Tag: aging

Tuesday’s Theme Music – One More Time

Ashland, southern Oregon — Tuesday, June 2, 2026.

It’s clear skies and sunshine for us today. 66 degrees now, the high will be found in the 80s F. Some say 81, another contingent claims 88. We’ll see.

Oh, the Mom front. She ran out of her pain patches. They’re by prescription so she must see her doc for them. She didn’t have an appointment, and they don’t have an opening until early August. It’s concerning that with all the doctors she’d recently seen, no one ever thought to say, how are your pain patches?

Then she fell over backward in her wheelchair the other day. Hit her head. She’s been complaining of headaches since. Yet, that morning when it happened, she refused to get taken to the hospital. Today, it became a must. Now sis is at the ER with her and we’re in wait and see mode.

Poor sister, too. She’s already busy, working, meeting with the realtor to sell Mom’s house, selling and giving away Mom’s furnishings and possessions, taking care of her grandchildren, and here she is, summoned back to pick up Mom, take her to the hospital, wait with her, await next steps…

Locally, I’m perplexed and pleased with a credit union project. Bring a bag of papers to be shredded and three cans of food, and they’ll shred it for you. Sounds great! I went through our papers, filled a bag, and bought three cans of food to donate.

I’m irritated because the credit union has two locations in our town. One is a half mile away; the other is almost two. Yet, to participate in this offer, I need to drive almost twenty miles to Medford to participate.

Makes little sense. Why not do it in an Ashland location as well as a Medford location? Why make so many people waste energy and pollute the air to drive that distance?

Then there’s the Trump front. Paul Krugman had commentary about Trump’s apparent mental and physical decline, and the enablers in DC and in business who support, cover, and front for him. For all, it seems to be, “What’s in it for me?” I don’t know if that’s true or reductivism. I think the truth is on a spectrum somewhere in between. Whatever their reasoning, I remain disappointed that so many seem eager to limit voting and embrace norms that seem to favor creating a Christian white nation.

Trump’s Iran war remains on, although a ‘ceasefire’ is in effect. I watched Jordan Klepper conduct interviews with MAGAs who smugly tried to tell us that Iran is a conflict, not a war.

They’re taking clues from right-wing media, the GOP, and Trump himself. Trump reminded the nation we’re at war but also said that we’re not at war and that saying we are would get him in trouble. He’s winking at the system of checks and balances, but we as a nation have been doing this for a long time as well.

At the bottom of my disgust at this mess remains the huge challenge: how do we fix our flaws? Can we fix them? Can we at least mitigate them enough to feel comfortable with calling ourselves a land of freedom and equality and a democratic republic. Because right now, those claims are very, very thin to me.

It didn’t begin when the Roberts Court decided that Trump as POTUS could be above the law. It began long before that, with small drips. We let the drips go. Now the foundation is showing rot and we’re wringing our hands about what to do.

To make myself feel a little better without drugs and alcohol, I turned to Nate Silver’s latest findings on Trump’s popularity.

“Today, Donald Trump’s net approval rating is sitting at -19.1 in the Silver Bulletin average. That’s less popular than Joe Biden was at this point in his term (-13.6) and less popular than Trump himself was during his first term (-10.6).

“About 48 percent of Americans strongly disapprove of Trump’s job performance. Just 21.7 percent strongly approve of the job he’s doing, while another 17.2 percent only somewhat approve.

As we wrote about over the weekend, Trump’s approval rating is even underwater in Texas.” 

“Trump is less popular than President Biden.”

Just wanted to highlight that for Trump.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

It’s worth posting this quote again because it completely captures Trump’s attitude AND his base. He called it right, and we see it playing out over and over.

I have “One More Time” by Daft Punk in the morning mental music stream. A dance song, it’s actually a celebration of things, but it hit my stream because I muttered ‘one more time’ to myself as I checked texts from home and read the news.

I hope your mood is up and your day goes well. I hope the best for us all. I guess the challenge for that is agreeing what that is.

Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music — Straight Up

Ashland, southern Oregon — Monday, June 1, 2026.

It’s 53, expecting a high of 85 F. A solidly blue sky and bright sun have taken over.

