because he told several baristas some things about his website, apparently among other things which happened.

I spoke with the manager about it briefly this morning. While she was reluctant to discuss it — I totally get that — she shared that there had been multiple incidents with the banned man. She said, “While we always try to work it out with our customers and try to accommodate everyone, unfortunately reached a head where we felt that we had to other choice. We know how serious banning someone is, and discussed it at length before we made the decision. It was a team decision. That’s how we always do it, so that we can talk out the pros and cons, and the impact. It wasn’t unanimous, and some were upset about banning someone. But the overwhelming majority felt it was needed.” She left that open-ended about why it was needed. Still, gaining a little more insight into it is useful.

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Welcome, everyone, welcome. Come on it to Sunday, July 16, 2023. Don’t be shy, it’s a big day. Plenty of room for everyone.

Gonna be a little warm in Ashlandia, where Sundays are mellow and the parks get full. 70 F now, we’re looking for something in the nineties, it seems. Not too bad when you compare it to hell, or other very hot spots.

It’s my wife’s birthday. Merry birthday to her! I started celebrating it last Sunday. I’m not one who celebrates birthdays and holidays very well. Just something wrong with me, is the general consensus. I gave her a tiara last Sunday to kick it off. Monday, she was presented with vegan dark chocolate peanut butter cups. A pair of Hawaiian beach glass earrings were given Tuesday. Flowers on Wednesday. Premium for her Fitbit on Thursday, birthday balloons on Friday, several exercise tops on Saturday. All were well received. I also chauffeured her and friends for several places. The earrings were worn to book club Wednesday evening, where high praise was heaped, and I apparently nailed the color, style, and material for the exercise tops, but not the size. Sizes are always tricky.

She put her tiara on as soon as she climbed out of bed. I genuflected and wished her happy birthday. We’re off to brunch later. In honor of her birthday, I overruled The Neurons and whatever they were sliding into the morning mental music stream (trademark lost) and offer the Beatles with “You Say It’s Your Birthday”.

Be safe, strong, and positive. Coffee is served. Always helps me. Many another beverage for you? Here’s the music. Cheers

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Sat-earth-day’s Theme Music

Mood: thoughtful

Hello, world. Saturday, July 15, 2023. It’s my little sister’s birthday. She was my only little sister for several years before the other two came along. Two years younger than me, we frequently played softball together in pickup games on the street. Whole neighborhood was invited, and we had fun. Now sis is a grandmother and executive VP for a bank. Guess she’s grown up. Happy birthday, little sister.

74 F now in Ashlandia, where burritos are tasty and fishsticks are frozen, without much breeze. The heat dome has brought us into its embrace. 103 F today, probably 100 plus tomorrow but then we get a reprieve and the highs drop into the nineties next week. Fingers crossed that they’ve called that right. Not nearly as bad as west Texas, Arizona, many parts of California, Nevada, and New Mexico.

Only dropped down to the lower sixties last night. That’s always a problem because it’s harder to cool the house if the air doesn’t cool. Stayed into the eighties until after 11 PM before the heat was finally cranked back. But then it rose fast. That’s how it is in a heat dome.

Thinking about weather took me around to thinking about Earth. Unintentional consequences of that was The Neurons put a song about Earth in my morning mental music stream. Yes, “I Feel the Earth Move” by Carole King (1971) is playing in the morning mental music stream (trademark confused). Odd choice for The Neurons, since the thoughts swirling around were all about the misery today’s headlines encapsulated. Everything from disastrous weather around the world to murders and killings. Death dominated. I suppose The Neurons elected to counteract all that chaos and mayhem with a simple song about being in love.

Stay pos, be cool, be safe, be strong. The coffee is kicking in. Let’s do this. Here’s the music. Cheers

1

Thursday’s Wandering Thoughts

The coffee shop banned a man. He’s middle-aged. White. He’s been coming here as long as I have. I know from conversations with him that he accepts and promulgates several sharply right conspiracy theories and also promotes some unusual Christian ideas about how aliens founded or influenced Christianity. It’s a web which I couldn’t fully untangle.

He’s always struck me as a little lonely, eager for friendship, hungry for validation. One morning this week, he came in, set up somewhere, and placed an order. I didn’t hear any of that. He returned to his seat, picked up is gear, and headed for the door. Pausing by me, he said, “I showed some of them my website the other day, and they’ve banned me. They said they’d call the police if I came in here again.”

Turning, he shouted at the counter, “What happened to freedom of speech?” He stormed for the door. Pausing there, he yelled, “Fascists,” and was gone.

It’s a reflection about boundaries to me. I don’t know what was said the other day or how his website was presented. I know of two other people who were banned earlier this year because they ‘annoyed’ other customers. I witnessed some of that, and yeah, they were annoying. I have mixed thoughts about this, about businesses banning people. I don’t know what was said between the parties but I feel for the folks who struggle, and that’s what I’ve always thought I’ve seen with the banned three.

14

Wednesday’s Wandering Thought

A Tiger Swallowtail butterfly landed on a butterfly bush’s long purplish panicle as he approached the plant on his walk. Such a Zen moment, he felt forced to pause for consideration of the scene. Then the butterfly and he moved on, as though neither were ever there, leaving the bush standing alone and patient once again.

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The Two-Body Dream

A woman I didn’t know was outside, speaking about our bodies. White but tanned, middle-aged and slender, I slowed, then stopped, listening to her. She said that we all have body and blah, blah, blah.

I interrupted. “No, I have two bodies.”

“Well,” she began, defensiveness edging into her voice, “yes, we do but, blah, blah, blah.”

At that point, I brought up my second body. It was a little grayed out, with some fuzziness, and the color danced like a drunk guy trying dance moves, but it was there. In most appearances, it was like me but about an inch taller and a teaspoon thicker in the shoulders. We were wearing the same clothes, a yellow buttoned shirt, short-sleeved, not tucked in, with khaki shorts, and we were barefoot.

The woman stammered about how that was impossible. I said, “Yet, here it is.” She went on with a drying, confused voice that two bodies cannot exist in the same plane. I answered, “No, he’s in the other world. That’s where he exists and why he looks a little uneven. But the thing is, the other world is here. So he’s in the other world, but the other world is here. Meanwhile, I’m in the this world, which is the other world to him, and he’s explaining this to you as I’m doing here. Clear?”

Then I laughed because her confused look explained it wasn’t clear, and woke up.

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Tuesday’s Wandering Thoughts

I don’t care what others claim, if you’re eating raw crunchy veggies, the volume on the televisions MUST be turned up. And it’s not because ‘I’m getting old,’ damn it.

Signed, cranky middle-aged person.

2

The Day

It shapes me,

I shape it.

Before sunrise,

After sunset.

Most times, it slips through my fingers without notice.

But sometimes, a piece becomes special as a rare jewel,

And finds home in my mind and heart.

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Friday’s Wandering Thought

He pulled his car up to the stop sign and stopped. No cars were visible on the mile long slope in either direction. He pulled out, going left, heading toward town. A car pulled up on each road that he came up on, left and right side, and pulled in behind him after he passed. It was almost like they were waiting for him.

A paranoid person could really worry about that.

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