It has become apparent to me that I am now a piece of well-done toast…. I’m done, stick a fork in me….. It’s 0615 in the AM…. I’m up, albeit reluctantly, and only because I was coughing too hard to sleep any more. Since I’d crashed again last night at about 7 PM, I was done with laying down, so, my body decided to wake up and goad me into action. Given that all there is to consume, without getting up and leaving, is motel coffee (shudder….), you may guess, I’m NOT a happy camper….

So unhappy, in fact, I’m making another executive decision…. I’m going off line for a day or two, so this will be the last Pearl, probably until Monday, or perhaps, Tuesday, depending on how quickly I recover once I wind my way home on Saturday…. I’ll be leaving the area where I’ve been visiting this afternoon, after a final couple of visits, combined with a short wake for Carole at the graveside in Templeton. I plan to drive until I am about to give out, then stay overnight somewhere, until Saturday, when I’ll make it home, probably in two jumps, with a long rest in between…

This cold is kicking my ass…. Yesterday, I managed only one visit, with my friend Chuck, and that visit, which involved a 30 mile drive, round trip, almost did me in… By the time I got back to the motel, I was done for the day, though I didn’t know it… I talked to one other classmate, then fell out for a two hour nap, followed by a quick, small dinner in the room, and then bed, at 7, as I mentioned….. I’ve deliberately put off calling a number of other friends, just because I’m too tired to even make small talk, or summon any enthusiasm at all… I am NOT used to being so damned weak and old, and, dammit, it’s a pain in the proverbial ass, to be sure….

Even these three paragraphs are more than I expected to be able to write today, as I am just not with it at all… So, I’m going to try to put together a very short pearl or two today, then give up for a couple days, returning when I have the energy to do it right…. or, as right as it ever gets around here…. Hopefully, I’ll still HAVE a reader or two by then….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Dying is a very dull, dreary affair.   And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it.” — W. Somerset Maugham
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“Under current law, it is a crime for a private citizen to lie to a government official, but not for the government official to lie to the people.” — Donald M. Fraser

Boy, if THAT isn’t truth, I don’t know what is!….. Since I don’t have the energy to rant, below you will find three links, two of which, the cartoon by Mark Fiore, and the report on the comments by the House of Representative’s chief idiot, should suffice to provide you with enough to know what might have been ranted on…. The third is an example of the kind of nonsense that the media uses to distract us from more relevant material, keeping the public’s attention focused on crap that really has no bearing on much of anything…. Any who, this is all you get, so, please use it wisely….

http://blog.sfgate.com/fiore/2013/11/06/lil-nsa-spy-kit/

(Always spot on, and a good summation of the issue, all in all…)

http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2013/11/07/boehners-dismissal-of-gay-rights-bill-frivolous-litigation/

(What amazes me is that these people, these Republicans, still don’t have ANY idea of what they’re doing wrong, or why people are so upset with them….)

http://www.sfgate.com/nation/article/News-of-the-Day-From-Across-the-Nation-November-8-4966046.php

(Money, money, paranoia, paranoia, paranoia, police killing with more paranoia…. pretty distracting, isn’t it?….)

“Lust of power is the most flagrant of all the passions.” — Tacitus (55?-120?)
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Just a little bit of Emily to start the day….

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Here, then, is a final pearl, put together as quickly as possible, as I’m nearing the absolute limit to my morning energy, and still have a lot to do today…. Enjoy!

“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.” — Socrates

“Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy.” — Charlie McCarthy

“Ignorance can be compounded, made denser, until the light of our spirits is smothered.” — Deng Ming-Dao

“Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny.” — Lazarus Long

“A lady lost her cat, and took the cat in a little casket up to a big church and said, “I want you to bury my cat.” And they run her off. She went to another church, and they run her off. She took the cat to a Baptist church on the edge of town, and told the preacher she couldn’t find nobody to hold a service for her dead cat. And the man talked to her bad. “How dare you think that we bury cats?” She said, “Well, I’m frustrated and I’m prepared to give two thousand dollars to whoever gives a service for my cat.” And the preacher said, “Lady, why didn’t you tell me your cat was a Baptist?” — Jerry Clower

“To err is human. To blame it on someone else is politics.” — Hubert H. Humphrey

“Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.” — Aristotle (384-322BC)

Not bad at all for an eight-minute, seven-star pearl….
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Okay, so there you have it….  If you don’t see any post here tomorrow, or the next day, you’ll already know why…. I’ve done all the damage I can do, so, I’m outta here…. See ya, provided I survive this cold…. I will survive, I’m sure, I just may not enjoy it….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole,
and everyone else, too….

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why…