It’s a new month. Papi and I are celebrating by doing the same thing we do every morning. Eat, wash, etc. He sniffs the ground and air, I sniff the news.

Right now, dealing with Mom. She’s struggling to think, speak, plan things, respond.

Then, dealing with family. Older sister is moving from her condo of 13 years in a place more physically acceptable for her. One sister’s young son just graduated high school. Lots of moving parts. Past, present, future all breaking at once.

Also dealing with news.

Multiple individuals dead after mass shooting in Oregon: ‘I know many people are grieving,’ police chief says

I look for details, wondering, how many dead, searching for the circumstances, thinking about the people involved.

Hell of a way to start June.

Trump’s Iran war still goes on. It’s now over three months old.

Good thing there’s a cease fire. We had several more attacks between the US and Iran. I always thought ‘cease fire’ meant no one would shoot. Of course, Trump and the angry inch have fluid definitions, changing and using them to suit their needs.

Oil prices surged again after Iran said it’s withdrawing from negotiations and would close the Strait of Hormuz. This comes on the news that gas prices in some parts of the US dropped to below $4 a gallon. Wonder how long it’ll take for them to go back up?

The Epstein ballroom is still under construction, too, and the Epstein files have not been fully released.

We’ve had over 2,000 cases of measles in the U.S. 318 locations so far in 2026. 73 new cases in the last two weeks.

But in the latest phase of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!, the Great American State Fair *cough cough* will go on.

Your Trump Quotes of the Day:

Today’s song is “Straight Up” by Paul Abdul.

It’s in the morning mental music stream because of my coffee. I picked up my fresh cup and inhaled. “Smells good,” I told Papi, who was watching. “Just as I like it. Black, straight up.”

The Neurons replied, “Oh, we know that song.”

Song came out in 1980s when I was stationed in Germany. I was at the NCO Club with friends after work, having a beer. MTV was on the television. The video came on for this song. Several friends said, “Wait, I have to watch this.”

What?

They’d pay no attention to any previous music videos but for them, Paula Abdul was a conversation stopper. *smile*

I hope your day is straight up awesome.

Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music — Wrong Way

Ashland, southern Oregon — May 31, 2026.

The last day of sunshine finds our area with blue skies and sunshine. It’s 48 F now and we expect a high in the mid 70s.

The Mom report is that she fell over backwards in her wheelchair and hit her head hard on the ground. A facility employee was present when it happened and wanted Mom to go to the hospital. Mom declared that. It happened at 7 AM but she didn’t share that news with us until the late afternoon. Now we worry and wait, hopeful that she didn’t do more damage to herself.

When Mom spoke to me last week, she mentioned that they were required to be in the dining room for breakfast at 8 AM. Mom has a roommate and one bathroom that they share. The roommate is on hospice, and the guidelines are that hospice residents have bathroom priority. In practice then, Mom can’t get ready to go to the dining room in the morning because her roommate is in the bathroom, and ends up getting down there late or skips breakfast.

In light of performers withdrawing from Trump’s ‘Great American State Fair’, Trump is going to open, headline, and hold a rally.

It’s also reported that Trump is urging to cancel it outright, classic Trump Always Chickening Out.

I’d prefer the latter. If Trump is there, he would make this overtly political. It’ll be less about the United States and more about him. Sure, he’ll say that we’re a ‘great nation’. Then he’ll go on to say how great he is, how great he made the nation, call former President Biden some names, name some others as enemies, and rail about how Democrats are ‘ruining’ the nation, and spread lies about what he’s done and how others think he’s doing a great job.

Exhibit A:

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

*snark alert* Isn’t that sweet how Trump compares himself to ‘The King’ of rock and roll, someone who has been dead almost fifty years, someone who people paid to see? If he wants to draw the largest draw, he’ll need over 3.5 million people.

Trump is against Democrats because Democrats keep pushing on voters’ rights, diversity, law and order, truth, facts, and history. Those principles and ideals often collide with Trump’s grifting, ego, ignorance, and authoritarianism. Trump would prefer to lie about what’s going on, making up information, and boast about doing things like lowering prescription prices 1,000 percent. While Trump campaigned on no new wars, releasing the Epstein files, lowering food and energy prices on day one, he broken all of those promises.

