I'm more realist than "cup half full," sooo....

Actually, I'm struggling. Badly.

Both personal, and political issues.

Went to see my primary care the other day.

She said "Are you ok? You don't seem yourself".

I got teary eyed while laughing at the same time and said "Ya think"?

When I get like this, I tend to look for the humor in things.

Thank you for your post, and hang in there.

And so many like you who keep hanging in there when it would be just as easy to check out.
It makes it easier on the rest of us

Action helps one focus on the positive.
We don't need to completely ignore the negative --- there's always MORE THAN ENOUGH of it.

Humor and satire give a different kind of boost, and ridicule is the dictator's biggest pain.

Some efforts get great big LOL replies.

Others meh ...

But both of them keep me from being gloomy.
If you feel down, connect with someone else (DU is good) and get going on something,
Action stops the gloom, even if it can't stop the negatives.
And when we act together, even the negatives can be lessened.

I lived through the Cuba missile crisis, the civil rights era, the assassinations, Nixon, the frickin Vietnam War, tons and tons of crap.

I guess that Thoreau and Mark Twain helped me get through it all.

Stand up to bullshit and ridicule the bastards dishing it out.

Read "Walden"
https://ia800504.us.archive.org/35/items/24299993-thoreau-walden/24299993-Thoreau-Walden.pdf

"Civil Disobedience"
https://blogs.law.columbia.edu/uprising1313/files/2017/10/Civil-Disobedience-by-Henry-David-Thoreau.pdf
and

"Letters from the Earth"
https://www.cs.umd.edu/~mvz/bible/ltrs-from-earth.pdf

I got mighty iconoclastic.
Lovin every irreverent minute of it.

From Dictatorship to Democracy,
198 Methods of Nonviolent Resistance,
There Are Realistic Alternatives by Gene Sharpe
https://www.aeinstein.org/

Laziness is the mother of invention.

mahalo nui loa

Then Festivus for the rest of us.
Peace ☮️

That’s the world is one hell of a mess right now, and it’s gonna take us some time to clean it up.

to be a "generational" clean up. We must rise to the occasion. No one else is.

I'm holding my own, but I find that even the least little stressor in my life (vehicle currently in the shop) just sets me off and I'm in tears. It's like I'm at my limit, holding it together, and then the slightest "extra" thing almost makes me crumble. No residual mental strength any more.

I think it's just because of ALL of the stress in the world right now because of Trump.

I am barely hanging on. I also burst into tears several times a week, which is unlike me. I sometimes feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. I'm not depressed, I'm extremely stressed. I haven't felt this way since the late 80s when I was in a very abusive relationship. I wish things would get better for all of us.
It's such an ugly environment.

The years from 2009 to 2022 were a whirlwind...

My brother died of Covid.

My mother died after I was her caretaker for years.

Estranged from my remaining siblings after my mother's death.

Two beloved dogs passed.

Lost a few friends for reasons I'll never know.

Got flooded, spent months of 14 hour days bringing my home back to normal.

Both in-laws passed and I closed their entire estate and got their house sold in a month.

Remodeled my entire house in 10 months.

And now...nothing.

Feel like I'm aging rapidly without working like my hair is on fire.

I welcome challenges...but there's none left. I've done all of the hard stuff that I wanted to do.

That being said...simple things are stressing me, as they are you, so I understand how you are feeling.

I deal with it with humor, and I listen to music CONSTANTLY. EVERY WAKING MOMENT.

You hang in there, Jill. Everything will be alright.

Wow, you did have a whirlwind. That's a LOT! You have a great attitude and I totally agree with your comment about humor. Humor has gotten me through some pretty big challenges.

Those years were pretty "heavy" for me, as well. I was out of work for a period of time, had a house falling down around my ears, and then FINALLY got to live out my dream by selling that house and buying a small piece of property in a rural area.

Did I mention that I run a cat sanctuary? That has it's own set of challenges. It is amazing, inspiring, and it's what keeps me grounded and moving. I am incredibly grateful to have been able to build this and live my dream. I've never been a "vacation" type of person, so this is my commitment to them and it's an every day thing.

It can also be sad and this is a "sanctuary" and not a "rescue". The cats are all here to live out their lives and many are quite old, so loss happens frequently. I've really had to take myself to task at times when there's a loss because I love each and every one of them as if they were my ONLY furr-baby. I stay extremely busy, and I think that's truly a godsend.

So...if you ever decide you DO need a challenge, come on down to Texas, and I can put you to work in this venture!

What a great thing you do with your cat sanctuary!! That's a good calling...you're doing a wonderful thing and you should be proud!

For years, we were part of a rescue team that transported unwanted or displaced dogs to a sanctuary. It was so rewarding...

