Archive
Quick Update
I haven’t blogged in a while. I was going to work on the Second step of NA translated into simple concrete English but when I tried to make the link it deleted my post again. I don’t have that much time and will set that aside, perhaps tomorrow.
Overall things are a little slower then the campaign. I have my busy days of constant meetings, events, reading and responding to emails, and calls that go from rise to bed but yesterday I got out in the garden and played some Spades with Flow and her friend Brian after dinner. Tonight I will garden again and make some Spanish Rice. I have some local grass fed ground round and some saved from the dumpster (go Flow!) tomatoes and I will add some chard or kale or whatever it is I got at the market on Saturday.
Its all engaging and a lot of it is fun and I am learning a lot. I am getting better about just surfing with the business. Actually instead of gardening I will take Fido for a walk to the dog park. He has been a good and patient dog but he slept with Flow last night. If I don’t watch it he’s going to be her dog. She makes him cuddle which he doesn’t like but she’s home all the time and I am hardly home at all.
I have abandoned the every other day walk. Its just not feasible but I have to find more time for him. I at least got his medicine ordered. Living carless has been a new challenge. It segways nicely into the Wellness grant I am working on at work. It also makes sure I get my exercise and time to think whether I want to put it in my schedule or not.
I have decided to bring the blog back public again in August, for my birthday. I will invite some more folks to join. I don’t think I am bringing back Facebook. I don’t miss it and I don’t have time for it. I would end up posting and not reading but mostly its the time thing. It also allows me not to look at stuff that is just there.
I have been going to bed early and even got up early today. Did some gardening, I transplanted some lillies to make room for the chocolate mint I got at the market. Yesterday I put in four new strawberry plants. The strawberries have done well and I had a nice bowl of them yesterday. Oh so yummy. In place of my evening bowl of cereal. That was no sacrifice. I’ve had some giant Sam’s Club strawberries at work, wooden by comparison.
I also pulled the grass around the flower beds and shook its seed on the barespots. Better to put it to use then let it fall and become a problem for tomorrow. All of the flowerbeds have looked great. The spring flowers are largely done already with the early spring though there are still some irises coming online. The coreopsis is getting ready to go. Everything is accelerated.
Flow has been concerned she put the tomatoes in to early and they will be stunted by the chill. I got another one to put in and am waiting. The ground is supposed to be warm enough to sit on. We made plans with Brian to get a truck load of mulch. My clay is so hard to work with. We are pulling compost out of the bing one as Flow used the other and the horse manure. I used the bucket of it Ann gave me for Fido’s birthday. It was nicely broken down and I think the strawberries will like it.
Flow broke the washer washing rugs with loose junk on the bottoms. She had it repaired but couldn’t do laundry. I have enough clothes where its been better then 3 weeks and I still look respectable. Had to wear dirty pants though.
I’ve been dating that has been new for me. I kind of like it. Think I will stick with that for while as my life shakes out. Don’t have the time or energy for much else. Going out to a nice place in Fulton on Saturday. Also have to get the suit altered, which is a good thing. I have a wedding in Baltimore in Mid-May to go to. The place where I bought my suit was investigated for human trafficing. I hope my alterations are not made by a slave. What a world we live in. With all of our good things and knowledge and power there are more people in slavery now then ever in history. But they promised to alter it for free when I bought it and I spent a lot of money. What do you do?
Well I Won
Boy, they’ll let anyone be on city council here in Columbia. Its 2:12 on a weeknight and I ought to be sleeping. I took Fido for a walk after I got home. I went to Steak and Shake as I had been making the rounds and didn’t get to eat dinner. I drank a beer but tried not to hold it all the time. Might look at my press. I’m pretty tired. “Hollowed out with a bit of an echo” I said in an email. Feels good to have the wind blowing through you though. Wrote a snatch of verse:
I don’t go to church
I am a church
Worshiping with anyone who believes in anything
And everyone who believes in everything
Right now the dog and the grass
Election Day
Well at long last it is finally here. I woke up early like I needed to for the plan. I was groggy, sleep has been hard to come by and last night was no exception. Up late doing stuff, mind turning, fitful sleep. I made coffee and grabbed my stainless steel water bottle out of the car pleased with my forethought for remembering where it was in the car and remembering to grab it, not going to have time to drink it at home got to get rolling to glad hand after at the polling place after voting. It wasn’t until the bottle heated up and I dropped it spilling hot coffee all over my hand that I remembered I don’t drink coffee in the stainless steel water bottle but in the stainless steel coffee cup. No harm no fowl. Good coffee though, a light roast Rwandan I roasted yesterday, quite yummy. Almost a nutty flavor.