His supporters like Trump and still support him because he runs roughshod over the Constitution, ignoring due process to go after political enemies, ordering ICE to attack anyone who might be illegal — especially if they look like they’re anything but white. ICE goons will ignore evidence that others are here legally and will react violently when confronted. That’s Trump’s ‘law and order’ for you: a police state.

Trump’s Iran War is at 92 days.

Meanwhile, his destruction of Washington DC and the White House continues. Not satisfied with tearing up a public golf course, screwing up the Lincoln Memorial, and tearing down the East Wing to build the Epstein ballroom, Trump is now talking about the Kennedy Center never re-opening.

After illegally changing the Kennedy Center’s name by adding his to it and closing the center for ‘renovations’, a judge ruled put the name back to what was established by act of Congress, per the law, and open it. TACO immediately whined that he’s not being allowed to do what he wants to do and threatened to keep the Kennedy Center closed forever.

Of course, much of this classic Trump bluster is part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! Keep everyone distracted so he can enrich himself. Like, where is the money for the Board of Peace?

No wonder two thirds of Americans think we’re going the wrong way.

After thinking about how Trump is taking the nation in the wrong direction, The Neurons had a response. They brought “Wrong Way” by Sublime to the morning mental music stream.

That surprised me. I didn’t know The Neurons have such a dark sense of humor. The punk ska melody is all about young prostitution and the struggles of young women and what they face.

“Wrong Way” Lyrics:

Annie’s twelve years old, in two more, she’ll be a whore
Nobody ever told her it’s the wrong way
Don’t be afraid with the quickness, you get laid
For your family, get paid
It’s the wrong way

I gave her all that I had to give
I’m gonna make it hard to live
Salty tears running down to her chin
And it ruins up her makeup and never wan’ give

A cigarette pressed between her lips
But I’m staring at her tits
It’s the wrong way
Strong if I can, but I am only a man
So I take her to the can
It’s the wrong way

The only family that she’s ever had
Is the seven horny brothers and a drunk-ass dad
He needed money, so he put her on the street
Everything was going fine, until the day she met me

h/t to Songfacts.com

I hope your life and day are going the right way.

Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music — Going Down

Ashland, southern Oregon — Saturday, May 30, 2026.

It’s a gray and chilly May day, 52 F with no blue sky available for the eyes. Bleak sunshine slants in, casting faint shadows. No rain is expected today but our high will crest in the mid 60s again.

Not the happiest of weather but not the worst, either. Makes it perfect for morning reflections on the news and life on this next to last day in May.

Mom’s possessions are going fast. Sis found people who wanted things and invited them over. Now she’s not accepting any money. It has to go, so. We the siblings are fine with that, and agree with that sentiment. We like to know these things will be useful to others.

Gina sends photos of Mom’s rooms and the transformation as items disappear. Click, click, click. It’s forlorn progress.

Likewise, we have forlorn progress against Trump’s moves. Judges have ruled that the Kennedy Center couldn’t have the board just up and change its name and that they needed to stop the renovations because it wasn’t properly addressed. Other judges ruled that Trump’s slush fund might be illegal and no payments can be made from it yet. Diane Ravitch offers good summaries of it all.

Also, an ICE agent who shot a man through a door in Minnesota and lied about it was arrested in Texas.

In other ‘yea’ Trump news, the Comey seashell Federal prosecutor stepped aside. It’s a ridiculous case, likely unwinnable, and that’s probably what he concluded and decided, screw this. Just guessing. But as so many have pointed out on social media, if Trump goes after Comey for ’86 47′, then what about that time that Trump endorsed his supporters showing graphics with President Biden tied up?

Meanwhile, economist Paul Krugman helps us understand more about the Trump economy and We the People’s view of it. Trump and his minions like to crow about how MAGA supports him 100%. And polls show that as true.

But when it comes to the economy, Krugman points out that only MAGA approves of the economy at this point, and they represent 19% of all Americans. Even non-MAGA Republicans are going, no, this is not good.

What’s most disturbing when I look at that MAGA trend line is that it’s slowly increasing. This is despite Trump’s clear lies, corruption, and ineptitude. Truly makes me shake my head. This is why it’s become the Golden Age of Corruption.