I've been to Texas only once...on business. Houston.

I have family (in-laws) in San Antonio, but I have not visited them. My wife goes alone while I stay home and take care of our old dog.

Stay busy, and keep up the great and noble work that you do!

I'm just outside of SA. I'll give you both a tour.

The transports have been lifesavers for SO MANY dogs. Texas has a horrible overpopulation problem. It's a big part of the stress that all of us animal lovers feel, and I sincerely and genuinely THANK YOU for your work doing that.

Many fabulous dogs that would otherwise have been killed have been given a second chance via the transports! I am grateful for that, and grateful for the other parts of the country that do better by their animals and don't have the overpopulation like we do.

My car is down right now as well. Amazing how crappy your attitude gets when you lose your means of transportation

Hope you get your car back soon.

I'm waiting to see how much it's going to cost THIS time!!!! LOL

Wishing the same for you - that you get yours back quickly and that it's minimal $$$$.

Have you not been paying attention?

It is good of you to remind us we are blessed with a place where we can answer truthfully.

I appreciate this.

Thank you.

Plus physical therapy 3 x times a week for my torn rotator cuff that I suffered in February because I was stupid.

I did spend the last few months getting my passport AND passport card, renewing my driver's license, buying new furniture, and of course physical therapy.

Typing was very difficult and painful, though, which is why I haven't been around here much.

And nothing stops me from reading books. Nothing. That's why I can't boycott Amazon. I am a total Kindle addict.

with Amazon Prime. A lot of people don't know about that.

But, I"m a college professor and they are coming for me....

I'd rather retire than lose all my retirement benefits by being fired.

I repeat Dr. King's comment at least once a day: "the arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice."

I want to see justice and a better/brighter world for our children, their children and so on. There is plenty of good out there and we have to be strong and not let the screaming banshees (that are in the minority) suck up all the air in the room as they bleat for attention.

And TBH, it takes a bit of time to create some of those fabulous memes, and I don't get many rec's (not that rec's are what I'm here for) but you know, it makes me feel good to "stick it to the man-child" and the Activist posts really make a difference. Even if small, they all add up.

I can't emphasize enough the Epstein angle. That orange turd would get torn limb from limb by his own crowd if they knew what any rational person suspects. If it's Putin holding the videos (KGB veteran, host to the Miss Universe contest in Russia .... what're the chances, eh?) then every damn piece of the puzzle fits.

Anyway, more of that here:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20669297

"It's not a "conspiracy theory" if it is a real conspiracy" and history is chock full of conspiracies.

It's how evil people work.

Now, understanding what's going on doesn't solve it, but pointing to the root problem might help others understand, and helps me create/modify satirical material and gives me impetus to copy those long "Indivisible" posts and Bernie Sanders emails late into the night.

Bernie hits the nail on the head (Oligarchy) and gets great response in deep red states.

and yes, I kick ass for the party to get on board this UNIFYING message.
(besides all the other great messages)

Good ones are at "The Way Forward" and "Activist Headquarters"

EDIT TO ADD:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219813493
Disheartened? These people never gave up when faced with enormous obstacles.

with gusto. I am your #1 admirer.

I check the rec's and I love both the steady Eddies and the members that I haven't heard of.

All duly noted in my GIANT gratitude "book".



I posted another in this thread.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220669288#post31

Encouragement there.

And here:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219813493

But we could share!

I wonder though because I read Usonian’s posts but don’t often see memes. I would rec

You are kind.

Small acts of affirmation like this makes the world brighter.

try to remember that we are not our circumstances... that together we are a great and loving people... and that even Jesus wept...

It's almost like a physical pain in my chest.

I'm watching as people who were elected and swore an oath to protect us completely abdicate their responsibilities to suck up to a criminal.

It's really really sad to see it.

And I think about how great things could have been if people weren't so racist and greedy.

But on the flip side, I've encountered Americans who still have no idea of what's going on. There are Americans who have no idea that the military was sent to DC and LA. They are in a walled off echo chamber and I have no idea of how to get through to them. It seems almost impossible.

But then a part of me wonders: Are they just effing with me? Pretending to not know what's going on in order to justify supporting a criminal?

Even if they're completely unaware of current events, surely they've seen trump himself talking.

Really, that should be all that's needed.

So that makes me sad as well.

are many out there who are in DENIAL. I like being aware of what's going on. Listening to Mary Trump Media, Wajahat Ali, Danielle Moodie and others, keep me informed.

General strike should be considered.

But, it is personal stuff, and no one cares anyway. Hell, my husband just went outside to talk to his sister. There is only one reason why someone would go away from the room to talk to someone on the phone. That is because of the topic of the conversation.

