Clashes with the media.... in These titles mean nothing.

/219. 999,782 items left. It’s been a while since I’ve written - last Friday I think and this is Tuesday. I of course have a lot to say and no idea how to say it.

/220. It’s a beautiful day, sunny, warm, exquisite, best day of the year so far, maybe. I’ve been out burning trash and I have a load of clothes in the washer. I’m wearing my bib overalls with the side buttons open so they are comfortably commodious. Right now I am happy in my existence.

/221. We went to Lacrosse Saturday for the first time in a long time. I was going to put the dates on the calendar - I can get them from my online bank record because I always debit something or another when we are there. It hasn’t been more than once a month, and this time was longer than that. I had a seafood omelet at Fayze’s and we had our delightful waitress Megan so seems to love us as much as we love her. I heard her tell a woman at the next table the reason there were so many bread choices was that we are right on top of a bakery. I’d love a tour of Fayze’s behind the scenes. Maybe someday.

/222. I had two very weird book store experiences that day. First we went to Pearl Street Books, just down the street from Fayze’s, probably my favorite book store in the world, mostly used books but with some new ones mixed in too. They have boxes of books that patrons have brought in to sell beside the entry doors. Sign says hardcover $4 and paperback $2. I’ve bought books from the boxes in the past. This day there were boxes of books on the other side of the door and I went to look at them. I found four books that seemed to be to m taste: the first volume of a biography of Theodore Dreiser, a book about Edith Wharton by Louis Auchincloss, a bio/memoir (I didn’t look too close) of Noel Coward, and A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman. I was proud of myself for rearranging the books in the box in case anyone else wanted to see them. I joked to myself that if I lived in Lacrosse I’d come in every day to arrange the books in boxes.
BUT.
When I went to pay for them I asked if it was ok to take them from the boxes on the other side of the entry doors and was told it wasn’t. Those were reject books that were being returned to their owners. I offered to pay for them. I even not very graciously told the clerk that the best books had been turned down. No dice. I asked if I could leave a note with my name and phone number (leave a message please) with the books so the owner could get in touch with me if they wanted to. That’s three days ago and no message. After that I was kind of off my book buying mood so I didn’t buy anything. I thanked the clerk and said I would be back. I didn’t want them to think I was mad.

/223. Then we went to Barnes & Noble because I had a $50 gift card singeing a hole in my wallet. We rarely go to B&N because we have a couple used book stores we like and a non-chain one in Decorah. So anyway, my main and first interaction with corporate books was a display rack behind the registers with something called a Buddha Board. It was a 12” square (approx.) board that sides on a stand. It comes with a brush and you brush it with water - a design, words, whatever. And then the image gradually disappears as the water dries. Silly but kind of interesting. $35. I picked up the box and read the text. The last line on the back said = Zen rocks sold ‘seperately’. I looked and looked. The word is separately. I’m not the best speller - as you all well know - and I rely on red squiggle and even auto-correct is my friend. How big silly B&N can make that kind of mistake is a mystery - Zen or not.

Note 1: looking back spell check had corrected ‘seperately’ so I had to put quotes around it and now it suffers from a red squiggle. How Zen is that?

Note 2: I didn’t buy anything in B&N either. Tom Jones’ bio in the remainders caught my eye and Jim found a book about Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda that he liked. I thought of getting Deb a Mother’s Day card and sending the $50 gift card to her but I didn’t do it. Maybe when she comes on Memorial Day weekend.

/224. Yesterday was Monday and the Cedar Rapids Gazette came. I have this long long relationship with that newspaper. Jim learned to read from the comics. I worked for them for 5 years and they were very kind to me. I took puzzles to Joana for a couple months. I realize newspapers are in a lot of financial difficulty. No one reads/buys/subscribes, etc. I had wanted to support the newspaper which I had good experiences with. BUT. On the front page of Monday’s paper was a large color photo and the beginning of an article that continued to a full page inside. It was a reprint from the Washington Post, part of a series of articles they have been running about Iowa’s role in the 2016 election and the results of the election. I had heard of the series but had not seen one until yesterday. They spoke to the same people - a Republican county chair and a Democrat - in the series and review previous articles. I wasn’t expecting a lot but what I got was beyond disappointing. Most of the article was from the Republican viewpoint. The man was a strong Trump supporter, even blaming the Republican congress for not supporting Trump enough. There was nothing about the pure bad behavior of our President. Ok I thought. I’ll wait and see what the Dem has to say. They had very little to say and if was all apologies for the loss. What the Dems had done wrong and what they would continue to do wrong. Those who read me understand that there are good and lively Democrats in the state of Iowa. The Washington Post did not find them.
THEN.
I turned the page to the editorial page and across the top was an article from the Federalist, headlined: The Obama legacy deserves to be destroyed. Iowa voted for Obama twice with generous margins both times -keep that in mind. That plus fairly fawning coverage of our state Republican government was enough. I called and cancelled my subscription. Woman was pleasant and I was pleasant.

225./ To make things even I called Wisconsin Public Radio and cancelled my monthly donation to them. They haven’t done anything to make me mad - mainly because I never listen to them. I’ve noticed I no longer even turn the car radio to their stations on the rather rare times I drive. I no longer have a house radio - though to be honest I might get one hooked up if I miss the newspaper. WPR has changed a lot too. They are in the same spot as the newspapers, less revenue, less interest, and I feel bad about that too.

/226. Now I’m a little over forty bucks a month richer without the paper and the radio. Plus my unused B&N card. There is still money in the windfall (tree) envelope - though I have promised some of that for Katie’s birthday laptop. Will is back playing baseball. To brag, he pitched in last inning of a losing game where they put lesser talents in, but he pitched a pop up that resulted in a double play at first - the other pitcher had walked the runner on first, and then struck out the next batter. According to his parents who are also modest he fielded and put people out and had some hits. Oh and he caught a couple innings too. He is young and small, but he really liked baseball. They had played three games over the weekend at a local ‘tournament’. There will be a tournament in Rochester on Fathers Day weekend we might be able to go to.

His basketball team is set up too. Second year with Holy Family. Will and others were cut from the official teams last year and were able to have their own team at Holy Family (catholic school with a gym that floored me when I visited). This year they can play for Holy Family without having to be cut from the official teams first. I guess I better come up with some log money to support Will’s sporting career.

/227. I guess I’m about through. I have a second load a wash to hang. We had hamburgers for lunch. Lyle the trucker is hauling corn to the river - he called and said they were changing barges and he was in a long line. Not a situation to make a trucker happy. I hear the Kubota mowing. Lawn will look nice when it’s mowed. I MIGHT do a little gardening, might not. I’m not terribly into it. The three tomatoes look ok. Deck plants need recovery time.

/228. Have a good day everyone. Be good to those you come across. Don’t cancel any more newspaper subscriptions. See you all soon. 999,773 to go.

Last updated May 15, 2018