Duncan's Blog

Canto III: Per me si va ne la città dolente
The entrance to Hell is about as welcoming as you’d expect:

Per me si va ne la città dolente,
per me si va ne l’etterno dolore,
per me si va tra la perduta gente.

THROUGH ME THE WAY TO THE CITY OF WOE,
THROUGH ME THE WAY TO ETERNAL PAIN,
THROUGH ME THE WAY AMONG THE LOST.

It's an old poem written by Dante. Whenever I think of how trying the tribulations seem to be in the day-to-day urban life of the undying hippie, I am reminded of how life might be perceived by someone roaming through the rings of hell. "How's that working for you?" one might ask.

Today I dealt with a government employee from the state. I had to get a license renewed. I paid the fee and provided my education information. The education was deficient. Although the license had not yet expired, the state agent placed my license on inactive status. Had I only been there, I would have gladly wrung his neck with my own two hands!

My livelihood is now on hold and technically I could be suspended. Once in suspension, the possibilities are limitless as to what might happen next. Part of me wants to say, "I will have your job!" or "Heads will roll!" but the fair-minded part of me wants to say, "Let's work this out amicably, shall we?"

Since I can't do anything until the state government opens again tomorrow at 0900, I will continue to do laundry and drink coffee all night long

It's Sunday and I am readying myself for a church service. I could read the weekly e-mailing to find out what the service is about. I prefer, however, to be surprised on Sunday. There are two intern ministers in addition to our paid minister. Sometimes members of the church lead the service. It's a Unitarian-Universalist bunch.

On Wednesdays I attend a Wiccan group. I go with a practicing Wiccan friend and usually go out to dinner with him before our meetings or rituals.

When I'm not on my spiritual path, I think of ways in which my home should be cleaned. A good vacuuming and dusting are what come to mind first. Then I think of things like sponges, rags, ammonia, vinegar, water, brooms, soap, brushes, and lots of elbow grease. I've let the place go and would welcome anyone with two strong arms and a notion for cleaning.

El seis de mayo is the day after el cinco de mayo. Out west it's a big celebration although most people couldn't tell you what the celebration is for.

"Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's independence day. Mexican independence is celebrated Sept.16.
"Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over the French forces of Napoleon III on May 5, 1862, at the Battle of Puebla.
"Mexico had trouble paying back war debts to European countries, and France had come to Mexico to collect that debt."

Since I'm not Mexican and since I don't drink, I don't do much celebrating. El cinco de mayo, however, is the birthday of my g*dson. So, it's an easy date to remember.

Being a speaker of native American English doesn't mean I have all the answers in my brain. Sometimes I think I have the answers (or I think I have been carrying the correct answers for years) and I come to learn that the answers were wrong.

The dictionary's definition of the phrase is, "...through a series of developments that lead back to the original source, position, or situation or to a complete reversal of the original position ,usually used in the phrase come full circle."

This seems relatively clear in some respects. Let's say you grew up eating certain foods and your life's journey had taken you away from them; you explore different eating habits and food combinations. Then, when you have finally come to terms with what you want for the rest of your life, you learn that what you want is what you had when you were growing up.

By contrast, suppose you grew up eating certain foods and your life's journey had you eating other varieties. Assume you had begun with an omnivorous diet and in the exploration of options, you decided to become some form of vegetarian. In that case you have dismissed your origins and reversed the position from which you have started.

I feel this phrase appears every time I try to reinvent myself. I generally return to a scholastic setting; the university. I take classes to see what I want or need and where I want to go. In my case, I don't always seem to move, but I return to the original starting position. It sure gets costly when you try to take student loans!

If you do a search with the words 'Diet and Exercise' you will be sent to an endless selection of plans, programs, apps, and journals. Becomes 10 years thinner on a six-week diet. 28-day fat-burning diet. Lose Weight Fast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkD8rjkodUI is a webpage that shows you how to do the Russian twist; an exercise that's supposed to be good for reducing midsection weight.
What's most humiliating to me is when I answer the questions of these health questionnaires and the responses make some sort of acerbic commentary about one of the multiple choices that I had selected. For example, I picked a Jillian Michael website and one of the questions was What is your major obstacle to weight loss. I selected the choice Will Power. The reply to that is, "That's no excuse!"
I have struggled with my weight most of my life. I don't like being outdoors. I dislike the sun. I don't like to sweat. To make matters worse, when I was younger I had asthma. Working up a sweat exacerbated the condition. Rather than getting me excused from this in school, my mother turned a blind eye to this. She didn't want her child listed as having a handicap. So, I was the one who was picked last. Fortunately, no one would throw a ball towards me to catch or pass or move. Any idea how horrible it is to work parallel bars, or to climb ropes, or to jump over a gymnastic horse? It isn't pretty.
Well, that's my mini-rant for today.

While I work a full-time job, I'm sometimes called for overtime. It's particularly handy when the overtime falls on a holiday. No such call to come in to work was received, so I'm home with the dust bunnies, vacuum cleaner, and lots of paper bags to toss away the trash.
Contrary to what most folks in the United States might think of us in Los Angeles, we do feel weather conditions here. Since our homes are generally not made of the powerful insulators that are used back east, we tend to be a bit more sensitive to colder weather here. Of course, matters would be helped were we better equipped at dressing more warmly.
But I digress.
For many years in my life, I worked as an office temporary. You work. You get paid. During those leaner years there would be times when no money would come in. That's not a good thing if you need to pay rent. I also didn't accrue sick leave or vacation time. Being unable to work due to illness bites the big one.
These days I am a union member with the American Federation of Government Employees. I get representation against management. I get a voice when my union delegates go to Washington, DC. I also have laws in place to secure my job for me. All in all, it's a good deal.
I do worry about the political contenders who are running for office in the USA who talk 'big-and-tough' about taking these benefits from us.