Turkey Day

This country is blessed with many good things as well as some not so good things such as the turkeys in Washington D.C. who do not seem to care what they do or how they do it. Why does power corrupt so many people anyway?

Here in San Francisco on a the coldest day of the season, it seems rather bleak outside with gray skies and a storm threatening to arrive later tonight...probably about the time I come home from dinner. It is so quiet today even in this apartment building. You would think that everyone had left town. Well, not quite. The guy who lives next door and plays his stereo rather loudy has been in and out. When in my walls vibrate with the thumping bass of whatever he is listening to. Strange neighbor he is as sometimes I hear moans or loud cries and such exclamatins as "Stop that. That hurts." Those will be followed by "aarrghhh". One warm day not too long ago when everyone had their windows open I discovered the sound of another voice coming from the aparment, another male voice. Hmm...does he and his friend practice some sort of ritualistic S&M? The first time I heard it I was ready to call 911 but then I realized that the screams were rather "controlled" and did not seem to be a cry for help.

Anyway, I just took a walk to the ATM (four blocks) and despite wearing my heavy winter jacket I still felt cold. It was the wind as usual. The temperature on my patio is now 53F which is about ten degrees colder than yesterday and 20 degrees colder than the previous day. No wonder it feels so cold now. Well, I hope the hot tea I just prepared helps out a bit.

This Saturday I will have my last opera of the current run. The 05/06 season concludes with three more productions in May and June 2006 however and I will still have a few symphony concerts scattered out during the next seven months.

This day may be quiet but it will be complete chaos tomorrow in Union Square and other areas of downtown as the Christmas madness begins so get set to "shop till you drop". Well, not I, not I. I will try to avoid the crowds by doing what little shopping I have to do as early in the day as possible. Then one month from tomorrow I will join my friends in Oakland on Christmas Day for dinner there. A couple of weeks after that I am off to Thailand once again. It will be so good to get out of town during the coldest month of the year. Now, having said that, a friend who knows I have been entertaining the thought of moving to New York City might wonder what I would do there when it REALLY gets cold. The wimpy weather here is nothing in comparison. Well, I know, I know, it seems paradoxical to want to go to warm Thailand in January and also want to move to cold NYC. Well, there are reasons for both desires but since my budget will probably not permit a move to either location, it is probably a moot point. In either case, I should have done it earlier in my life. My friends who have moved to Thailand did so when they were 40-something. Well, those days are sure behind me now and while my health is good, I do not know how much longer it will be. That could be a concern in the future for reasons which are too numerous and personal to go into here. Medical care in Bangkok and a few other places is good so that is not a reason for any hesitation on my part however.

I guess I should just be thankful for what I have now and enjoy my life here until such time that I can see my way clear to make any sort of change to any new locale of interest. Should the Republican re-take the White House in 2008 however, all bets are off, and I will bail out come hell or high water.