2025 Life Logs, Day 86: Dr. Strangelove
Date: Thursday March 27, 2025
Weather: Partly Sunny; High Temp 47, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Late this morning, I headed to the Cape Cinema in Dennis with friend Judy Fenwick to see National Theater Live’s filmed production of Dr. Strangelove. If I saw Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove film in the 1970’s, I don’t remember it. And somehow, today, what has been billed as “an explosively funny satire, about a rogue U.S General who triggers a nuclear attack” didn’t seem so funny to me. The bumbling US President and inept Generals were too close to what we are witnessing in Washington., DC, in real time to be the least bit funny.

It was late afternoon when we returned to Falmouth. I checked in with the Goldpebbles to see how things were going there. Jonah went to school yesterday and today and seems to be doing okay with that. Sam was waiting for his mom to get home to take him shoe shopping and I made sure Ollie had something to eat as I had to take him to soccer practice at 6:15 pm. Then I headed to a Meet the Candidate affair for Colin Reed who is running for Select Board and then came back and picked up Ollie and took him to his soccer practice. Whatever he did to his side at rib-cage level at the trampoline park last Friday is still really bothering him, so he mostly watched practice tonight. Unfortunately, he didn’t wear a sweatshirt thinking he would be too hot while running. But since he was mostly standing still, he was freezing by the end of the practice. If I had realized, I would have gone home to get him a coat. Bad Oma!

2025 Life Logs, Day 85: Back to the Computer Photo Project
Date: Wednesday March 26, 2025
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Some Precipitation; High Temp 47, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Today I was back on the computer working on the photo project that I started weeks ago. I am getting there but not done yet.

Thankfully, I got a little break when I picked Ollie up after school today. I took him home, but as he started to get out of the car, he asked if we could go to my house to get a kayak. There is a pond the boys can access from a neighbor’s backyard that Ollie wants to kayak in. The kayaks have been stored under the adjoining studio apartment since I moved here. I have two, but we decided to clean and move one today. We’ll get the second one if someone else would like to kayaking with Ollie.

Tonight I am back on the photo project, but stopping for the night. It is time to watch the Rachel Maddow Show while getting in my exercise bike time for tonight.

Here’s a little list you might be interested in. It was posted today by Robert Reich.

20 SIGNS OF IMPENDING TYRANNY
As tyrants take control of democracies, they typically:
1. Demand personal loyalty from all appointees.
2. Organize military parades and other choreographed shows of force.
3. Threaten to fire independent prosecutors who get too close to the truth.
4. Spread conspiracy theories about “deep state” forces seeking to oust the tyrant.
5. Refer to top-ranking military leaders as “my” generals.
6. Threaten to jail political opponents.
7. Claim to have won an election by a landslide even after losing the popular vote.
8. Stoke tensions abroad, even the specter of nuclear war, to distract from the tyrant’s efforts to consolidate power at home.
9. Circumvent the independent press and communicate directly with followers.
10. Vilify legislators and judges who are critical of the regime.
11. Repeatedly claim massive voter fraud in the absence of any evidence, in order to restrict voting in subsequent elections.
12. Turn the public against journalists or media outlets that criticize the regime, calling them “deceitful” and “scum.”
13. Repeatedly tell big lies, causing the public to doubt the truth and to believe fictions that support the tyrants’ goals
14. Blame economic stresses on immigrants or racial or religious minorities, and foment public bias and hatred against them.
15. Threaten mass deportations, registries of religious minorities, and the banning of refugees.
16. Attribute acts of domestic violence to “enemies within,” and use such events as excuses to beef up internal security and limit civil liberties.
17. Appoint family members to high positions of authority.
18. Draw no distinction between personal property and public property, profiteering from public office.
19. Make personal alliances with foreign dictators, but express indifference if not defiance toward leaders of democracies.
20. Maintain a powerful propaganda arm that claims to be “fair and balanced” but only amplifies the tyrant’s lies and accusations.

