[My private encounter with Trump, NYC]

I just noticed news about massive security now in place around Trump Tower, paralyzing central Manhattan road and foot traffic with blockades of garbage trucks until Trump moves to DC. http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/11/10/trump-tower-fifth-avenue-security/ Maybe I helped give them security ideas those many years ago by penetrating the bldg 5 min before opening time or whatever.

 

Brings to mind the traffic mess the gigantic US consulate in Florence Italy caused when they blocked the surrounding roads due to terror concerns... is that still the case? They were critical roads along the river, and made traffic back up for many blocks across bridges and such for horrible little detour roads. Palatial consulate should have been moved or downsized or shut down.

[Fake storm warning industry]

I've got to add a postmortem postscript based on surprising news reports. The last tendril of the storm dumped a foot of rain on us, but without wind or the usual hysterical siren activity. Seemed like a kind of peaceful cleansing... the news reports mostly found minor flood incidents on the same scale of normal flooding happening every few months.

 

The amazing part was the emergency HQ center for all gov't agencies supporting a million people had it's power knocked out (alone). And it's emergency power booted up but the transfer switch wouldn't feed it in. All those bossy, highly paid, condescending preparedness freaks were in the dark and out of touch except for one guy who had brought a laptop and handheld radio to a remote storm watching location.

 

The main damage was gov't created. A sort of homeless favela that had been allowed to form on an industrial stream washed masses of toxic trash into a recreational bay (too protected to self cleanse). These folks were not down and out but each had more possessions (stolen and found) than residents of a McMansion neighborhood, which were aimed at selling to nearby recyclers. The federal govt had blocked local govts from preventative cleanout based on misguided compassion, so the shoreline is now wrecked with a million cubic feet of rusting and splintering hazards.

[France at war 1870]

P.S. Many sources quoted an American observer, the famous civil war general Sheridan and I found his writeup here http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Sedan.html . It's strange how he is treated like royalty and personally hosted by Bismarck and the Prussian king near the key battlefields, with an intimate view of Napoleon3 surrendering. I mean he even shared a bedroom with (english speaking) Bismarck, who taught him how to be a harder drinker. The night before Bismarck lost 20k killed by the French, he focused not on battle plans but whether Sheridan thot US opinion considered France as the bully.

 

Other sources explain Sheridan had earlier acted against Napoleon3 by secretly donating his surplus civil war weaponry to the Mexican rebels trying to throw the French out, and "out" did Maximilian go. The US remained the only major power not threatening Prussia to stop carving up France. Sheridan reported to President Grant the US had nothing militarily to learn from that war, just that France had terrible leadership vs Prussia. But I think he was too far from the front after the initial surge of the French drove the VIP observers permanently to the rear.

 

Sheridan isn't a gifted writer, but it's interesting to hear details like where do I go to the bathroom with dignity when all buildings are packed with wounded and it's literally knee deep with their dead outside. How can I requisition food when the troops are crazed with thirst and hunger while being forced to bury the dead. Sheridan should have been overrun at the first battle, but the loopy French general who was overwhelmingly winning  called for a retreat.

[Fractured musical history]

Oops, I took a look for that Italian style post WW1 work and found it was Stravinsky's Pulcinella ballet. It was Stravinsky whose other work was so austere, and Pulcinella just sounded least-bad to me. Many of these works are avail free on archive.org, and I edited in a link to Serenade for Strings.

 

A ton of apologies for diss'ing Shostakovich style, which was actually too diverse to fall into a style. My mp3 player garbled up the order of the Shosta. lecture segments which left me confused. If Maxim or Dimitri Jr. happen to read this, keep in mind I at least made the effort to attend the former's concert in Hong Kong where he let the conductor baton fly out of his hand.

[Lure of the Arena]

Oh, I should give more benefit of the doubt that jet lag affected the unscripted part of his lecture. Often they announce in the intro to these talks that the guy has flown all night to arrive here for the start of a long weekend. The intro was truncated due to a pre-talk demo which really confused me. I thought I had come at the wrong time because my trusty watch had expired and even my mp3 player couldn't confirm the time.