Trump’s war in Iran is now over 90 days old.

Classic con man sleight of hand. If he was as interested in the law as he proclaims, he would not ignored it to wreck the White House and begin building the Epstein ballroom. He would have released the Epstein files, as he promised, instead of twisting and turning, trying to claim that it was a hoax.

Today’s music is “I’m Goin’ Down”. This Bruce Springsteen song came out in the mid 1980s. It’s about relationships and songs. I really don’t know why The Neurons parked it in the morning mental music stream today. Sometimes they work in ways that I don’t understand.

Here’s to you and a great day for you and yours.

Cheers

2

Friday’s Theme Music — Excursions

Ashland, southern Oregon — Friday, May 29, 2026.

Other months have gone by so fast for me this year. May feels like it’s dragging. Looking at the calendar, I’m surprised two more days remain in May.

I looked back at a post last year in May I wrote. I was complaining about the rain then, too. Today is gloomy, rainy, showery, 53 F with 64 high expected. Papi had to bring his outside show inside where he can sleep in dry warmth. Right now, he’s balled himself tight on the bed, eyes closed, snooze position assumed.

My sisters and their others have feverishly worked on cleaning and emptying Mom’s house, preparing it for the realtor’s photos and staging, and making a little money from Mom’s goods. Mom’s bedroom is empty, as is her tiny dining room.

Funny, though, Mom has actually used four different rooms as her bedroom. When she first bought the house, the upstairs was rented out as an apartment. So Mom’s bedroom was what was the dining room. Then she took the top floor back and moved into the ‘big’ bedroom. When Frank moved in, they shared that room for a while. When she started her medical issues, she moved into a smaller room because it was the only one with an air conditioner. Then, last year, with her mobility faltering, the back porch was re-purposed as her bedroom. A beautiful space, she was only in there for a few months.

I visited Mom, noting the changes. Each marked another season of Mom. I think she’s in her final season now.

My wife continues here cleaning/purging frenzy. A drawer, cupboard, or closet each day is done. She sets items out for me to judge: what do they go to? Do we need them? Do they work? What should we do with them?

She told me, “This is the easy stuff. I’m dreading when I get to the big stuff, the things that really matter. It’s going to be tough.”

Over on the Trump front, it’s amazing how quickly the performer lineup for Trump’s America 250 celebration is changing. The venue is called ‘The Great American State Farm’. Many of the artists said they had no idea that it was associated with Trump and turned it down after learning of his involvement. It’s almost like the Trump brand is tainted.

Food prices are up. The NYT reports: “Prepare for sticker shock as summer barbecue season heats up: The price of beef is sizzlingly high. Grilled sirloin will cost more than $14 a pound, on average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, up 20 percent since last year.”

Sirloin is not alone as a higher price from a year ago:

• Tomatoes — 39.7 percent
• Instant coffee — 22.8 percent
• Coffee — 18.5 percent
• Uncooked beef roasts — 17.8 percent
• Roasted coffee — 17.3 percent

Trump has failed to lower the prices, though. Instead, his actions and policies keep driving food prices up. Energy prices are up, thanks to Trump. And the supply chain has been disrupted, thanks to Trump.

The Trump Iran War continues. So, food prices will continue rising. Trump couldn’t lower them before the war; there’s no reason to believe he’ll be able to after the war — whenever his ‘excursion’ ends.

Besides the war going on, the Epstein files have not been released, and the $1 billion Epstein ballroom is still under construction.

Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! is in a quiet period.

Today’s music is “Purple Rain” by Prince. Two factors played into this. I was talking to Papi about the rain. I was also deciding what to wear. I felt a long sleeve shirt would be appropriate for today. However, I often wear purple on Fridays. I don’t have a long-sleeved purple shirt.

The Neurons put this all together. Voila! “Purple Rain” began playing in the morning mental music stream. Prince said about the song, “When there’s blood in the sky… red and blue = purple. Purple rain pertains to the end of the world and being with the one you love and letting your faith/God guide you through the purple rain.”

Seems right for this time, when we’re divided as a nation into red and blue, and purple is considered a swing area.

May your day be bright with peace and promise.

Cheers

2

Wednesday’s Theme Music – A Short Reminder

Ashland, southern Oregon — Wednesday, May 27, 2026.