2025 Life Logs, Day 84: An Unexpected Hassle
Date: Tuesday March 25, 2025
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 51, Low 47 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I often get my mail out of the mailbox late at night when I take Shadow out for his final bathroom break of the day, and I don’t open the mail until the next morning. This morning was no exception. After my morning walk with Shadow, I opened yesterday’s mail. I received my updated TD Bank Visa credit card, as the old one expires in April. In trying to activate the card, I ended up having to call.. As I was waiting to talk to an agent, I was sitting at my computer and bringing up my account on my computer. I’m not sure why I did that, but I sure am glad I did. I talked to the agent and got the new card activated and as I hung up I saw the balance due on my credit card was almost $4,000. What? I pay it in full every month and I’ve certainly never owed that much for one month. I only got as far as pending charges when I saw that just yesterday there were three charges from one company, Newegg, in three different locations in the US. I had never heard of Newegg, but Wikipedia says it is “an American online retailer of items including computer hardware and consumer electronics” based in Diamond Bar, California. It a multinational technology company. I have no idea how they breeched my account. Then I saw there was another charge for more than $1500 on Sunday. I wished I had noticed this before hanging up, but I called again, and waited again, to report the fraudulent charges. They could not stop payment on the pending charges. I have to call back once they have been paid to lodge a complaint. But in the meantime, my account is closed, and I will be issued a new card with a new number in a week or two. What a royal pain.

It was after 12 noon by the time I was done dealing with this unexpected hassle. Not a fun way to spend a beautiful morning. But I regrouped, got a few things done, and then picked Ollie up after school. I took him to his sax lesson, went to Le Bon Jour to get dinner for him to eat on the way home, and was getting ready to take him to soccer when a little problem arose. He did not want to go. He pulled a muscle in his side while at the trampoline park last Friday. It doesn’t bother him except when he bounces or runs hard. So, he really didn’t want to go to soccer practice because of this. After texting both parents, it was decided he would not go tonight. In fact, Heather was almost home from Boston with Jonah, so I headed to my Upper Cape Indivisible meeting that I was going to skip due to soccer.

Heather said the trip to Boston Children’s was long, with a long wait as well. But after another set of x-rays, the Children’s doctor said the same thing as the Vermont ER doctor. Jonah has to limit movement while wearing a sling and waiting for gravity to get the bone back in place. No soccer for three months, no trombone for two months, and trips to Boston for weekly x-rays for the next two weeks. If gravity has done its job by then, he won’t have to travel quite as far for subsequent appointments. There is a satellite clinic outside of Boston where he will see the doctor. But this doctor does not think surgery will be necessary.

I had a great conversation with friend Lynne Kirwin in New Zealand tonight. She is coming back to the US for her summer visit earlier than usual this year. In fact, she arrives in California on Sunday and will make it to Michigan by mid-week. A nephew and his wife had a baby two years ago that died a sudden death shortly after bringing the baby home from the hospital. They have another baby due next week and they asked Lynne if she would come home early to stay with them for the first month or so. Naturally, they are fearful, so Lynne agreed to come. She thinks she will be heading to New York and to Cape Cod to visit in June. Yay! I look forward to seeing her.

2025 Life Logs, Day 83: Update on Jonah
Date: Monday March 24, 2025
Weather: Overcast and Rainy; High Temp 48, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

My day started with a meeting and then some phone calls I needed to make on behalf of my sister plus other calls to gather information for Encore. When I noticed it was almost noon, I sent a text to Jonah to see if he would like a sub from Subway for lunch. I had learned from Heather that he was able to sleep through much of the night but did wake up around 3:30 am needed more Ibuprofen for the pain. And I knew he did not go to school. He responded that he would love his favorite sub for lunch, so I headed out to get that and went over to have lunch with him. Heather was working from home and was waiting for a call from Jonah’s pediatrician. As I said last night, the ER doctor said to wait 7-10 days before seeing an orthopedic doctor. When Heather called Cape Cod Orthopedics this morning to make that appointment, she was told that their recommendation was for her to take him to Boston Children’s as soon as possible. Jonah’s pediatrician said the same thing and put through an emergency request. His age, the close proximity of the break to the growth plates in his shoulder, and the fact that there appears to be minimal blood flow down to his hand as his hand sometimes gets very cold made the local doctors more concerned than the doctor in Vermont. The appointment is for tomorrow at 3 pm in Boston, so Heather will be taking him there. I know all of us will rest much easier once we get the second opinion on next steps for Jonah.