I don't have any illusions. I don't have long without proper healthcare and I cannot afford to get proper healthcare. No one wants to hear anything I have to say about anything and no one cares if I do offer real suggestions to anything, because they refuse to even consider them as 'real suggestions'. I have been sick since yesterday and I am about to check and see if it is COVID, because I think it is. I cannot do anything about it, as I am already thousands in debt to my doctors with no end in sight and no ability to do anything about that number. Since our entire nation is only about money, and since I have none, there is no hope for me or others in my position.

I went to the local store the other day to buy some of my favorite mayo. There are only a few that carry it and I was so pleased to find out that the local grocery chain started carrying it.

It was $9.00. A freaking container of mayonnaise... NINE DOLLARS.

We have no hope to survive here if this is how things are going (and they are).

(Sorry, but you asked. )

I'm just very thankful for my puppy dog. Without her I don't think I'd be here. Someone to love. Something to look forward to. That's the most that I can hope for now.

Take care, mahina. ❤️

to give you this littlemisssmartypants. Our pets get us through it all.

Dogs ❤️❤️❤️🐾🐾

We are getting steadily worn down and are not doing great ("we" being practically everyone we know.)

I try to look for sense, reason and hope in all things, but there doesn't seem to be much now. I have always loved this country, but I hardly recognize it now. It's heartbreaking.

I'm in Fighting Spirit.. and I Appreciate All The Patriots Who Are.

Kindred Spirits! Aloha!

love your comment, never give up the fight. Other countries have been what we are going through in the past.

That's the Only way I can stay sane.

Yes, WE Will DO It Too.

I will NOT let those bastards control me. I will NOT lose faith.

Because if I think about the future it's too scary. But I still plan a few things, going to Kauai in June with my daughter and grandkids. I turn 70 next summer so celebrating there.

I go between that and not sleeping, overeating sweets, and spending hours trying to find just the right sign for next protest. Telling myself to stop checking this site 50 times a day. I think I am hoping for good news but it just gets worse and worse.

I have senior gym class, Olli classes, this fall signed up for meditation and knitting. Between that and walking my dog for miles every day it keeps me going.

you're doing great. An honest effort has paid off for you!

avoiding Trumpers and enjoying good
relations with everyone else in my life.

it will get worse through until the mid-terms. We need to all being working hard, so that we crush them at the voting booth.

We're all down with pneumonia, on antibiotics and I'm on prednisone as well. Hubby and I have always had such an intellectual relationship... our minds are what drew us together from the very first (of course, sex was pretty good, too! LOL) But now, at 74, his mind is going, his hearing is blasted and he won't even think about a hearing aid or amplifier. Up until the pneumonia hit, his body was still in pretty good shape which was a continuation of an ongoing joke we had with each other. We always laughed and said we were the flip sides of the same coin. Where we were alike, we were 100% alike; where different, it was a 180. As his body held up by his memory went sideways, my body imploded but my mind is still okay. These days, I'm trying to figure out how to eke out some money to hire someone to help clean my house. I just can't do it on my own, and the cat fur is about to take over!

We still talk politics, but it's kinda hard when my voice is naturally soft and his hearing doesn't work. He detests trump and everything the right wing stands for and isn't afraid to voice his opinion and dare anyone to take exception. But even talking between us is getting harder. And I've started worrying about what comes next. Will I be able to take care of him by myself? Will my marbles hold up and keep the household above water? My grandson lives with us, and is there in case of emergency but a household help he isn't. I don't blame him... I have a biased view of men and housework, anyway... and he just continues to embody it. Besides, I'll leave him the house when we're gone and he's promised to take care of my cats. If it weren't for my cats (and the dog that's as big as a pony), I'd try to figure out a way to go into Assisted Living. But even if I could have cats there... and not all places allow it... how do I choose who to take and who to leave behind? My god, just the thought of it tears me to pieces. How do you split up your kids? And my babies are just like my kids. Nearly all my cats have lived long lives into their 20's. I have four right now who are in their late teens and 2 of them are approaching 20. One is such a paranoid schizo, he could only live with me or someone he knows well. No one else would be able to come close to him. But I also have 3 littermates who are only about 7... and one of those is my constant nursemaid. My daughter is caught up in her own continuing dramas involving men and has no time for her sons or us. So, I kinda feel like I'm out here on my own, flailing, trying to keep my head above water and feeling like I'm drowning about half the time. Of course, the pneumonia right now doesn't help... I know that. Still, I'm practical enough to know crap isn't going to get any better. And concern and worry over what maga and trump can do to us financially scares the living crap out me. At this age, you shouldn't have to count the days to see if your SS check is going to make it to your bank account or into trumps wallet. Plus, I just feel like all the work I did as a kid and young adult... protesting, marching for civil rights and women's rights have been all for nothing. I know the women I helped with computers, software, and training all on my own dime as they were struggling divorcees or worse paid its own dividends with the new start it gave them, but other than that, what do I have to show for it all? Maga ripped everything bright and beautiful and peaceful from my view and replaced it with hatred and ugliness and the inevitable "looking down on" or "looking away" as I try to maneuver my way through the grocery store or across a parking lot. My circle of friends has inevitably gotten smaller as those closest to me fight their own health battles, or are still in the DoD workplace, terrified of losing their jobs at any moment. Even my sister, with whom I'd supper several times a month as we took care of Mom, has disappeared into her own world since Mom died in January. In fact, I think the funeral was the last time I saw her in person... and she only lives 30 minutes from me! Sometimes, I just feel like I've outlived my time and as self-pitying as it sounds, it just doesn't seem fair... lol. There's so much I wanted to do, but trapped by finances and circumstances, the "normal" middle class lifestyle just always eluded me. And I'm stuck here in the Midwest, surrounded by Red and wanting so badly to once in my life see the PNW and knowing I'll probably die without ever seeing the Pacific Ocean or the forests in Oregon and Washington. And now I've really dragged myself down (SMDH). Time to get my Tarot deck out and see if it'll give me any good news in the near future -- like trumpo or miller biting the bullet before I do!

