What Kind of Day Is It Without a Screw Up?

When I know, I will let you know.

The afternoon had its struggles.

I did get through the portion of "Road Trip" KH sent me. It was what I had typed up in 2021while still at Fort Dix. Two days of hard pecking and now it is onto the original MS, which thankfully enough is typed. I stopped for about 90 minutes to rest my eyes, then I fixed me a sandwich. I finished with my typing a little after 5 pm.

I telephoned the polygraph operator. Time to get my sister's questions answered. I left a message, and he called me back. He was very nice to talk to this time, very amenable to changing the date, whereas all I wanted was to confirm date and time. I called my sister with the new dates and times. I called him back; this time he said the original date and time was not good for him. We got a new date. I called my sister back and gave her the new date and time. I sent her a text when I recalled why he was so amenable to changing the date. She then sent me a text confirming the date and one confirming the time. I am beginning to wonder about her short term memory.

For years, I heard people saying we needed a businessman for President. Well, we got Donald J. Trump confirming everything I thought was wrong about confusing government with business and the people who favored such an idea. A businessman can be arbitrary, he can be a dictator; a president maybe arbitrary but never a dictator. Some people do not like freedom - sometimes not for themselves, sometimes not for others, and sometimes not for anyone. But I can see why they might want the government to run like certain sorts of businesses.

Government acts like a monopoly. Unlike our ancestors, we really have no other direct experience with monopolies. We are used to businesses which cater to the customer because that is how they make money. Those businesses promote good service. Government agencies and their ancillary symbiotes act more like a restaurant where you do not order, you eat whatever the waitperson brings to you, which is whatever the cook felt like cooking. I should have known this years ago, yet until prison I had no direct experience upon which to draw. I noticed this in prison with the commissary workers, with staff like our case managers, and then in the Volunteers of America halfway house I detailed in my Pretrial Detention posts, and since with my supervised release. Services rendered need not be beneficial or effective or even relevant to a particular case, bureaucrats have determined what services they offer (the cooks) to be implemented by other bureaucrats, or their associates, regardless of an individual need. I saw this with my first counselor, she had an agenda, if not an outright theory, in proving me as fitting in a predetermined category without any preliminary psychological testing, and provided a service without any noticeable methodology as being an effective treatment of any psychological disorder. My PO does not answer emails from me, or calls from citizens. My sister and K called him about the new laptop last year, left voicemails, never got a call back. The polygraph operator balked at changing my next test date to suit my sister's schedule, is most forthcoming with new dates and times when the conflict on scheduling is his own. A business dependent on the goodwill of its customers does not behave in this manner. Monopolies do not depend on consumer goodwill.

I called CC, she was sleeping, and I hope that is why she did not sound well. She seems so frail nowadays.

A message was left for the woman doing my novel. No response from her to my emails or text messages. Also, not the way to do business. That she has lost the manuscript haunts me.

I set out to submit my long story, "True Love Ways Gone Astray" and here is where I screwed up. I sent it to Ink & Marrow, where my story exceeds their desired word count. Dumb.

On the other hand, I did get it submitted to Blue Mesa Review and The Greensboro Review (a site with much charm).

I poked around for places to place my Raintree County essay, if Ploughshares turns down my query (as expected).

Joel C. sent me a critique of "True Love Ways Gone Astray" that I probably do not deserve, but makes me feel better about the story.

I found Nuvo has an events calendar. Not that I have the means of attending any. So it goes. 

 

Almost cleared out the email.

It is almost 9 pm. Rachel is coming on the TV, so I might watch her. Could be I will bang on this keyboard for a bit longer. Or read about Nietzsche, but the day is done.

I like this poem, The New Television Tyrant, even for its excesses.

Other than pure impulse, I have no explanation why Brownsville Station seemed the right thing for working on the story:

But for some reason, that collection did not have their most demented song:

 

 

I will be 63 next month, I must be demented myself to still enjoy "Martian Boogie."

sch 9:06 pm