Jed has to take Sam to Hyannis tomorrow afternoon after school to buy a new suit, again. He has Model UN on Saturday and Heather thought he was all set as they bought him a new suit for Model UN a few months ago. They thought he had stopped growing and that the suit would fit. Wrong! When Sam tried it on yesterday, it was so tight he couldn’t move his arms. So much for not growing. With Heather going in one direction and Jed in another, I will be on duty with Ollie tomorrow afternoon and evening. He has his saxophone lesson and then soccer practice, so it will be another busy evening.

Back to today. After having lunch with Jonah, who is managing to maintain his positive attitude through this ordeal, I went shopping for food for dinner for the Goldpebbles. Tonight was the every other Monday meeting night for both Heather and Jed. After shopping, I went home and precooked what I could and prepped the rest. Then Jane Woodin stopped by to say hello. She and Bruce have been in Mexico for the past six weeks. They had a fabulous time, and it was great to catch up. Then it was off to Heather and Jed’s to have dinner with the boys. Heather and Jed got home tonight before 9 pm. This was a record for Heather as Select Board often goes on for another couple of hours. And now it is time to head to bed and rest up for another day in the life.

2025 Life Logs, Day 82: All or Nothing and a Fall
Date: Sunday March 23, 2025
Weather: Sunny and Cooler; High Temp 42, Low 33 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

More and more these days, it seems like I have incredibly busy days interspersed with days with nothing on my calendar when I just collapse and do nothing. Today was one of those days. I did have one thing on my calendar, but I ignored it and stayed home with Shadow. On these ‘do nothing days’ I still find myself on the computer for much of the day catching up on email correspondence that I have ignored on those days when I am just too busy to reply. So that was my day.

I did take time to ‘smell the roses’ so to speak, as I took inventory of spring blossoms. The snowdrops are still with us and more and more crocus are blooming. I even saw one lone yellow daffodil bloom in Heather’s neighborhood. Yesterday I noticed that Heather’s crocus were in full bloom, so I went over this afternoon to take a photo. Too late. They had closed shop for the day, but I will try again tomorrow. I didn’t just go over to take a photo of the crocus, however. I also went just to give Heather a hug. She called me mid-afternoon to let me know that Jonah fractured his left upper arm bone in a hard fall while snowboarding at Killington. He went to Killington for the weekend with a friend who is a member of the junior ski patrol there. When Heather talked to Jonah, he had no memory of his fall, but the fall was hard enough to crack his helmet. She’ll find out more once he gets home. The ER doctor who talked to Heather said that he doesn’t think he has a concussion but that he should be watched carefully for the next 36 hours. Because he has a fracture of the humerus, not a break, they will not set the arm in a cast. He will come home with his arm in a sling that he should wear for the next 7-10 days before seeing an orthopedic doctor here. The doctor explained that gravity, with minimal movement on Jonah’s part, will hopefully allow the settle back in place and surgery will not be needed. But it just depends on how the next few days go. One thing is for sure. Spring soccer is not going to happen for Jonah this year as the healing process will take about 8 weeks. And that is if all goes well. And he is probably not going to be playing the trombone for the jazz band’s big night of jazz in two weeks. For Jonah, not being able to play soccer will be very hard for him as soccer is the love of his life. But as Heather was telling me all of this, she was just so thankful that the only damage can heal with a little time. As with any accident, it could have been a lot worse.

