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Surrender your thumb

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Surrender your thumb

Today I was woken up by jackhammers. I tried to reclaim my sleep but the noise was like a machine gun and I could feel the vibration in my teeth. The t-house I sleep in rests among many citrus trees: orange, tangerine, blood orange. There's also some peach trees and fig trees. What finally led me out of my bed, though, was the voices of a woman and a man. The woman was oohing and ahhing about how delicious the blood orange was. The man gives in to her temptation and agrees with her oohs. "Lets try the tangerine. Ughh the tangerine is terrible." I hear her say. By the time I zip open the canvas and step out of the t-house, the man and woman are gone. I still do not know who they were...

As I begin my yoga/tai chi practice I receive a call from Bill. "Do you want to help me get the Volvo to the auto body shop?"

"Sure, give me a call when you are ready."

"OK, it'll be 30 minutes."

My practice takes over an hour but I know that Bill's 30 minutes equates to 90 minutes real time. Sure enough, I finish the exercises, hop in the shower and as I am putting on some fresh clothes: the phone rings. "Meet me at the guesthouse in a couple mintues." Bill says.

We take off out of the estate, Bill in his new blue Cross Country Vovo and me in the now old (only 65,000 miles though) brown Cross Country Volvo. First we have to stop at the new bank in town. Then we are gone, west on 33 and then south on 101. It's always interesting following Bill. It seems like he's trying to lose me but it doesn't happen. I imagine us racing in the Indy 500: no contest, I'd win that race. He seems distracted and we get off on the wrong exit twice. When we make it there he's like: "My blood sugar's off or something. I don't know how you go without eating? How do you do it?"

Driving back up 101, Bill has me open a notebook, grab a pen and begin taking down the work order which will end up having 22 tasks for me to take care of for the upcoming house rental.

After we return home, after I have eaten an amazing lunch prepared by Eliza, after helping her with some food prep for her todays catering gig, I begin to take care of some of the work on the list. Its all easy stuff: moving beds, cleaning the outside of a yurt, fixing a fan, measuring a doorway...

I decide to stop at 6:15. Devin and I will meet to play tennis at 7:15. This gives me time to make a blueberry smoothie and then watch Will play the Revenge of the Sith video game. He just loves video games. He lives for them. This game is amazing and the graphics are the bomb. I spot Devin by his truck.

We leave the land in Devin's truck, ease down the hill, slip thru back roads, cut thru the traffic of main street and then pull into the parking lot for the lower tennis courts of Libby Park. We warm up for at least 30 minutes. I feel loose. My forehand feels more natural than it has in quite a while, serve is ripping, net game is on, backhand is backing Dev up. We begin with me seriving. I am up 40-5 and then I hit a winner that Devin lunges for, trips and falls. He rolls on his back and is holding his thumb. "Why is this happening? Why is this happening?" He says with a powerful whisper.

I drive Devin in his white natural gas powered truck to the hospital. When we arrive it seems mellow. Just as the nurse begins to ask the preliminary questions, the phone rings off the hook. Five phone conversations later, she places her attention on Dev. Who knows how long this will take. Dev suggests I go get some dinner and I agree. While eating at Rainbow Bridge, Dev calls me from a hospital phone: "Get me out of here" he says in a whisper. Turns out he'll be there another hour; asks me to get him some food from his studio.

Back at the hospital, the floresent lights are bright and false. Almost all of the nurses and doctors I see seem unhealthy, overweight, sallow complexions. It can't be good for you to be under these lights all day with all of these sick people around. I chance upon Devin waiting for the results of his x-ray. I hand him his meal and a book; he expresses much grattitude towards me for helping out. "Didj Nightingale" I say.

Soon enough, the doctor arrives and they both stare at the x-ray picture of Devin's damaged thumb. The doctor uses a pen to show where there is a small crack on a small bone. There is a fracture and a couple small pieces of bone. He will need a hand specialist. The doctor refers Dev to another hospital that can refer him to a specialist. This means that devin will go wait in line at the county emergency room. This will expedite the time it takes for him gain an appointment. Otherwise it might take 3 weeks. Dev takes it all surprisingly well.

While walking back to his truck, he thanks me again for sticking with him and helping out. "You are a good friend." He says.

"I'm impressed by how well you handled all that. That stuff drives me crazy. You have to go to another emergency room. That's crazy."

Dev: "At this point, I just surrender to what ever is going to happen."

posted by Mike Didj at 11:11 PM 0 waves

Monday, May 30, 2005

RADARSHERPA

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Nepotism can only take you so far

The instant I enter the dessert and chips aisle in Rainbow Bridge, I spy a young man with close-cropped brown hair obligingly pecking a homely blonde-haired girl on the cheek; her head tilted upwards suggesting a sense of entitlement while his eyes cast downwards towards the cream puffs. It only takes a fraction of a second to recognize who they are: its the newlyweds. Her sly glance takes in my presence, she whispers in his ear, they turn their backs and slither away. Pear-shaped smugness.
Such a small town, my girlfriend & I live in. The flash of resentment quickly fades and soon I ponder the turn in the road that we find ourselves on.