I got my shower, shave and dressed as fancy I get, pretty much, my nice shirt, my first silk tie I bought new, perhaps all the way back in the 80s. It was late 80s so not totally narrow but narrow on the top and flared out at the bottom, not like they make ties now but passable.
I’d gotten vetoed on taking Fido to campaign with me. Last year, regular readers may recall I took Fido to the polls. It was the day after Dad had died and we were coming back from the dog park. We’d opened up our hearts to some sweet old ladies (sisters I recall) and we had all talked about losing our Dads. At the polling place I saw Henry from across the street (he’s working another polling place this year) and he offered his condolences and me and all the poll workers all talked about losing our dads. I never felt more part of a community then to walk out of my house and find solace in the comfort of my neighbors.
I’m very emotional today, crying as I write this. The campaign has been a wonderful distraction as the one year anniversary approaches but I am melting down today, just a bit. Its normal politically astute folks have told me. Excuse me while I go find a tissue.
That’s better. Breathe in Breathe out. So I walked down to the polls, sans Fido. A neighbor I had spoken to at length yesterday (for the third time, I had won her vote, Bill Pauls came by and stole it, I spoke at length to her husband trying to get a yard sign placement when he told me about Bill, but won her back yesterday on the final pass). She pushed the edge of talking about the campaign in the sacred neutrality of the polling place. I told her I called it a “personal project” when I talked about the campaign at work.
I did the same thing at City Council meeting when I spoke up for some neighbors who wanted a zoning change delayed to gather more neighbors. I publicly commented in favor of the tabling at one of their all’s request and talked about how I had canvassed the neighborhood for a “personal project”. As I was leaving I was set upon by some J-school students for an interview and none of them knew I was a candidate and had a fair shot at being on the Council next meeting. It was funny. (tabling passed 5-1, only dissenter was our current rep who I think is bent because I’ve been campaigning against his comment that the Ward was “apathetic”. He also isn’t trying to develop a cordial working relationship with me as the rest of the council appears to be. I also obliquely referenced that in my comments which probably didn’t help.)
The woman I worked so hard to capture her vote voted absentee yesterday (that’s at least 3 of those plus my own so I’m getting at least 4 votes). Another neighbor was there, I had gone by her house a couple of times but she never answered the door. She’s super-religious and felt she was voting for Pauls, I would have if I was her in spite of a personal connection which she made an oblique reference to herself, so perhaps I did win her vote. I’ve done a good turn or two for the community and there will be some folks who don’t normally vote showing up today.
Seeing yourself on the ballot is pretty cool. These things are close so I chose myself. I got my sticker and put my ballot in the ballot machine.
I went outside and stepped past the “no electioneering past this point” sign and should have slipped on my “Michael Trapp for Ward 2 City Council” badge and started thanking people for coming out but just couldn’t do it. As I told my advisers in an email “I’m not really a friendly and outgoing person. I just learned to act like one and I can’t do it this morning”. The church is my neighbor and they have a sign saying “no trespassing except for church business”. I respect that. The counter-argument is that by providing access to the polls that extends to electioneering on site but it was all to ambiguous, it was early, I felt weird and I am tired, not just tired but weary to the bone.
So I walked home took off my tie and dress shirt and wrote this blog. I am going to make a second pot of coffee and put some time in the garden, perhaps nap if my racing mind allows, and probably take the dog for a walk. I’ve earned a little R&R. Hell I’m going to put shorts on. I closed my email with “If I lose by 3 votes I will feel silly and self-indulgent”. True dat. If I get a chance to do this again I will take a friend with me to buck me up.
Return to Valleyview
If I am posting it must be insomnia. They’re go the 2:00 am Baptist bells, two minutes late, like clockwork. It seems somehow unBabtist to be two minutes late, two minutes early maybe. But these aren’t your parents Baptists, judgmental and strident, but bland with projection screen throwing up bland hymns. Yawn. A little of that and I could sleep. Instead I have Organic NightyNight tea, still to hot to drink. And blogging my thoughts. See if I get them out of my head to make room for sleep to come in.
