Bday Weekend in A New Chapter

This ended up being a pretty good birthday.

Due to my family’s current schism, meaning that my mom and dad can’t be in the same room together, it was spread over 3 separate days.

Friday:
We went to my dad’s house and ate dinner with his wife. The boy loves going there because they have a bunch of plants and flowers in the backyard. Grandpa also spoils him and lets him do just about anything there. Food was ok. My dad cooks what feels like 100% strictly Italian, which is fine. But sometimes I don’t want to deal with it. When I have been asked if I have a preference, I recommend that his wife can cook since she prepares other things.

On the way home, I felt like I was a Grand Theft Auto character. Cop cars and helicopters flew by me. When I got home and checked the neighbors board, it turns out a 12 year old girl went missing. She was found pretty quickly. It was nice to see that they took it that seriously.

Saturday:
I kicked off the morning by going to the big library downtown. They have a sale every now and then and allow people to go into their warehouse. Books are crazy cheap and they tend to even have some pretty rare stuff. I rarely tell anyone about it because I want it to remain a secret (for obvious reasons.)

Some of my friends came later that evening and we went to have some dinner. Then we played some board games and talked shit. One of guests was a former coworker of mine, we worked together for 12 years more or less. He said people at the office still miss me and talk about me every now and then. Aww. He said the office is basically quiet 100% and no one has the personality to get people talking. We ended up playing until around 12:30 AM and then had some cake.

Sunday:
The boy was cranky all morning and it made life difficult. At around 3 my mom showed up and we went to eat dinner a bit after. I got some phone calls from distant family members and old friends scattered throughout the day. I like to live life on the edge and after dinner we went to the Korean market.

Regarding the assassination:
One of my friend’s was late to the dinner. He apologized and whispered he got caught up/distracted looking at something. He said it was serious. He told me and I immediately said “fuckkk!”. I have been starting to do it for a few months, but I have started a type of news/social media blackout. I’m just done. I have given up and I don’t want to be part of the game anymore.

My wife, who is arguably from one of the most peaceful countries on earth, is shocked by everything about the American system. None the less, she is stressed about Trump’s presidency. She thinks its mind-boggling how American women simply sit by and allow their rights to get taken away. In fact, some encourage it and vote for it. As someone with a strong history background, I have tried explaining what I can. But it just leads to more questions and disappointments.

It’s probably worthy of its own entry at some point but living here has lead to a lot of long conversations. We decided to live here because I already had a large home, in a good area, with access to just about everything, etc. But my wife has a lot of concerns about her own rights and the education for the kids. I don’t blame her, they’re completely valid points.

I told her we would take it one step at a time. We’re lucky and unlike most people, we’re able to just leave. We have multiple countries we can go live in. I would prefer not to but we will see how things play out. I’m so frustrated with this country’s politics and public discourse. I told my wife that ages ago I was really involved in politics. I attended a lot of public and local events, debates, etc. Overtime, I just became frustrated. That level of frustration is nothing to what I have felt the last year.

I told some people that I think Americans are just spoiled. I see a lot of people wishing and praying for an ultra far right totalitarian government but they’re so far removed, that they don’t know what that is like. My grandpa started working at around 13 because labor laws for kids went out the window. He got drafted into the military at around 16. Heading to the fields of World War II a few months later. There was no room for “oh sorry officer! I’m a good guy! I just stepped out to buy soda late at night.” It was more like “get him!” and swing with a stick until you were semi-conscious.

So yeah, frustrated is the right word for it. I have deleted apps, unfollowed a bunch of stuff, I’m done. Oh and he is going to win now. I already thought he was going to win but this shit is going to catapult this man into American sainthood. I don’t know what that says about people.

Music: Mount Takao by Mai is Outside

See You Later Space Cowboy.