Wet, gray morning. Furnace is running to keep us warm. 49 F. 72 is the day’s potential high. That depends on when the rain moves on.

We’re not getting a lot of rain, mind. Just showers off and on. Still, the cooler temperatures, while not my preference, are better than hot, dry conditions. Saves our water, etc.

Papi isn’t pleased with the weather. He came in wet and released a plaintive, “Meow,” that’s quite unlike him. Dried him with a towel and bribed him with treats. Now he’s vigorously grooming.

Spent an hour on the phone with Mom yesterday. She called to talk to me about my health. She sounded so tired and struggled to put words together and finish thoughts.

My sister got the power of attorney done and signed an agreement with a realtor to sell Mom’s house. Then I spent an hour with my sister, texting back and forth as she addressed her relationship with one of her daughters. It’s a challenging world. Always has been, a shifting spectrum of needs, problems, and expectations. Memories and history and differences add more unique elements to finding understanding and developing relationships.

Heard from Trump that he’s in perfect health. Despite his struggles with speaking, walking, and staying awake he aced everything! Trump is a documented liar, so I don’t believe a word of it.

Same with Trump’s war and ceasefire with Iran. Epstein files. Mexico and the wall. Golfing. Trump chose golfing over his son’s wedding. Just as he chose other women over his wife — sorry, wives. Oh, but then, Trump must have realized how bad the optics were, golfing instead of attending his son’s wedding, and changed his plans.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Trump paid for sex with Stormy Daniels in 2006. Melania is his third wife. In addition to his sex with Stormy Daniels, Trump allegedly had a ten-month affair with another woman, Karen McDougal, starting in 2006. Trump is also in the Epstein files but it’s unknown to what degree; just as he reneged on other promises, he reneged on his promise to release the Epstein files.

Instead of releasing the Epstein files, Trump began Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! Under this program:

The Epstein ballroom was first supposed to cost $200 million, and would be paid for by private donations. It would then cost 300, no, $400 million. Now the White House asked Congress for one billion dollars for it.

No, I don’t trust a word he says.

Many other Americans also are losing trust in Trump. His disapproval ratings are reaching record levels.

Yet, Republicans just keep walking away from everything Trump does. That thought inspired The Neurons. As I shook my head, dismayed again, The James Gang with Joe Walsh on guitar and vocals, began playing “Walk Away” in the morning mental music stream.

Trump is trashing historic norms and trust in the government. Unlike the GOP, I just can’t walk away.

Hope you have a day memorable with good times, good friends, and good foods.

Cheers

3

Friday’s Theme Music

Newport, Oregon — Saturday, May 22, 2026.

It’s 54 F with a high of 60 in sight. The waves are calmer, but the wind continues ransacking the beach. Nobody is down there right now. I did see four small figures walking it an hour ago…

We opened our laptops to see if Trump passed away or if the war was over. Big news is that some Republicans said no to Trump’s ballroom drone port military underground bunker funding request of a cool billion. Seems like its elections optics and not principles. Few are bothering to recall that Trump said it would be built with donations and cost just two hundred million and the American taxpayers would pay nothing.

One of those ‘standing up’ is Susan Collins, who exhibits the same moral fortitude as a feather on the wind. Yeah, I’ not impressed.

Trump’s response: attack those who said no, etc. Says, paraphrasing, ‘This is all according to the plan and we’ve been saying it all along.’ Sure; that’s why there’s no evidence online of that. Question: does he think us all that stupid, or is he that stupid?

He’ll probably steal, er, shift the money from somewhere else. That’s his MO. Screw the laws, constitution, all that.

It’s all part of the same game for him: launch a war, say it’s over, promise it will be over shortly, tell us that it’s not long compared to other wars, tell us it’s not a way. Just like his healthcare plan that never arrived. His promises to lower prices day one. Claim that he’ll ‘fix’ the Lincoln Reflecting Pool for 1.8 million which becomes over ten million.

Still waiting on the Epstein files.

My sister, Gina, is busy selling Mom’s household items and pushing to get the house sold. I admire her energy level and remain really thankful that she’s there to do these things.