I didn’t end up calling in sick the day after I was up posting in the middle of the night. I did sleep in and take some time to wake up. Got my mumps vaccine. 43 years old without getting it, not to bad. The vaccine used to only last 7 years so I never got it when it became available. Now with a booster it lasts your whole life so it makes sense. I didn’t want to kick that can down the road when I would be even older when my immunity failed.
Today started early. I had to get going early and take Fido to a dog park friend’s house to spend the day with Ru the Standard Poodle who likes to hump. I think all poodles do. Fido likes him though, he’s pretty tolerant of such things. He’s easy going to a fault. I had to get there early so Cindy could get to her exercise class but she skipped it to have coffee with me anyway. I brought her some of the dark roast Sumatran I had made. It was good. Best of the lot at its peak this morning. She had broken out the French press for the occasion. I was a little sorry to have given it all away. I roasted a light roast Rwandan tonight so I’ve got something to look forward to. Cindy was dog sitting for a spastic little dog. He humped Fido too.
Tea’s still to hot to drink, had a sip anyways. I came home and dealt with returning some of the phone calls I needed to make. I started to write most but some is more accurate. I still owe my friend Amy and brother Bob a call. Still have an email to family to write as well. I called and did an interview on crime in the second ward with the Trib political paper. He had a 12:00 deadline but it wasn’t in the paper tonight. Maybe tomorrow. That Friday night to Saturday morning is a compressed news cycle. Saturday would be better anyway. It helps door knocking to have been on the paper that day, though you pretty much need to be on the front page and/or have a big picture if you want to get into people’s consciousness. My doors tonight I’d sent them 2 pieces of mail, been in the paper twice a week for a month, and had already knocked on their doors before and no one knew who I was.
Made an appearance at work, mostly just checking email and messages and off to Uprise to meet with the Fire Department Association president. He was meeting with the incumbent from another ward but I got to update Scott, an early supporter who owns an ice cream shop downtown and touch base about not having an event at his place. To much to do not enough time. Its hard to beat doors for voter candidate as far as efficient use of time.
I met with the Fireman, didn’t get endorsed but got a donation and the promise not to be organized against. Still a victory. They don’t want their endorsement to be meaningless and their candidate got beat last time. Drove down to Jefferson City for a meeting of the Missouri Cadre for Co-Occurring Excellence. Been a minute since I’d seen those peeps. I was late because of the fireman thing. We’re planning a peer review process in conjunction with the state. Promising. I picked up a committee assignment again and bragged up my campaign. They’re very proud and miss me on facebook. Nine days and I’m back.
Tea’s yummy. I put in my Michigan honey, the honey of my youth. Sleepy now, but not enough. I drove back to town and caught a couple hours in the office. Not real productive, tired and mind racing. Picked up Fido, he’d had fun and sacked out early and didn’t even get out of bed when I got up to blog so he had a good day. I’ll do it again next week.
Did doors with Ann. Drank the last of the Sumatran dark roast. It threatened rain and had a whole street of no one at home. I wondered if there was a tornado warning and everyone was huddled in their basement. Got a couple signs on the next street. “Bitchin'” a young woman said after I gave her my spiel. The listening tour is over, I’ve been to all 13 precincts and asked what was their concerns. Now I’m pitching myself. Starting back where I started so long ago was interesting. I am a different person. I have a comprehensive knowledge of the neighborhood and its issues, a confidence and a huge array of talking points.
Getting back my old walk sheets for my turf tomorrow. Will be nice to have my notes when I follow up with people for a second time. Even just to know if I talked with them before or not. Stopped by Jeff’s when it started raining. Did a couple houses in the rain but then my sheets got damp and its no fun any more. Got a better tour of his awesome house. Built in 1906 by a biologist who testified in the Scopes trial. Its a 3 story built of concrete forms 1′ x 1′ x 2′ with rock facing on one side. He has a pond with frogs and his fruit trees are in bloom. Very lovely.
Gave me the night of, and I do what my advisers tell me. That was a good strategy. We’ve had remarkably smooth sailing.Allowed me to do dishes and clean my kitchen. I’d had ants, so it needed to be done. No more stacking up dishes for days. Flow has a scrubber that holds dish soap and will start washing them as I go. Ants are God’s way of telling you you are a slob.
