Life, “Such As It Was,” Highlights: 7/4 - 8/6/2021 (published 8-8-2021)

Introduction

Howdy, y'all! I hope that you are still turnin' right and goin' straight. Thanks for stopping by to read for a while.

I plan to get back to writing the usual nine to twelve articles a month. July was a “rich, full” month. I wrote only three articles. This article is about “life, such as it was,” by topical focus, from 7/4/2021 to 8/6/2021. The theme is “the good, the bad, and the ugly.” I hope that you are entertained!

This article is six pages long. Please don't give up on it, unless you don't have the mental focus. I hope that you don't have a short attention span. Social media is a cause of short attention span. I have read Война и мир (War and Peace), published in 1865–1869, by Leo Tolstoy. I read the English translation, which was my failing. One day, I hope to start reading the original Russian.

I started writing this article when East Tennessee air was smoky. The smoke is mostly gone now. Along with the hot and humid weather, we inhaled “second-hand smoke.” Forest fires from far western states were bringing it. On 7/31/2021, while driving nearby, I could barely see My Mountain (House Mountain)! It made me think about the "Johnny Smoke” public service TV announcement from the 1960s. I hope that you watch the YouTube link. It brings back memories for those of us, who are old enough to remember.

Folks often begin conversations about the weather, before moving to deeper topics. Let's dig a little deeper into the conversational well!

The Good

July started off well. My 7/5/2021 article was about the family gathering on 7/3/2021. That was a very good day!

Independence Day was the next day. We rested. That afternoon, I completed various requirements to renew my “ever two years” Tennessee life and health insurance license. I have not been working in life and health insurance since 2012, but I still renew my license every two years. It is not that expensive or time-consuming. I got the license in 2005, so I might as well keep it renewed.

The USA celebrated its 245th birthday (as the latest and fairly young experiment in a republican form of government). The 245th birthday assumes accepting that the USA still exists. I have determined that the United States of America ended on 1/6/2021 and that the Ununited Socialist States of America (USSA) started that day. (Previous articles have commented on this.) I cannot comprehend the political and moral insanity any longer! Folks either honor the USA and its flag or hate them. The haters should move to another nation and leave the rest of us alone! (Okay, that's my “poly-ticks” soapbox. I'm done!)

As a theological aside, the Good Lord determined that a person needs to rest one day a week. For the Hebrews, it was on Saturday, as instructed in the Ten Commandments. By the way, the Fourth Commandment was the only one that was nullified by Christ's death and resurrection. The New Covenant includes all the Ten Commandments, in principle, except for the fourth. A person needs to rest one day a week. The Good Lord knew what he was doing. Seventh-Day Adventist friends are wrong. Sunday, not Saturday, is the day when Christians gather for worship.

On Saturday, 7/17/2021, I attained the age of 6.1 years. (It is easier to count in decades.) I took it easy and did the usual chores. I found the two store-bought cards that Mrs. Appalachian Irishman had hidden for me. (She likes to play “hide the cards” on birthdays and anniversaries.) One card was made in China. The other was made in the USSA by a socialist group. I researched them. My wife made a traditional “lemon birthday pie,” which I may get around to eating over the course of a few months as usual. I received phone calls and emails. “Farcebook” friends (in real life also) offered birthday greetings. My birthday this year was better than last year. (See the 7/26/2020 article.)

The next day, Mrs. Appalachian Irishman attained the age of ____. (She won't allow me to tell you, but she's three years younger than me!) She found her card that I had made and hidden! We ate dinner (or lunch, as the Yankees call it) at Applebee's, which is near the former Knox Center (or East Towne) Mall. We used to live in an apartment on the ridge, behind the main entrance to the former mall. We lived there after returning from Russia, in 1999, and before moving into our house on 6/7/2003. (The area where the mall had been looked like an asteroid had hit and left a crater! Eventually, Amazon plans to build a distribution hub at the location.) After dinner, we had a good visit with her folks.

