Target. I usually don't leave the house but today I went to Ciblé with a gift card.

Half our income comes from various kinds of donations. It was set up like that so we would know if we are washed up. When the donae stops, we know to stop. Thankfully it hasn't in over 10 years. We recently got a Hunner dolla gift card for the retail shop called Target. That was so frikkin cool. I didn't know exactly what to do with the generous gift. In the spirit of clowning should I blow the whole C note on detergent and hit up every fountain some night? Not this time. I think the idea was more along the lines of keeping us on the map until we can gig again. I wasn't sure what Target sells. We aren't into a lotta products as much as raw materials. I sat on the card until my last Micro SD card wore out. Today I went.

I passed all the shopkeepers before noticing that I had no idea where the micro SD card bin was. Sometimes when I need help in a big store I go to the birth control aisle and stare at the camera. People steal rubbers a lot so it's a great way to get immediate attention. I didn't know where that was either. Eventually I found the realm de electronics. "Can I help you?" I see the friendly worker and instantly forgot all about my query. I'm looking at a person who is having to work during a plague, rolling the dice every day...and I'm here about some SD cards. Pff. I was so busy being proud and mortified I didn't hear them say "Can you please give me 6' of space to protect myself." Me falling over myself: "Yes, yes, it's the least I can do. Carry on. You rule the school."

Olive had burned her iron out so I got her one of those then beat it out of there. Getting to the bike I was emotional about the workers within. There has got to be some way to thank and protect the essential workers. If you have any ideas let me know.

It seems like every Youtube ad is the DNC asking for money.

 It seems like every Youtube ad is the DNC asking for money. Why do they need money? Didn't they make a lot of money from insurance companies and wall street? I thought that's why they sold Bernie Sanders out. The DNC fought Sanders harder than Trump because they are complicit. They are also beholden to donors rather than we the people. Sanders could trounce Trump but that would shut off all the corporate welfare not just the Right wing gravytrain. We donate to progressive dems but never the top of the pyramid.

Recycled dinner party story

Once I went to a gathering in SE and immediately noticed a friend from N.pdx He wasn't really a friend because back then he would bring huge groups into the restaurant where I worked but would never leave servers a tip. Still he was a performer as was I so it was coolish.

That was then. Nowdays I was glad to see someone who knew "Classic Dingo" We reminisced (I found out Brazilians don't tip anyone) and then he told me a story.I mentioned getting lost on the way down from a water tower one drunken night. He told me a sober tale of driving a convertible on the Oregon coast. He was enjoying the nice day and nice scenery when he noticed a cliff. Where I'm from there is a beach. In Oregon it goes from land to Ocean usually with some kind of cliffs. My buddy thought what I may have thought "I'm gonna climb that cliff."

He found a place to put his car and set off. Everything was much larger in person than as seen from the road. He very confidentially ascended the rock face considering he was only rocking shorts and flip flops. Up he went until he could see his car and it looked like a toy. Then the rock composition changed.

The higher he got the more unstable the material. He would grab a hold and it would disintegrate in his hand. He was too far up to go down and the top was a ways away. He sat there looking at the sea and calming himself down.

Now he understood why people do this in groups and with climbing gear. Every move he made on the cliff was important. Any decision could be his last. He said he forced himself to be steady as he talked himself into being a precise operator up there. He made his way up to the last leap of faith. One last lunge would either be safety or he and the rock would plummet several stories onto the rocky waves below.

He kicked his flip flops off never to see them again and dangled there a long time waiting for something that wasn't going to happen (rescue). He was invisible from the road and nobody knew he was there. He swelled his courage and leaped for life.

Obviously he made it because he was able to tell a clown years later. Yes he made the jump. It was one of the happiest moments in his life. If he had panicked, he would be fish food. He was ecstatic until he understood he was only half done.

He still had to get back down the same way he got up. :) It's amazing what you can do if you know how to calm yourself down, also amazing what situations you can get into by jumping into things you know nothing about.

Worse air today than yesterday.

Thankfully our skills and tactics are better. Also we woke to find our friend dropped off an air filter. We have be scrubbing walls and floors. simmering herbs and taping windows, also pointing fans at wet towels. The air outside is worse than before but it's more livable because now we are pretty sure that the fires won't sweep our house in our sleep. It's almost over. The winds have changed. Still, making the inside breathable kind of tricks us into a sense of normalcy, that is until we step outside. We ventured out to investigate emergency vehicle down our street. It's none of our beeswax, just glad those weren't firetrucks. It's very sad that someone is having a bad night. Good luck out there!