Made some fried rice. Was going to do salmon patties but had leftover rice to eat from Fido’s party. Waste not want not, Grandma Trapp always said. Watched a little news and went to bed. Now its time to try that again. A little sleepy and some Spiderman ought to do the trick. I’m down to the Annuals so soon there will be no more. I also finished The Order of Things, only took me 7 years. Have to pick a new book out. Maybe finish that book on the origins of intelligence I borrowed from John in the Spring. I could return it on my cross country odyssey.
Hope to mow, do a load of laundry, straighten the house, do an interview with a Missourian editoraiist. He writes on issues of religious liberty (the freedom from not freedom to do perspective [hope he’s going to slam my stridently Catholic opponent who criticized Catholic politicians who don’t act like Catholics claiming they’re following the will of their constituents] all before 10 when Vicki comes over. I have a public radio interview at 10:30, oh and I’ll need a shower. Seems ridiculous when I write it all down but you never know. Oh, and I saw a rainbow.
Fido’s birthday
Good morning faithful reader. Its about 4:30 am and I have been up for an hour or so. Went to sleep pretty early but woke up and really felt there was no going back down so decided to get an early start on the day. I can’t even remember the last time I blogged, aside from my last post on NA step 2, which hardly counts. Life has really become a blur with constant frenetic activity from the beginning of the day to the end of the day. There is only a little more then two weeks before the election though so the end is in sight. And none to soon. I am deep down bone weary tired. I have been campaigning so hard and so long I can no longer remember when I wasn’t and other folks seem like they are moving in slow motion.
Its going well though. Money is coming in, enough to do what we want to do as far as get the word out. Three mailings, two are out, one will go out just prior. The rack cards are looking good. The last one shows some of the problems in the ward, potholes, lack of sidewalks, a police car & the fire station with a picture of Fido and me. I have my glasses off and we are both looking off into the distance like we are pondering how to solve the problems in the Second Ward. Well at least one of us is.
Speaking of Fido I think he very much enjoyed his birthday celebration. He is two now, or fourteen in dog years, a little teenager now. I expect him to start staying out late and smoking cigarettes. Wanting to borrow the car and going on dates. Well perhaps not. He has really enjoyed having Flow here, our new housemate. He wanted to sleep in the hall between our rooms. I started to let him but then he was wanting to get up and growl at the people walking down the street so I made him come and sleep in my room. He gets up and lays outside Flow’s room waiting for her to get up now.
I am going to take him for a walk when it gets a little later. Its probably been 4 days. Just no time. We have this unnaturally warm spell though and have been able to leave the door open so he can go in and out, plus Flow hangs outside with him and took her with him to visit some chihuahuas yesterday. Only Freddy and LuLu came to the party as far as dogs. They all hung out though and enjoyed some dessicated liver while we humans had Chinese and cupcakes Lisa made.
I got him a tiger that roars and some rawhide chews for his chew toy that makes them last. Found it in my bed when I went to lay down. He got a rawhide, and a new neon pink collar (he’s a little girly) but it was to big. I’ll probably have to poison him its been so warm. Maybe after his walk this morning. Its warm enough he may go for a swim, especially if he sees Ru at the park. I was going to invite Ru’s mom to the party but didn’t really do any invites except people I ran across or was talking to anyway. Still had a nice turn out. My embedded reporter and photographer came. That should be pretty much over now and profiles should be out next week, I am excited to see mine. I only gave a slightly expurgated version of my way to interesting for politics life so we’ll see what they do with it. It was fun telling my story.
Also did video interviews for the Missourian website, those should be out soon if you’ve ever wanted to hear me talk you soon can. Later this morning I am shooting a web video for my web add on KOMU website. Got a good deal on it and we have the extra money because fundraising has gone well.
Its the last day of Brain Awareness week at work. Its been fun with dressing the same color and I did a cool education group on Neurogenesis and Neuroplasticity called “This is Your Brain on Recovery”. Also had the most important candidate forum, the League of Women Voters, though it got little coverage, a footnote to the School Board race. I thought I was again the clear winner sounding thoughtful and at times eloquent. Picked up some donations.
Its been hard to find time to do doors and follow up calls with all the events. We had dinner after the forum so lost an evening there and gave one up for Fido. Tonight I think I am going to cancel my date and try to get doors and calls in. Its weird now that its hot, not quite as fun. Its hard not to make it rote, I’ve done so many now. I really like people though and am genuinely curious and intrigued to figure them out. People pick up on that. Been doing around the house trying to pick up some signs around Parkade school. Got 5 out of the project but it was weird being my third pass at these folks.
