Bill's On Friday

08262019-27

-- चार हजार पांच सौ बानानौं --

Hey guess what . . . I haven't written about Friday evening yet! And it's Wednesday! I mean, not that I have a whole lot to write about it, but I did go out for Happy Hour with Laney and Jessica at Bill's Off Broadway that night, and then had no time to write about it because I had to finish packing on Friday night afterward; Shobhit and I flew to Denver on Saturday; we flew home on an evening flight on Monday; and yesterday's post had to focus on the weekend trip. Now I'm playing catchup otherwise.

I'm pretty proud of myself that I kept my costs down on Friday, keeping it right around $30 -- and that was with two drinks rather than just the one I intended to order (that after making myself a quick Moscow Mule at home before leaving), and the Happy Hour nachos I had for dinner.

This was my third Happy Hour with Laney of the month, although I only ever took a photo at the first one, at SPIN on the 2nd. I tend to post a photo check-in on social media at all my monthly Happy Hours, and usually do even at the occasional extra ones. But, I never thought to take a photo with Laney and Julie on Friday the 16th, mostly because I was under the impression until just a couple of days beforehand that we would be just hanging out at Julie's house instead of going out. And then we went to a bar close to Julie's place instead, which honestly was nothing hugely special or unique or photogenic, so I still never thought to take and share a photo. I actually did think I might take a photo at Bill's Off Broadway on the 23rd with Laney and Jessica, as it had been a longtime planned extra Happy Hour for this month just because we were both interested in going back there again -- and then I just totally spaced it. Too bad.

I actually took notes written out on my phone for topics I wanted to cover in my conversation, as I wanted to share, and to a degree vent, about certain family members and dealing with them over the weekend of the annual Family Picnic, in a way that I could not publicly vent here in this blog without alienating people I care about. We talked about plenty of other things too, of course. We met there at 5:30 and must have been there about two hours, talking about all sorts of stuff.

A lot of it was pretty political, of course. I was thinking just this morning about how desperate this country -- or, hell, the world -- is to feel some modicum of genuine hope for the future. I'm beginning to wonder, if President Fuckwit wins re-election in 2020, if I should seriously consider moving out of the country. I have no desire to do that, but I also don't want to get stuck here after something stupid and drastic happens like closed borders or some shit, with a trajectory toward actual totalitarianism this country is on right now. I really go back and forth on this, between feeling an obligation to stay and fight for the home I love so very much, and getting the fuck out of here before things get so dangerous that it's too late. We already have Supreme Court teetering on the precipice of things like overturning Roe vs. Wade, and I honestly don't think the repeal of same-sex marriage is far behind such a thing happening. And if my right to marry gets rescinded in my lifetime, it may just finally get to the point where I'm fucking out of here. This country is already ruled by a minority of oppressively-minded religious hypocrites, and I don't care how much Shobhit argues that "he's already done 80% of the damage he's going to do" as a lame justification for refusing to vote for Bernie Sanders if he becomes the Democratic nominee (he won't, and that will be a relief), this president getting a second term will only make everything exponentially worse. I can't just sit idly by while watching this shit happen, shit that this country's moronic electorate actually chose -- bringing up the electoral college being a lame attempt to suggest otherwise; the 2016 election should never have been so close -- and I'm also not willing to put my life on the line for what by then will just be a lost cause.

So, we'll see. I'm probably just deluding myself with these hypotheticals. But, the willful ignorance of people like Mitch McConnell refusing to do anything sensible, to work for the protection of elections meddled in by foreign powers to even greater degrees than they were in 2016, is genuinely frightening.

-- चार हजार पांच सौ बानानौं --

08262019-14

-- चार हजार पांच सौ बानानौं --

Anyway! I should get off all that shit. I just got back inside from eating out on the patio with Terry and Steven, and when I went out to sit at the small table with them under a table umbrella for shade, Steven joked, "Are you going to talk about depressing stuff today?" Nope! I guess I got that out of my system in this post.

I almost didn't even go outside to eat today, as I tried yesterday and I was so uncomfortable in the hot sun that I cam back inside. But yesterday I was sitting in my favorite cushioned chairs, and those have no shade; I saw Steven and Terry sitting at the four-person table with an umbrella and opted to join them.

We actually talked a fair amount about public transit, after I told them about the really nerdy book I'm reading -- which I made a pretty good dent in while on -- you guessed it! -- trains and buses, and also particularly planes, over the weekend. I had been pretty surprised by the author including Seattle in his list of four cities that are doing transit the best, putting us just after New York, Boston and San Francisco. I figure it's because of our effectively expanding Light Rail system.

Anything else? Shobhit and I made pasta for dinner, me doing the majority of the cooking with vegetables he chopped for me before I got home from work. "Our roles reversed," he said. Having the vegetables chopped and ready was very helpful, actually. Then I finally wrote up my email photo digest of the trip to Denver, which took me a couple of hours. Then I came back out to the living room and Shobhit and I watched this week's Succession and Real Time with Bill Maher. We still need to watch Pose but I don't know when we'll get to it, maybe later tonight but Shobhit doesn't get off work until 8:15 today, and then works swing shifts both tomorrow and the next day as well.

Now I guess I'll get back to work.

-- चार हजार पांच सौ बानानौं --

08262019-45

[posted 12:36 pm]