[Seeking summertime shade]

Thanks, that feed may be what my apps are relaying. BTW the early 1940's entries of Goebbels diaries are about the greatest tribute to Britain ever. Before US involvement or even Russian victories, the German inner circle are aghast at UK resistance. By spring 1942 their health and spirit is almost broken by British bombings and Russian resistance. Not many were killed thanks to bomb shelters, but it caused chaos, and they didn't understand how the Brits could be shrugging off their sub and aerial attacks. By spring 1943 the inner circle really sees defeat looming and only continue because of admittedly burning bridges behind in terms of crimes. Main US contribution to this point was just lendlease to UK and USSR.

[Tripping on Aspirin]

A last followup: just talking this thru to myself has helped, and i will mention my further direction without burdening with future results.

 

So i have found apparent dazzling symbiosis with aspirin and antihistimine for me. It occurs to me that the 4 hour blissful sweet spot is equal to the duration of the published aspirin dose. My next task is to try to extend it to 5 hours by using coated tablets (and avoiding using bayers new fast acting fine granule aspirin).

 

With a good 5 hour sleep, maybe i can jettison the long acting antihistimine which is expensive with side effects. So a regular antihist boosted with the anti inflammatory and other good effects of aspirin. Of course even aspirin can be overdone and i have sourced cheap coated smaller doses online. Use the minimum or none being an ultimate goal.

[Tripping on Aspirin]

P.S. an aside on anticoagulance... I just saw a lecture on the stages of shock. One of the last horrible stages is an INTERNAL coagulation of blood. Your confused body guesses you may have had a hand or foot bitten off, and blindly clogs up extremities whether they need it or not. The symptoms are counterintuitive... bleeding from the eyes, ears, all over since the rest of your blood is depleted of natural coagulants. Seen in combat, but it is not from the physical effect of an explosion pressure wave. I forget the latin name for this, but the cure is branded in my brain... you have to jab them with a dose of anticoagulant, which is the opposite of what appears to be needed. Yuk, but maybe salicylic acid to the rescue again.

[Zippidee Doodah]

For better prospects of work and sun, I wonder if you ever thought of moving to Australia? I think they just changed their rules to be more inviting to immigration, although I am in an unfavored category. I had thought Oz would be boring, but found Sydney to be a really fantastic place. I guess there are more jobs and lower expenses in their other cities though.

[109,7 kilograms = 241,847102 pounds]

I hate weight training and wish I could find a hobby that accomplished the same. But a series of wellness lectures by some phd made the claim that toning up your muscles has amazing benefits in increasing your resting state metabolism. They claim that the majority of your energy expenditure come from hours of resting state, so basically you can diet less by suffering thru brief gym episodes. Also said strength leads to better health even if you stay heavy (for one of the major killers like heart disease?).

[We sing from the diaphragm a lot]

Applying for your own job throws up a scare, but may be less jeopardy for most than it appears. It could well be a veiled way to justify sacking specific people they have been unhappy with a long time, and may have repeatedly informed them of how to improve their status but with no cooperation. A bit brash for me to say though, having decided to early retire just before a re-app was sprung on our group.

 

I think business exists for the customers and owners. If you hire a worker-bee plumber, is it acceptable if they can't make it but will charge you $500 per day for them doing training classes or back therapy or employee sleep in? The customer must be pleased with results, and the investor/owner/manager has to be pleased with the income or else should put their (sometimes considerable and essential) money elsewhere. Employees should find their profitable niche only by being as valuable or better than employees of competing companies, or else find a more productive niche (even self employment).

 

I don't think the employee should be a charity or the whole transaction/responsiblity between owner and customer is perverted. For instance, gov't workers often don't give value to taxpayers because their management isn't answerable to taxpayers but rather to political factions like employee unions or voting freeloaders immune to the costs. That said, I did gravitate to a company famous for low employee turnover.