People are starting to know who I am. The signs really help. I’m glad to be back on fresh turf tonight. Have drivers for the weekend so I should easily get in 300 + doors. There’s some rain coming but I will push through it. I’m getting tired now, may try to go back to bed rather then have that second cup of coffee. The dog may have to wait.
another full day
Continue to suck the marrow out of life. It is full, it is exciting, it is good. Got up early and made my coffee to go. I’m into the medium roasts now and had a Rwandan I roasted yesterday, pretty good. Fido and I walked down to the park, and his buddy the standard poodle Ru was there. Fido was as happy to see Ru’s mom who has a treat for him when she sees him. She says the park is really talking about the election and encouraged me to do more outreach. She is going on vacation but offered to have Fido over for the day when she gets back. She had a thing to do so we walked the long way home. She was teasing me for Fido needing a bath and a brush out and for thinking I could clip his hair myself.
At lunch a prospective roommate came over, Flow. She seems nice and actually I knew her from River Relief and some of Heidi’s parties. She thinks about 2 weeks and she will move in. She liked Fido and wants to take him for walks. She is also into cooking and it will be nice to get to eat twice as often as I eat. I think she will get along well with Brenda as well.
After work I hit doors with Terry Frueh who was visiting from Oregon. I did my opponents neighborhood. Found all the signs rather intimidating. I stopped at most of them anyway and one person was outside with her little dog and I chatted her up and without asking she put her vote back in play. I talked to another of his supporters who seemed liberal, judging by the big Buddha on her mantle. She asked about my involvement with the neighborhood association and thought hers was active because they have one meeting a year.
I also knocked on the door of a woman from the Chamber of Commerce who seemed supportive. She was impressed with my door knocking which she had seen mentioned on some blogs. Got in 35 doors, best weekday yet. Add in a beautiful sunset and it was a nice day. Went to Bangkok with Terry and it was nice to get caught up and get some Columbia history. Some good Thai food was nice as well.
Then home for calls and emails wind down and tomorrow I do it again. 60 and sunny is enough to make me forget its February. Got our hotspot ordered, first mailing at the mail house, and the political wheels keep turning.
adventures from the campaign trail
Just watched the sun come up and it looks like a beautiful day. I’ve been truly blessed on the weather end for door knocking, the staple of a low budget high energy municipal candidate. I’ll hit 900 doors today and likely cross the thousand mark this weekend. I won’t be able to put in a full day today as there is the MU/Kansas game and it would be bad form to interrupt. Plus I have an invitation to watch the game at Jeff’s house and it will be nice to hang out and talk about something else besides the campaign. I see how politicians can get self absorbed and morally bent. There is something warping in this constant self promotion and angle working that is intrinsic to a competitive race.
Overall I feel like things are going well. I was endorsed by Labor and received a check and also got another sizable donation from a relative of my most active volunteer. The ethics reports are out and one opponent is behind in the fundraising race and the other hasn’t even formed a committee, which means he hasn’t raised or spent any money or he’s criminally negligent.
I continue to try to navigate my way through local controversy and stick to message. So far things seem to be breaking in my favor. My rack cards (those slick looking soundbite vehicles that come in the mail) are back from the printer and at the mailing house. Soon when I hit doors they will have at least seen a piece of mail. I hope to win more commitments and especially yard sign placements.
That really seems to go with my mood. When I am feeling it I can get commitments across the political spectrum more often then not. Sometimes though I am just getting them out. Friendly to everyone and open to a genuine connection for people who want to make that happen (a small minority) but mostly saying my spiel getting a commitment to take a look at my stuff and pleased I stopped by. Not bad but those days when almost every door is magic is pretty fun. I at least seem to open to being shifted into hyper-engaging mode with a cool connection at a door and am largely immune to the very occasional superfastblowoff, the worst I’ve run into thus far.
Had a cool experience yesterday. 92 year old dude who said I was the first candidate who had ever come to his door and won his vote just for showing up. Down the street met a lady who is concerned about the same things I am, saw I am a counselor at Phoenix Programs and hit me up for some doorway social work for her depressed son who had aged out of her insurance plan. Wrote out instructions to navigate the system for a free doctor and validated her struggle. Took a bit of time but found a home for another yard sign.