Today’s music is by Damn Yankees. I don’t know why “High Enough” is in the morning mental music stream today. It could have to do with a dream, I suppose. The Neurons aren’t connecting the dots for me.

I hope your day goes well, and you go to bed satisfied with what’s transpired for you.

Time for Operation Epic Find Food.

Cheers

3

Wednesday’s Theme Music

Florence, Oregon — Wednesday, May 20, 2026.

To clarify, we’re actually staying at Heceta Beach, 3 miles north of Florence. Heard from the catsitter. Papi has adjusted to her presence and her feeding him, and is basically acting just as if we’re there.

It’s 60 F now, on its way to 63 F. Here’s this morning beach photo.

We’ve had wonderful, fresh, tasty food everywhere we’ve eaten, and have only met nice folks. Hope to hell I’m not jinxing this by mentioning it.

Yesterday was a bad day for Mom and my sister Gina, Mom’s defacto caregiver. Mom had another UTI, was complaining of dizziness and headaches. Gina took her to urgent care. They said Mom’s UTI isn’t responding to antibiotics and needs something stronger and had Gina take her to a hospital, UPMC East. Well, that was an eight hour ordeal for them, with miscommunication between the two care facilities.

Mom was back into her room around midnight. Gina was shocked at its state; disorganized and messy. Very un-Mom. Mom denies her dizziness is a problem but Gina said she complained about it multiple times. XRays and CT Scans showed nothing.

Gina is also frustrating because the other sisters are ‘too busy’ to help with Mom. She ended up transferring Mom from car to wheelchair to bed, and back, etc, eighteen times yesterday.

Poor Mom. Poor Gina.

This is life.

Haven’t looked at the news this morning. Don’t want to disrupt the vacay vibe by doing that before I’ve had my daily wine and beer. I mean, coffee. Yeah, that’s what I meant.

I did see that Trump’s Iran War is not over. The price of gas is shocking here. Diesel prices are almost at $7 a gallon.

Trump mocked that as ‘peanuts’. He insists he’s a man on a mission to stop Iran from having nuclear weapons, no matter how much pain it cause US citizens and the world. Sure; we believe that. It’s all just part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!

Today’s song is “Boys of Summer”. Written by Mike Campbell, a guitarist who played and wrote with Tom Petty, Petty turned the song down. Don Henley took it and had a hit in 1984.

The Neurons put it in the morning mental music stream because several times, I looked out at the beach and saw, “Nobody on the beach.” Recognizing the line from the song, I suppose Les Neurons thought I was trying to remember it.

I hope your day progresses in a satisfying way. I find that coffee helps, along with staying well hydrated with other fluids.

Off to begin Operation Epic Eat Breakfast.

Cheers

2

At the Goodwill

My wife and I are on the Oregon coast. We ate a wonderful fresh breakfast at the Fresh Harvest Cafe. Then we hit the local Goodwill.

My wife enjoys visiting Goodwill stores. She likes bargains and she likes re-using things. She did say today, “I’m not buying anything new. I’m death cleaning so whenever I see something I want, I just tell myself, ‘You’ll just have to throw it out.'” Books are the exceptions. We bought four, two for each of us.

Killing time, I wander the store and write a short story in my head. It’s about a future Goodwill. Dystopian situation. A guy ransacks an unused house. There’s a lot of them. Finding a cache of shot glasses, he brings them to the Goodwill. They give him a small bag of peanuts for them. He sits outside in the sunshine, savoring every nut as he eats them.

My sister texted me about her grandson’s birthday. He’s already fifteen, thoroughly discombobulating my brain, which still thinks of him as much younger. His mother is still a teenager in my thoughts. To see that he’s now a teenager is too much. I do the slow math; I was fifty-five when he was born. Time, you know?

Sis tells me that her grandson went to an Escape Room for his birthday. Muses gather in my head to conceptualize fiction about Escape Rooms.

Sis interrupts with a text abut Mom. She’s taken Mom to Urgent Care for another suspected UTI. Mom complains about dizziness as she Mom gets in and out of her wheelchair and the car.

Browsing Goodwill shelves, I see things which might be in my home. I go through an aisle of tools and imagine my tools in there.

I believe I have seen the future.

Leaving the building, I breath in fresh air and smile at the sunshine on my face.

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