Sit-In Wednesday

I'm impressed that the Democrats in Congress are staging a sit-in to demand a vote on the simplest, most common-sense gun control laws.

Tuesday Thoughts Waiting For The Bus

0% Precipitation
On The Leaves

It may be that, as Ben Franklin wrote, "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man Healthy, Wealthy and Wise".
In my experience, there must be more to the formula than that, but I don't know what.
 Well, at least I'm healthy!

Monday Zumba Again

It's difficult to put into words just how much I enjoy dance as exercise. I have really lost interest in exercise without music; that seems merely to be work. And playing music in the background while exercising is merely distracting from the business at hand.
In contrast, exercising to the music integrates psychological and physiological functions that help me exceed my limits. In addition, the freedom to dance - rather than merely to ape the motions of the instructor - make the exercise spiritually renewing, rather than merely good for the body.
I have tried dance exercise several times. Back in East Lansing I remember some class or other that I took with Sherry, that was basically calisthenics with music. I focussed on copying the instructor exactly, and I suppose it was all well enough, but there is a qualitative difference between that and dancing. To this insight I owe the silent coaching of Tall Joan (whose real name I don't know), a Zumba student (and in other venues advanced dance instructor), whom I saw some time last year throwing in a few extra flourishes during class. Suddenly it hit me: I could too!
It's never been the same since.
Monday night I had another Zumba class, another hour of strenuous fun. Other things happened that day, I am sure, because time went by, but I have no real memory of it; my memory is of dancing.

Judgment Time

The proceeds from the Nametka judgment came in.
I had stopped by the Credit Union to make a deposit. The balance looked funny; it had too many digits. I puzzled over it for a while until I realized that it must be so big because the judgment had come in.
I laughed out loud - literally. I had not let myself really expect this to happen. Yes, I had thought about what I would do with it, but I suppose emotionally I was not expecting it to happen. I broke into laughter with happiness, and no-one was at the Credit Union to see the crazy man.
When I got home, the first thing to do was to pay off my Discover bill. Supporting three adults has been very expensive, and I had not let myself notice just how deeply I was sinking financially. Now that I, through hard work and a bit of luck, could address this, I was disappointed to find that my good fortune might extend to cleaning up the worst of the situation but would not let me prudently blow any of it on imprudence.
That's ok. I am happy and have a chance to stabilize finances now that the younger folk are able to care for themselves.
I physically took my Discover card out of my wallet. For the rest of the year, I'm running on cash. It's a primitive method, and it may mean I will forsake some opportunities, but I never again want to live on credit. It may work for others but for me that's merely good judgment.