Bedtime Jonah Update: Jonah is home and feeling okay with the help of Ibuprofen. He is really bummed about all the things he will not be able to do this spring, but when talking on the phone, he sounded upbeat and ready for the challenge. The fall was the result of a jump. He has video of him doing the jump yesterday and he did it smoothly. But watching the video of the jump, and then the fall today, felt like being punched in the gut. He was high, then BAM, he was down. There is video because he and his friend Jack were taking turns jumping while the other shot video of the jumps. Here’s hoping he can sleep tonight.

2025 Life Logs, Day 80: Happy 13th Birthday to Oliver Preston Goldstone
Date: Friday March 21, 2025
Weather: Rain Early, Then Cloudy; High Temp 47, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Happy 13th birthday to my grandson Ollie. Today he became a teenager, and in July my granddaughter Coco turns 13. When that happens, my ‘Fabulous Five’ will all be teenagers, with one headed to college. How wonderful it is to be able to watch your grandchildren growing up.

Ollie and his friend Simon, who was born on the same day in 2012, planned a combined birthday party. They invited four shared friends to spend a couple of hours bouncing on trampolines, climbing a rock wall, attacking a ninja warrior course, and more at Nova Trampoline Park in Plymouth. The two dads went along as chaperones, while the moms stayed home to make birthday cakes. Heather made a chocolate cake for Ollie. Simon’s mom made an ice cream cake for Simon.

And when the boys got home, everyone had a bit of both. Tonight, Heather and Jed are hosting an overnight for the six boys. The wonderful thing about being a grandparent is that you can say goodnight and go home for a quiet night’s sleep!

After three months of not taking Shadow to the groomer, I caved and took him today. It is so expensive, but for a dog who has hair that grows, versus fur, you really have no choice. He was a matted mess, but when I picked him up, he was his handsome self. I’ll be taking him to be groomed regularly once again.

After dropping Shadow off, I went to a PT session for my neck, and then I spent the remainder of my day searching for an intro class to welding as a birthday present for Ollie. The place that seemed the best fit for the best price was in Plympton, near Plymouth. Their website gives only an email address. I emailed a week ago but had heard nothing back. So, I drove to Plympton with only a street name, no detailed address and no phone number. I put the name of the welding shop in Google Maps, but when I got there, I did not find a welding shop. I went to the Town Hall. Closed on Fridays. I went to the Fire Department next door and couldn’t find anyone around. I thought that surely someone would know where I could find the shop. I finally went to the Police Department and no one there had ever heard of the place. But the receptionist and two officers did everything they could to search for me. They finally found a phone number which they called, but no one answered. Finally, they found an address. Success! I was able to arrange for a private 4-hour intro to welding class for Ollie and Jed.

While driving around today, I listened to NPR. How depressing it is to listen to the news these days. But tonight, when I got home, I hopped on my exercise bike while watching The Rachel Maddow Show. Watching the replay from today of our Secretary of Commerce Lutnick was not just depressing, it actually brought tears. It really hurt to watch him saying that if Social Security didn’t send our their checks this month only fraudsters would complain. Fraudsters? I live on a fixed income. My teacher retirement and Social Security are my only sources of income. I paid into both of those for the 30 years that I was an educator. I have a few thousand dollars in savings, but literally just a few. Lutnick’s exact words were, “Anybody who’s been in the payment system and the processes, knows the easiest way to find the fraudster is to stop payments and listen, because whoever screams is the one stealing,” If I don’t get my Social Security check, I will have to use my meager savings to pay the rent. But there are thousands of people who worked hard at even lower paying jobs than a teacher that have no savings. Those of us in this situation are going to ‘scream’ and we are not stealing. We would only be asking for what we have earned. Hearing Lutnick’s words was just a step too far for me. “Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their check this month. My mother-in-law is 94. She wouldn’t call and complain. She just wouldn’t. She would think something got messed up and she’ll just get it next month. A fraudster always makes the loudest noise screaming, yelling, and complaining.” Obviously Lutnick’s mother doesn’t depend on her Social Security to pay her rent!