🤔
All the various protesting on all the various issues? Think of it like this:
if you, I and countless thousands, millions at times hadn't done any of it - think of how much further back we'd be currently, and imagine being pushed backwards from a even further back place!
Plus all the women you personally helped. You made a difference in their lives! And that probably had positive ripple effects as well.
I hope that makes sense I could do a type of numbers scale analogy if it doesn't. It's important I want you not to feel all that was futile.

As far as the hearing aid issue - you may call me a "good on line friend" if it helps....
I was born w so-so hearing. I probably should have gotten a hearing aid at least some years ago. I'm now waiting for an appointment to the ENT through my ALP.
So you can say to your husband my good on line friend 😉 who's resisted getting a hearing aid is going to get one.
Hey, it might help. And keeping him more engaged might slow the brain/mind issues.

Is there anyway you could barter with some one in your area to do some cleaning in the house. Maybe a friend at DOD might know someone? Just a thought.
Personally, I think you should get the grandson doing something.But that's mho.

If you can sonehow afford it; play the bigger lottery games once in a while for your PNW dreams; do so! Here's a little story....
I once temped at the HQ of a bank in the '80's. It was when the bIg NYC prize was about 84 million.
Well, one of this bank's branchesI thinknin Queens pooled their money......
.
and they won!!!

That's sort of like someone that you don't know but lives in your big apt complex winning. Close enough *to make it seem possible* ! 👍

I was lucky to be able to see 2 of my dreamed of landscapes in '79, '80 for one kind, and in 2007 for a totally different kind.

So I hope it will happen for you!
Blessed be.

Apple airpods make great hearing aids and cost 200-300. This is recent…you take a hearing test using phone and airpods. Just in case you find the cost of hearing aids too high for your budget! You can go to apple.com and find more info or https://www.apple.com/airpods-pro/hearing-health/

It’s a great idea to fo what you can on hearing as there are good studies showing a correlation between hearing loss and loss of cognition. Let’s not! We need all our marbles possible.

Aloha!
Ps if you have an iphone, sorry

In my case probably not true, bc I've had this problem my whole life. Cognition still usually good to excellent sometimes depending on how good my sleep is.
But hearing aids will make my life easier. 🙂👍

Not great.

I swing between hopelessness and impotent rage.

I live in freaking Iowa and there isn't much I can do. I'm surrounded by right wingers who adore this man and everything he's doing.

I feel like it can't be real and then, I realize that that these people have always been here and they have always been like this, but pre-orange man, they hid their real selves under masks to hide who they really are.

I used to think that some day they would want to put the masks back on, but now I don't think so. They love being openly hateful and harming people. They embrace it and want to see people hurt...and they do it all in the name of their god.

I hate that I believe this.

Yet I find myself to be very relaxed despite the menace of Fat Sauron. Maybe it's because I predicted our current predicament, and everybody who poo-poohed me last year is now in a state of panic, and I have a certain I-told-you-so satisfaction. Maybe it's because I also feel that we will see our way through all of this, although I don't think it will be a political solution that gets us there. So when the moment comes to burn this motherfucker down, I'll probably be the calmest person taking a blowtorch to it.

I have to remember and I usually take 1 day, have to try 2 with no news. This past Sunday I didn't follow any news. It was wonderful. A mental health day.👍

Otoh, I have a vivid imagination married to worrying so I have to fend off when the doom & gloom starts up. Eeeeps!

I do have a lot of interests that I can distract myself with. Thank goodness!