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World War III
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Conversations
- Hits: 2277
The Final Tour, Okotoks, Cochrane, a few select shops in Calgary. A few final things before I depart, general treasure hunting, nothing I needed.
Stop in the crazy thrift shop in Bowness, packed to the brim, overflowing, can barely move, there has to be something here...nothing...
The owner, or proprietor, or maybe just the shopkeep, is on the phone, an older lady, loudly conversing with an invisible other:
"I tell you, it's going to happen...no later than a week after the election"
"No, she doesn't believe it, some people, they're not ready for the truth...."
"We need to buy land...somewhere remote...that's why I'm asking you...the more people the better...."
"...I'm telling you, it's going to be World War Three..."
"...I'm prepared, I've got a ski-doo suit and mitts, I mean, I don't have any Mukluks or anything..."
I keep shopping, this is too entertaining to leave. I've got a boyfriend for her...she's the perfect counterpoint to John Goodman in "10 Cloverfield Lane"...Pretend to browse, look long and hard at the dusty rubbish for sale, I try to buy something, it's not for sale, she doesn't want to sell it, polite but rudely declining to show me, poor preparing for the end of the world in my book, but I get her, get every conspiracy-nut-job out there, she's doesn't believe it's going to be the end of the world, she's praying for it, wants to be vindicated, off the hook for any real world responsibilities, wants to be right just this once in her life, the leader of her own dysfunctional tribe of survivalists...If there's ever a final world war, and these are the "survivors", the human race is doomed anyways...
Epictetus
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Quotes
- Hits: 2293
Found this, thought I'd share, like his philosophy, I rather share it but would not have articulated it so clearly. I'm not a philosopher, after all...
"The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things."
"No man is free who is not master of himself."
"Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants."
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epictetus
& More Quotes: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/e/epictetus.html & https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Epictetus
The Hat Trick
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 2348
Anticlimactic, this final leaving, Friday, slow, Saturday, while by all appearances busier, equally slow. Goodbye to one of the regulars, gruff, "Good Luck", hug, he was the philanthropist who occupied the private room, the owner told him I was leaving, he knew, but the immediacy, "Tonight's the last night" surprised him.
The new waiter, he's catching on, slowly, by no means the brightest lantern, trying to teach him how to cash out for a week, he doesn't understand, and when the rudiments of understanding cross his brow he disagrees...the nephew, he takes over the cash outs, he's not so bright but he's better than this...
...funny, you can see the dissent forming, power corrupts, absolute power absolutely, and I can see the division of tips now, joking with the expediter/hostess that she'll remember these days...
The new waiter, lacking a sense of humour, takes offense where none is given, bad breath, telling me that he plans as well to move to BC, about a place called "Trout Lake" where you'll be safe from the Armageddon that surely must be coming...he's one of those...
Joking with the nephew, need a saddle for the new waiter so he can ride him about the restaurant calling himself king and introducing the new talking donkey that will be taking their order, he laughs, he gets it, he'll miss me, the old talking donkey...and threatens, himself, to be leaving soon, no later than January...the world turns.
The end of the night, early for me, hand over the keys, goodbye to the staff, most are new, there's no connection, the nephew, the chef, the owner, the salad girl, they all have plans as well, and I doubt the restaurant will be here in 3 months, a year, but I'll pop back in for a visit. A rare thing, this hat-trick of leaving, twice on good terms, but there has to be more out there than this, and I am off...
Heart Attack
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: People
- Hits: 2089
The old salad girl, skating partner, she texts me. Her boyfriend, 43, has had a heart-attack. In the hospital for a couple of days, she doesn't understand, he never smoked, drank, never lived, really...
I get it. He is, was, still is, the classic "Type A". A miser, counting every penny, she'd explain to me how they'd divide all the bills every month and split them up the middle, to the penny, this, despite the fact that he was earning double what she earned. How he'd demanded she pay for half of the new car, when he needed a new car, and she doesn't drive, but on weekends they go to malls and things. About how he wasn't poor, owned houses in Milan, South of Italy, Canada even, only, well, money was always tight with him. He took her for dinner on her birthday, using the shared credit card, they'd both be paying for that one...
It's a fucked up relationship, I don't get it, not at all, not a bit, but, hey, it works for them, he didn't want her to come to the hospital to visit him, she'd have to spend money on a cab, so the people at work were raising money to pay for her cab. I gave her a ride, wished her, him well, dropped her off.
Breathe. Get to Nelson. Quit smoking. Run, a mile, then 2, 3, 5 miles a day. Meditate. Quit drinking. Quit coffee. Meditate. Everywhere there are the signs, warnings, time is running out...
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