Floaters

I had a room mate in my freshman year that was fond of buying a half gallon of chocolate milk and then drinking it straight from the plastic bottle. I did not figure out that it was a hang over cure until later in life,  but he was always kind enough to offer me a quaff from the jug. I always told him 'thanks, but no thanks'. When he would offer to pour it into a cup, I would also decline his kind offer. I would explain that it was not germs that were my concern as much as floaters. You see, he was always enjoying some kind of food with his half gallon jug of United Dairy Farm's finest and the detritus of whatever it was would invariably backwash to the container and be visibly floating in the jug. One time he was eating nacho Doritos with his chocolate milk. To my mind, this was more than just a mismatch. It should be prohibited by law, but I digress.

Ken, if you are out there and still alive, I hope you have refined your tastes. The best cure for a hangover is steak and eggs and a bloody Mary. I'm sorry I did not know that at the time. Fortunately, I have given up alcohol abuse and even alcohol all together, so this is no longer an issue for me. Nevertheless, if you find yourself in need, try that.

There are a lot of floaters in our chocolate milk this morning. Despite the fact that it is a beautiful September like day in August, the world economic outlook is one of gloom and doom. The US and Chinese stock markets continued their downward slide this morning. 401K's, IRA's and other retirement type funds are taking a considerable hit. This is of particular concern to me as one hoping to retire, but it is what it is.

I think this could be a major correction. It may make 2008 look like a sleigh ride. Bonds are the ticket I think, provided that the Fed decides NOT to raise interest rates. Physical gold will hold it's value over the long haul, but no one will want it if this is indeed the beginning of the big crash that has been predicted. If this is the big one, invest in bottled water and Campbell's soup.

The financial powers that be may just be letting the air out of the stock market bubble in a controlled fashion. That would be fine as long as it stays controlled. This could also be a cry by investors to the world's central banks not to raise interest rates. I do not know what it is, but I am sure that, whatever it is, it will enrich the 1 % to the expense of everyone else. It always seems to work that way.

Sunday school was good yesterday. No floaters there. It was very enjoyable and enlightening. I have some very bright people in my class. Church was just OK. I get to feeling cramped in the auditorium though. For some reason, crowds are freaking me out of late. Probably just more bad brain chemistry. It occurs to me that I may be depressed and not be aware of the fact. I think you build a tolerance to it and you don't notice it until you find yourself crying and can't figure out why. Moods are like roller coasters. You just have to throw your hands in the air and enjoy the free fall because it is going to bottom out soon enough. So be it. It is the way I am.

Work should be interesting this week. Founder's Day is coming up. I'm hoping someone else will take care of the details. I don't really give a rats you know what about Jim Casey. If you don't know what I'm talking about, that's fine. You are not missing anything. Let's just say that I never became fully integrated into my current corporate environment. Seems like I am outside of most everything I am involved in and yes it's possible to do that when you are an introvert. It's an art form.

I myself am a floater in other people's chocolate milk. For some reason, I think that's incredibly funny. No one ever knows what to do with me. I kind of like it.

Dad seemed happy and carefree when I left the house this morning. He had already been out to start the mower. It would not start. He thinks it's the battery. I think he forgot one of the three steps to starting it. I am glad that Alzheimer's is not currently floating in my chocolate milk. I wish it was not floating in his. People at church were talking directly to him yesterday. That always makes me happy. I don't know if it does anything for him, but it's good to know that others still see him as a viable and useful human being. I hope that when that ceases to be the case, the Lord will take him home quickly. I do not want him to have to endure years in a nursing home flat on his back and crazy as a loon. Alzheimer's takes decades sometimes to reach full bloom. There are many other things that can kill you, and quickly, while you wait out the Alzheimer's process. More often than not though, in our age of advanced medical procedures, this does not happen. An unproductive life of indignity proceeds and what was once a vital and useful person becomes something to be tended like the philodendron on the kitchen counter. This is sad and it hurts when it is someone you love; when you know how intelligent and capable this person once was. It makes me question the purpose of things. I think maybe the Inuit peoples of the north have the answer. Yes, I am talking about the final adventure on the ice floe of life; becoming another floater among the debris of the planet, slowly dissolving in the chocolate milk of the sea to become an offering to the cycles of the earth.

Woe. That was some pretty crappy prose. Time to give it up. Here's to dodging the floaters in your life!