May Her Memory Be A Blessing

ABOUT RBG: We should be celebrating the life of one of America's greatest persons. Instead we are having to defend her legacy against the raw exercise of power.
Balloting has already begun in several states. The argument that we should not vote on a new Justice in an Election year is all the stronger now that we are actually in the voting process.
Moreover, it is highly likely that the Supreme Court will have to rule on disputes. There is nothing wrong with an 8-member Court; a 4-4 split is just as valid as anything else; adding a member now achieves no valid purpose.
Little of this matters. Trump wants another Supreme Court pick, to increase the chances any electoral dispute will be resolved in his favor. Meanwhile a thousand Americans die each day from a pandemic that could have been controlled. Failure of leadership on this scale should not be rewarded with another term, if only because of the virtual certainty that the next crisis (...and there is always a next crisis...) will be bungled the same.
But Trump's fans are in love. His rallies are as entertaining as any show at the Roman Colosseum. He tells them who to hate and they scream in their ecstasy of rage. He knows this will kill some of them (say goodnight, Herman Cain) because he has known since February 7 that COVID19 is airborne and deadly, but his followers are willing sacrifices to his glory. They know he lied to them about that, and they don't care; the more he abuses them, the more they show their love by sacrificing themselves and their children.
May RGB's memory be a blessing. She showed us that reason and passion working together can achieve great things for humanity, despite powerful opposition. Her memory, like a star, may guide us through the shadow of Mordor.

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Today's photos:

Ginny sleeps on my blanket

Little Free Pantry

Metal Roofed Little Free Library

Classic Pickup With Hood Ornament

Rooster Yard Art

Shadow On Her Chair

Spread Joy / Not Without Tears

Today's Walk's Little Free Library:
Spread Joy

It can be very distressing to get a notice from a bill collector. Such notices are designed that way.

My daughter Kiara got one referring to a debt that she thought was under control, subject to an agreement that she was current with. It's bad enough to get a bill collector put on you when you owe the money, but when you've already made arrangements it can be worse.

I got to play Dear Old Dad by reading through all the documentation, confirming the facts, and suggesting that she respond immediately to the notice disputing the debt. I think that the most likely explanation for the notice was that one financing company sold a bundle of debt to another financing company, which started processing it a while later without bothering to check whether the debt was still owed. Or maybe the collections notice was the means it employed to check. After all, mailing a letter is not that expensive and it's up to the creditor to raise a dispute. Maybe the collector hopes to hit the jackpot by terrorizing money out of an innocent party.

It can be very upsetting, but Kiara is now dealing with it.

I enjoyed Storeyweavers Toastmasters again, not only the meeting but the discussion afterwards in support of the report I had to fill out. This Club appears to have recruited some people but was concerned about people falling away and the difficulty of closing when prospects seem enthusiastic. Zoom fatigue is real, and the problem of closing probably affects everyone, so perhaps we can have a divisionwide response.

Toward the end of the day I sat in my recliner, intending to turn on the tube but waiting, because Shadow was in my lap so I couldn't move. Heather brought Arthur's ashes and thanked me for the photoessay about him, which they shared at work. She said they loved it, not without tears. 

Tears are not bad, they simply are.

As today's little free library says: spread joy.

At Last Back To Walking And Gardening

 At last, we were ready to defy the smoke plume and resume our morning walks, albeit with care. No shore-to-the-water-tower, no Sound-to-Highpoint yet!

I enjoyed seeing home reconstrection in a variety of stages.

House Under Plastti

It's Dahlia Time!

Cardboard COVID Contraption

At home I took a break and a box, and shook the tree at Scott and Dolores' to start the boxes of apples to give away. They like me to take care of this because no one wants a yard full of rotting fruit!

Apple Harvest Is Underway

A Most Determined Nasturtium

I was impressed with the effort this plant put in to capture sunlight where no plant had gone before!

Toastmasters @ Work

 Skipped morning walk again due to smoke plume.

I enjoyed a Pacific Institute webinar at 8am and took notes. I was careful to followup with thanks.

Lo Bono Section meeting at 4pm.

Most of the day I prepared for the TM Club 832 (West Seattle) meeting, for which I was Toastmaster, having picked the theme "Toastmasters @ Work". I had heard several people mention they'd joined TM because someone at work recommended it as a way to improve their communications skills, either casually or with a bit of a shove. I prepared some remarks about how TM can help in this way, and encouraged ppl to practice their work presentations at the Club, but the big feature was a special Table Topics. I announced that we were holding a Team Meeting and I was the new Team Leader; we would go around the table answering the question "Who are you? What do you do at this company? Why should we pay for your Toastmasters membership?" (with the reminder that in Table Topics, if not in real life, it is perfectly ok to make something up.

This was a great success, and I'm trying to figure out why. We started with people who gave imaginative answers ("Zombie Dog Walker"); rather than waste time passing control back to me, each speaker called upon the next member in their zoom screen; later speakers may have enjoyed having a little more time to ponder the question so they could feel comfortable giving the answer; even the guests got in on the fun. This gives me things to ponder.

Monday Monday

Today:

• WSBA Section Leader Meeting
• SPEAKOUT Executive Committee meeting
• Chores around the house and avoid the bad air from fires

Sitting Around Sunday

 I'm in a pretty low energy state, maybe due to recovering from Arthur's death, maybe due to the bad air from the fires, maybe - who knows? I have not been taking my long morning walks and probably my body is unhappy about that.

Who Wants A Rice Cooker?

Even giving things away on the "Buy Nothing" group is impacted, as people express interest but need to stay in their homes. Ron's rice cooker has been claimed, but still sits on my porch.

I know things will get better, and tinkering with my telling of Arthur's story brings happy memories, but this is not a time of great energy.

On the plus side, Shadow in particular has discovered how to get attention. If I sit in my recliner, she jumps in my lap to be petted or brushes. Ginny has seen this and is now trying the same thing, which is good because due to her long hair, she needs a lot of brushing.

Over the weekend I had some good chats with Sherry. She's a good friend.

I also had a timebank planning meeting, another group of good friends.