B365V2.159 - Discombobulated

I have a bunch of discombobulated thoughts, and for the past few days I have been trying to find a way to string everything together but to no avail.  There is no way this will read as making an iota of sense, so far better for me to just dive right in rather than look for some sort of inspiration, divine or otherwise.

      Work has been busy of late, not that business has ticked up ( it hasn't) but because one of Brian's kids broke his foot playing basketball or some such nonsense, so there were a couple of days where I had to fly solo, running the entire operation.  Much like in the radio, the more I do it the less nervous I get about things being all mucked up.  I did such a good job in fact that Brian gave me an extra $50.  Which would have fit well into my plans, I was thinking of going to the casino Friday after work, I was going to blow the free $50 they offer on Friday to people with casino cards ($25 for the week and a bonus $25 on Fridays in November)  so I thought I threw my casino membership card in my bag before leaving for work Friday.  As I was finishing up I opened my bag to fetch the card, so I would have it out when I got to the casino but I couldn't find it in my bag.   I checked a few more times to see if it was in there, but to no avail.  So now I am pissed at myself, seeing as how I thought it was in my bag when I left my apartment, now my Friday night plans were ruined, instead I got some snackage from the store and went home.  When I got home I unpacked my bag, took the snackage and what not out and lo and behold, there was my casino card, it was in my bag the entire time yet I managed to miss seeing it on at least three different prior occasions.  I thought about heading back into town and going to the casino, but that would have meant navigating Light Up Night traffic, so I decided to stay within the confines of my apartment instead.  I figured I could go Saturday before work, mind you I would lose $25 free dollars of spending cash, but I would still have my $25 weekly bonus to play with.

     I get up Saturday morning, I make sure I have my casino card and then head out to the bus stop, I get halfway there when I realize my cell phone is still laying on the floor of my apartment, so back home I go again.  If I didn't have to work I would have stayed home entirely, there is only so many mental mistakes I accept from myself before I just adopt a fuck it all attitude and resign myself to doing nothing at all.  So I go home, fetch the phone and head back out, where I board a bus surrounded by overbearingly loud college kids, I get into town switch over to a subway and ride it over to the casino.  I get to the security guard in front and open my bag, it is common place now, I have been through the drill enough that I let them see in my bag, which had all of two books I am currently reading and my tablet for work.  So I open the bag and am told bags are no longer allowed in the casino due to increased security measures.   Yes, because letting you see in my bag wasn't convincing enough that I wasn't packing a bomb or something.  Trust me, if anyone was looking to threaten the casino, they would drive a car bomb right through the double set of glass doors out front.  I think I gave a smart as, fine I will leave to the security guard and left the casino.  I know Pittsburgh believes itself to be the Paris of the Appalachias, but really that is more of a self delusional importance by the citizenry than anyone else gives us.

      So with my plans all but kiboshed I walked across the North Side to the Giant Eagle over there.  I hadn't been in that store in years, the last time Debbie still live in Pittsburgh and we were looking for cough drops for her, I think she had bronchitis or a bad cold or something.  We got the cough drops, she took one and began coughing to which I said "See, they work."  Happy thoughts.  Anyway I wanted to pick up a turkey, I am planning on using the fryer at work to deep fry one since I have to work the holiday anyway.  Besides the walk from the casino to the store and then to work (2.7 miles according to my footpath app) could work off some fat.

      I got into work banged out my deli prep work, did the invoices, priced a bunch of glass pipes, did the dairy price changes and did my ordering.  So I guess there was a reason for me to be there.

      But if I was to spend my time just recounting things I did, that would be pretty boring for me and probably not all that interesting for you either.  I guess the elephant in the room these days and what has been particularly buzz worthy in both the media and Facebook would be the Syrian refugee crisis.  I guess I am all kinds of old school, in that I believed the things taught in school, the whole "bring us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free" and the Reagan thought of America being a "shining city on a hill" and whether or not to take in Syrian refugees is a test of that.  Do those words and ideals mean anything, or is it just nationalistic jingoism.  Do we let the actions of are sworn enemies change just who we are?  What is the example we which to portray to the world, a nation whose values can't be shaken by a few armed thugs or a people that cowers in fear at the first sign of trouble?

      Okay, I got that one off of my chest.  I feel better now.