Made it out for a drink last night after doors and still got caught up on my follow up calls. Tonight is iffy, tomorrow is out of the question (Walking Dead, double deader since we missed last week). All in all things continue to go well. Busy, frightfully so but engaging and fun. Getting a lot of feedback of good feedback on Fido’s picture on the rack card. You can check it out at michaeltrapp.net on the bio page. If you get a chance follow the link to the Columbia Tribune poll and give me a vote, I’ve fallen behind. One of my opponents must be organizing around it a bit, I don’t think he’s that popular.
Well, I wouldn’t mind walking the dog again. He slept with me last night so I know he’s understimulated and lonely, its been a while since he cuddled up all night. There’s also a paper to be read and a little housekeeping wouldn’t hurt with having a date tonight. Nice problem to have.
winter float trip
I’m waiting for a friend to come over and then we’re going to go see a roots rock show at the Blue Fugue. I’m impressed with myself for still going out even though I’ve had a long day. Pretty much took a day off the campaign trail, though I still slogged through an hour and a half of sorely needed follow up calls and dealt with some electronic correspondence. Most of the day I spent out on the Big Muddy with Trevor, Eric and Andy. We drove out last night and stayed at the the East Wind(or something like that) motel in Glasgow. Very quirky, divey kind of place but the owner was really sweet and hilarious. Gave us chocolates and walked us to our rooms to show us how satellite tv worked. It was a nice start to the trip after allowing myself to get a little frustrated with the little delays and driving back and forth across town that group floats always seem to inspire. Just tired.
We had a really great time on the river. My friend Trevor beat me to blogging about the day. He includes pictures. We shuttled our vehicles and Andy and I waited with the canoes on Stump Island. We hiked around and I read the interpretive sign. Lewis and Clark took a rest day there. Wind was out of the Northwest like today but they were heading up river (a much less chanellized and slower river, I might add) and we’re heading down of course (we do float trips here in Missouri, in Michigan we call them canoe trips). They’d had 2 days of rain so they dried their shit and played the fiddle and had a good old time. They all journaled, a great activity.
Julie just called, she is running late. I said I would add more detail. Trevor and Eric finally made it back and we were ready to embark. They had stopped to pick up breakfast burritos at the Glasgow bakery so well worth the wait. Eric makes cold pressed coffee concentrate so we had caffeined up before leaving the hotel. A little hot breakfast was a bonus.
It was a beautiful day on the river for February. Brisk for sure, but that thins out the crowds. Only saw 2 fishing boats, no other canoes of course. Plus in the winter you can see through the woods and get a better feel for the country. The highlight though were the bald eagles. Must have seen 5 or 6 plus some hawks, ducks, and a flock of cardinals on the way out. It was really amazing. There’s a number of eagles nest south of Stump Island (named by Lewis and Clark because it was island with a lot of stumps. Now its no longer an island and pretty much stump free.) so not a bad place to go and check out the big birds.
We had a pretty fun time, taking our time. We only did 14 miles and there’s a pretty good current. We stopped and tossed around the Frisbee and explored some sand bars. The currents are tricky in some places. The Big Muddy is fun to float because it is very easy until its not. Its wide with a channel and if you pay attention you can easily avoid hazards but there’s some bits can get tricky around sand bars and such.
It was a good environment with good company. We packed up with only a little less misadventure then loading the boats to come out but I was in much better spirits. I dozed some on the way home. Picked up Fido from Ashley, he was happy to see me. He’s been sleeping so I don’t know if he did at Ashley’s. First time we’ve been apart since Dad died. I missed him. I’ve become one of those people.
Ordered pizza as I’d thought we’d stop for dinner. Did my follow up calls. Got through a bunch and will do the same tomorrow and hope to be completely caught up by the end of the day. Eager to read my newspaper coverage. The Chamber of Commerce endorsed my opponent. I thought I got some good coverage though I came in last. Was on the front page though. Don’t forget to vote for me in the poll, I’ve fallen 2 votes back.