2025 Life Logs, Day 79: Luncheon, Meeting, Meeting, Town Hall
Date: Thursday March 20, 2025
Weather: Cloudy, Foggy; High Temp 47, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

These are busy days. I attended an Encore Lunch In at noon, wedged in a short meeting where I decided to run in the town election for a 3-year position as one of the Trustees of the Public Library and went to Town Hall to pull my papers to make it official, attended an Encore gathering of new board members for next year, and then traveled off the Cape for a 6:30 pm Town Meeting with our Representative to the US House, Bill Keating.

Keating entered the political world in 1977, so he is certainly not new to representing his constituency. And in the past 60 days, he has stood up for what is right. But tonight was a tough meeting. There were a few very angry people who want to know what Democrats in Washington are going to do to stop the dismantling of our government. Keating calmly explained that there is not a lot Democrats can do right now. But that answer was not what these people wanted to hear. I guess it is an answer that none of us wants to hear. I support what Keating has been doing up to this point, but I agree that playing by the rules might not be a strategy against actions made by the opposing party who is not playing by any rules. The one thing that was made clear is that it is up to the people to make their voices heard.

2025 Life Logs, Day 78: Meeting, Meeting, Meeting, Meeting
Date: Wednesday March 19, 2025
Weather: Partly Sunny; High Temp 48, Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

My two-year term as Co-President of Encore is coming to an end, but I somehow got myself nominated to be the Vice President of Programs for next year. At some point, I did say I would fill the position if absolutely no one else would do it. Evidently, no one would. So, this morning I met with the woman who will be the Assistant VP with me, along with the other Co-President and next year’s President. The woman I will be working with next year on programming is a delightful person. I look forward to working with her to bring interesting programs to our Encore monthly meetings.

Next was a Woodwell Climate Research Center (WCRC) webinar entitled, “Navigating Federal Policy with Woodwell Climate.” I wanted to tune in to this to try and understand how Woodwell plans to keep their presence at the federal government level in these trying times.

I had a lunch break, took Shadow to the Vet for annual vaccinations, answered some emails, and then was off to an Exploring Public Policy meeting. Charlotte Harris, Chair of the Town of Falmouth Planning Committee, came to talk with us about the role of the Planning Committee in terms of dealing with Falmouth’s affordable/attainable housing crisis. I had never met Charlotte, but she has been on the Planning Committee for ten years and is a wealth of information.

One more meeting to go. I went to Woodwell for a documentary screening and Zoom ‘conversation’ with John Francis. The documentary tells the story of his 17 years of silence and 22 years of walking. John Francis. Born in Philadelphia in 1946, the son of a West Indian immigrant, he moved to Marin County in California as a young man and has been an American environmentalist for over 55 of years. It all began with the oil spill in the Gulf of San Francisco in 1971. His struggle to rationalize his lifestyle in the face of such destruction led him to give up traveling in motorized vehicles and eventually to stop talking for 17 years. He felt like he needed to listen, not talk. He started walking from California to Oregon where he stopped to get a college degree. He walked on to Montana where he got his master’s degree, all the while remaining silent. Walking on to Wisconsin, he got his Ph.D. And then on to Washington, DC, to assist the US Coast Guard in their response to the Exxon Valdez disaster. He is an amazing man and question and answer session with him afterwards was truly inspiring.

2025 Life Logs, Day 77: Archie by Day, Indivisible Meeting by Night
Date: Tuesday March 18, 2025
Weather: Partly Sunny, Cooler; High Temp 43, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I was at home today, dog sitting a puppy for a friend who was leading a field trip today. The puppy’s name is Archie, and he is very cute but very shy. He and Shadow tolerate each other, but don’t play together. It took me all morning, but I finally got Archie to sit on my lap and Shadow joined us.

Tonight, I attended the weekly Upper Cape Indivisible meeting. The meeting began with a view out the windows of an incredible sunset. Then, we had guest speakers from PFLAG speaking on behalf of the transgender population at this very trying time. One speaker was transgender and there were two speakers who are parents of adult transgender children. It was terrifying to me to hear how afraid they are for the lives of their children right now. It was a very informative and emotionally moving meeting.