Here is what Puddletown looks like now.

We didn't want to go out but we had to bring food and clothing to our kids across town. My son is at his Mom's and my daughter has her own place. Our daughter was so glad we brought her bread. She ordered groceries and they substituted her GF bread with the grossest white bread.

Our friend just got back from the Gorge. She evacuated there only to find the air was worse than here. Something to think about if you have an electric car: her car only works for an hour until it needs charged again. She didn't want to evac with the crowd because waiting in lines wasn't good for chargetime.

both kids secure makes Olive happy

                                           removing a homeless camp. :(

45 fires (2020 Oregon forest fires choke the region)

it's rough to breathe even in the house. I sprayed the trees out front with the waterhose and instantly the air got better as the wind has to go thru trees to get to our place. Is that a thing?A little water seems to go a long way but I don't know the science.

date night couple

 Noice! I can still eavesdrop when people are masked up. I was hidden in a screened porch puffing when a date night couple walked by. Her: Smell that? That's the smell of cocaine" Him: "You mean weed." Her: "You know I hate being corrected!" She stormed off with him trailing and apologizing. Heads up, if I am ever dim enough to confuse those two things, please let me know. I very much like ganja but as far as powders go I'm not even a fan of aspirin.

Moldy bacon, (you can use that as a band name b.t.w.)

We had some moldy bacon in the icebox leftover from when our son was here.

Grossout!

I was turning my nose up at the mold bacon when a little voice in my head had a point to make.

It said "Didn't you spend years eating lightbulbs and gargling urine in the circus sideshow?"

Fantastic question there Mr. Internal monologue, I did do that but to be fair, I didn't like that either.

It was nasty. It wasn't a fetish, I had a kid, rent and a booze problem to feed so I did what I had to do (without getting a real job.)

Internal M was persistent.

"It's bacon, mold don't got nothing on bacony goodness.

Now I'm wondering why my inner voice is lobbying for the pork industry.

I fell victim to suggestion and cooked the bacon up.

My strategy was to undercook some eggs with it.

To my surprise neither the bacon or the snotty eggs did anything to distract from the mold.

I got mold in my molars, it's stinking out my nostrils. It is nasty Friends.

So don't believe the hype. moldy bacon is NOT as fun as it sounds.

People mask up more than ever now. It's a great thing.

The down is that I can't do "plague-face watching" so much with most faces covered. 

It was extraordinary for me (a fake scientist) to observe what I'm calling "plague-faces" Over the centuries and throughout time there have been plagues. 

Humans make the same faces during daily life no matter what century it is. 

Seeing the "plague-face" expression to me is like a time capsule.

 This calamity has it's own expression and we only get to see it every hundred years or so. 

I was just observing a gentlemen walking by sporting an epoch smashing plague face. 

 Splendid composition. perfect bad posture, perfect shark mouth, blank stare and quiet resignation. 

I was giving him a 9.6 when he noticed me. 

 I didn't have my own plague-face loaded in the chamber so I just smiled. 

I looked down his arm, he was rocking a 12 pack of Rainier beer. I looked at the beer, he looked at me looking at the beer, I smiled at the beer, he smiled at the beer, we smiled at each other and then the beer again. 

A silent distanced conversation about his evening to come. 

Goodie gumdrops, tension quashed and he was on his way again sans the plague-face. 

Glad to see him happy-faced before he gets shit-faced.

My punk rock progeny lost the plot.

 My punk rock progeny lost the plot. 

Our son was here for months. In that time he got a chance to do something he never did before, actually read all the books on his shelf. One book stood out and made him come find me with some questions. 

The main question: "Why is my dog in this book?" Books open to the most viewed page so the first thing he saw was our beloved deceased doggie Banjo Dizmal. That led him to notice the author had written me a note in the cover. 

Both my kids were raised almost entirely in punk houses. Nowadays it's such a distant memory my boy can't relate. I asked him what he saw in the rest of the book.

 "Just a bunch of filthy houses." 

Punk pedigree fail. LOL