We were informed while vacationing on Oahu a few months ago. Once the initial shock wore off - a few days after our landlord's untimely phone call - I was able to realize the opportunity handed to us by our cottage's self-absorbed future occupants. What is that opportunity you ask?

Please allow me to elaborate. How many times have I sabotaged my life as a result of hanging on to indignation? Countless. The sooner I catch myself stuck in this morose, the sooner I can feel my way out of it. Bitterness rarely attracts anything except more hard feelings. Bitterness creates a barrier that most people will not cross. Its really that simple.

Of course, emotions cannot be bottled up. They must be set free. Expressed.

Today, I learned that our new home will be available at the end of April. The newlyweds are not happy about this. In their perfect little world, my girlfriend, cat and I would have been long gone. Perhaps the reality of this situation has set in for them. When you decide to use nepotism to move in to a home that is already occupied, prepare yourself to wait. It takes time to find the right home. The housing laws of California happen to agree with me. Yell at your uncle all you want. Cajole your father to yell at his brother - your uncle. Pressure your uncle to pressure us. Scream. Cry. It does not matter. We will move out when we are ready.

RADARSHERPA

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Newlyweds Can't Read

Obviously, the newlyweds have not been reading Bardo Surfer. I just got off the phone with the landlord. "Uhh, I was wondering if you could write up a note that says your gonna move out."

I'm not in the mood for being 'pressured' (see: harassment) so I'm like, "I've changed my mind. I've thought about it and concluded that: if you want assurances, than you need to give us a 60 day quit notice. That's the law."

"Uhh, my relatives are really pressuring me to get something in writing." ('relatives' equates to: newlyweds)

"Listen ****** (landlord), I have decided I am not going give you anything in writing. It's your responsibility to give us a 60 day quit notice and that's all there is to it."

"Uhh, but you said you were going to write something up. My relatives keep pressuring me."

"I didn't rent the cottage from your 'relatives'. I rented it from you. You write something up, I don't care. We are men of our word. I told you we'd get this new place and we did. I've told you that we will be out by the end of April and we will. Our word has always been good between us. Step up and tell your 'relatives' to back off and relax."

"Uhh, but it would kind of help me out if you just wrote up a little note so they will stop hassling me."

That's all between you and them. I don't care. We are men of our words except of course when you had a homeless guy (see: Sling Blade) living in the driveway for 3 months. Even though we had an agreement when we moved in that there would be no homeless people living on the property."

"Uhh, I was just trying to help. He almost died 5 times this year. I was just trying to help."

"Right, you'd leave for a month at a time while he was living in the driveway, smoking cigarettes and pot. Every time we'd leave our house we'd have to walk past his van - the sliding door was always open - trying not to breathe in the smell of stale smoke and urine."

"Uhh, I've got to go... some one is here -"

"Ok, goodbye." I hang up

RADARSHERPA

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Att: Monsanto staff

Dear Monsanto staff,
We are pleased to inform you that your services will no longer be needed. Your positions have been "terminated" until further notice (forever). It has been determined that Mother Nature made everything perfect the first time and no re-dos are necessary. You will have to find other employment that does not poison the earth's citizens. There are many other professions with integrity that might interest you: farming, teaching, janitorial services, etc. Your former profession is no longer acceptable on any terms.

-The Citizens of the World.
(Please copy text then repost this and send it around the world.)

Link

Corporations Are NOT People

Corporations are NOT People

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Link

RADARSHERPA

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Doll Accessorizing is a Symtom of Materialistic Obsession

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cool street skiing

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#occupywallstreet

The problem lies within the system itself - it is deeply flawed. Wall Street and banks regulating themselves, govt. corruption, unemployment etc - all symptoms of an ailing system. Congress is for sale, the senate is for sale, supreme court is for sale and of course: president mouthpiece is for sale.

I like your call for a third party to step up although in my view it would actually be, in practice, a second party. I, along with many others, believe the 2 party system is a myth. Anytime Pavlov rings his money bell both drooling parties align themselves with astonishing quickness.

It's becoming more and more obvious to a growing number of humans that our resources are not being utilized efficiently and in fact are being flushed down the toilet. We live in an age of tremendous abundance and contradiction. War is obsolete, unnecessary, inhumane, astronomically wasteful, pointless, reprehensible and criminal. Yet it persists, grows and claims an enormous piece of the pie. War never waits in line and answers to no one. President mouthpiece has committed the USA towards purchasing nuclear weaponry for the next 3 decades. This same system wants to force healthcare on me? Now THAT is ludicrous. How can this happen? It is the system. It is profoundly flawed. How will it be corrected? When enough people demand it for a long enough period of time. And when they start voting with their dollar - when enough people start becoming aware of what is actually going on behind closed doors - when enough people start waking up to the true potential of the human race. That is what is starting to happen now, I hope. Call me an optimist :)

Wall Street makes an obvious target and is receiving the brunt of the blame right now but don't they deserve criticism? They got bailed out and immediately cashed in - a public relations disaster which could have easily been avoided. But their hubris and sense of entitlement has led to a verdict of guilty in the court of public opinion.

In conclusion, I feel the occupy movement is not only condemning Wall Street they are condemning the system. This is a world wide phenomenon and it is gaining momentum every day. I don't know where it's going to lead us but I am glad that it is happening.