Tomorrow its back to door knocking. Olive, Fido’s buddy is coming over and I’m having breakfast with Amy and Michael. No Walking Dead this week, Harry has to work. He will DVR it and we’ll get a double feature next week. Well I should let the dog out before Julie gets here. Goodnight faithful reader, sleep tight.
utterly and totally exhausted
At least its the good kind of tired, satisfaction with a job well done, but tired nonetheless. I would be in bed but the dog has been alone all day. He had to get excited I was home, play a little, eat his dinner and now he is on his evening constitutional. Its a gentle night so I expect he will hang out outside for a while. I hope I get up early enough to take him for a walk. I guess getting off at 4 would allow me to squeeze a walk in before door knocking at 5. We’ve been getting lucky and getting to meet other dogs hitting the dog park at sunrise. He made friends with the pack that had annoyed me in the past. What I thought was a dog walker is really a dog rescuer with just to many dogs to reasonably manage. I understand wanting to help and having love in your heart. At least overcame the pack dynamic and got to play with some of them. Another morning there was a Husky. It kicked Fido’s ass eventually but all socialization helps. Whoops Fido’s barking so that wraps up my little tale. Its off to bed and dream perhaps of a better world.
i heard there was a game on?
Getting up and getting a glass of tea and writing a blog post was a good move last night. Got those thoughts out of my head and I was tired by the end, holding off sleep for a good break in the narrative. Sharing the parts of the tale I didn’t want to forget. And then sleep. Grand total of 8 hours, first time in weeks and I felt good. Not the sleep deprived dangerous kind of good but well rested and normal kind of good. I might have a new strategy going.
I got up moving a little slow. The rain scheduled for today was cancelled so washed a couple of loads and got them on the line. Got some local grass fed ground beast out of the freezer so I would be obligated to cook, best day of the week to do so, even though still have leftovers back. Did some dishes and read the paper. Then I got a couple of phone calls and lost my window to call power brokers before having to get ready for the daily canvass.
Left a note on the front door to come on in and was in the shower when my driver arrived. Started in the most distant part of the neighborhood and what I thought would be the awkward to walk spots. Then I did this area I didn’t really know existed. Off the beaten path and this suburban wonderland of adequate infrastructure and comfortable homes. A beautiful day with lots of kids outside playing. Unknowingly hit the house of one of my clients, which hit home the wisdom of giving up my clinical load.
I’m getting faster and no one had issues. Got some houses of folks who had signed my petition. Arranged for more yard signs. Nice having consistent success with that pitch, I’ve been slack on it, not wanting to go from never heard of you to sure I’ll advertise for you in five minutes. Meeting people who know me from the paper. Someone from the dog park, big supporter, big hater of my opponent the “dog nazi” and she waffled on a sign, but came through.
My driver had a meeting so I came home dealt with emails and had some leftovers for lunch. I had made a big salad for breakfast (leaf lettuce, cucumber, with local spinach, broccoli, & fenugreek sprouts with swiss cheese, salami and my homemade mustard dressing). I also brought in the laundry as Fido wouldn’t go outside without me.
Still got out and got some doors, met people who were glad their neighbor was running, getting a lot of signs. It was nice being able to leave from my front door and getting comfortable off my usual rap since some I’d asked to sign my petition. Second to the last door, the guy with the antique firetruck who wasn’t on my list but I wanted to touch base said to get home to watch the game. Then I realized why that one house I skipped was having a party. Still stopped at my progressive friends and chatted some but they were expecting pizza and had the game on.
I would’ve watched it myself but its not on the one channel I get (gotta get some triple A batteries). Would have ordered pizza but my earlier self knew my weak willed self really wanted to cook dinner after a long and hard day of door knocking. Its ground round so I browned it in a little olive oil and added a big onion from the market and half a yellow pepper as well as some broccoli, spinach, and a couple of local roasted jalapenos out of the freezer and some garlic from the Monroe market. Added some spaghetti sauce as I am living largely can free thank you very much until they stop putting BPA in the liner. Then I added Mrs. Dash, fresh ground cumin and mustard seed, and a chipotle’ bullion cube. Thought about thickening it but didn’t. Ate it on toast with some of my homemade hot bread and butter pickles and some garlic olives. Pretty yummy.
Then I took Fido for a walk because he was acting like a spaz all evening. Today was his off day but tomorrow is a nightmare day (for him) of work, door knocking, dinner with Trevor, City Council meeting. I would have had to gotten his walk in before work to stay on schedule and I can’t count on waking bolt awake at five every morning, or four or three as the case may be. Some day all this will feel normal and I will just sleep like a normal person. right?
Multiconstruct 
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