I wish that I had photographed the crater where the mall once was. A local television station has the following article with photographs of the demolition stage as it looked on 4/8/2021: “PHOTOS: East Towne Mall demolition begins,” WATE-TV, by Robert Holder, 4/8/2021, updated 4/10/2021. The following is one photograph from that article:

July ended well! The last day of July was on a Saturday. Mrs. Appalachian Irishman and I had dinner (or “lunch,” as Yankees call it) with another couple. We dined at the Texas Roadhouse, near the crater that once was the Knox Center Mall. About 35 years had passed, since we had seen our friend and sister in Christ! We met her husband, who is our brother in Christ, for the first time. We talked. We laughed. Tears welled up in our eyes. The meal and conversation afterward, of over two hours, were a joyous re-acquaintance! The four of us plan future get-togethers. My wife and I look forward to them!

Getting together with friends and fellow Christians is a foretaste of the heavenly gathering that awaits us! Eventually, we will have everlasting gatherings at Home! Won't it be wonderful then?

The Bad (financially)

My income has been the only way to “hold down the fort,” while Mrs. Appalachian Irishman has been enjoying her unpaid summer vacation.

On Tuesday, 7/20/2021, we received our summer propane fill, as I had arranged. The underground propane tank was about 15% full, before the fill. I could have gone without propane for a while. Mrs. Appalachian Irishman likes warm showers and warm or hot water for laundry. I could have taken cold showers and worn clothes laundered in cold water. The bill is paid.

On Monday, 7/26/2021, our “mower guy” and his crew removed the brush and scrub tree limbs from our “back 40.” The job, using manual tools, would have taken me a few days, and I would have had to take time off from work. That crew did the job in a few hours, using gas-powered and manual tools. That was much faster than I could have done! The cost was about what my “mower guy” had told me last fall. I was surprised, initially, by the cost. Later, I figured out that the cost was about what my “mower guy” had told me last fall. Before he started, I wish that our “mower guy” had indicated his plan to do the work that day. I would have put him off about a month or so. I still recommend highly LTD Lawn (our “mower guy”). My “bionic body” would rather not mow, trim, weed-eat, and clean up. It used to take me at least an hour and a half. They can do a better job than me, in about 20 or 30 minutes! They have better equipment. The cost for excellent mowing, trimming, weed eating, and clean-up is very reasonable!

Norfolk Southern actually owns the scrub brush, trees, and fence, which are located about two feet south of our southern property line. I researched it and know. Norfolk Southern should be responsible for cleaning their brush, trees, and fence line, not me! It would be lucky if I could get Norfolk Southern to reimburse us for the work that we paid to have done for them. I won't bother. The “mower guy” bill is paid.

On Monday, 8/2/2021, we received our chump change, “Monopoly money,” 2020 Federal Income Tax Refund. That was a little good news, amidst the financial ugly. We mailed our tax return on 4/15/2021. We usually pay the “Uncle Sam Scam” a few dollars every year. (I don't want a “Monopoly money” refund from “Uncle Sam.” A tax refund does not draw interest.) My tax preparation indicated a small “Monopoly money” refund, since we didn't get the second (or whichever) round of “stimulus Monopoly money.” I didn't think that we would get it. Over four months had passed. Well, the “stimulus Monopoly money” arrived. We used it.

From Friday, 7/30/2021, to Thursday, 8/5/2021, our 2008 Honda Civic (Mrs. Appalachian Irishman's car) was in the “hospital.” She needed a new starter. Also, she got new tires and a new alignment. Tom's Auto Clinic healed her. The bill is on a credit card. The bill will be paid in full next month, once it arrives. (We had to have a little financial “breathing room.”)

At least Mrs. Appalachian Irishman and I know how to keep a “rainy day” fund. By the way, we had good soaking rains on August 3rd and 7th. We need more rain. In the early evening rain, on Tuesday, August 3rd, I took my 2006 Nissan Frontier on a drive around our subdivision. He enjoyed a “country boy truck wash!” Yes, the Civic is a she, and my truck is a he. There are only two genders for vehicles. Wait for my next “poly-ticks” article! It will focus on PGI and PGO. You may not know what those mean yet. I will tell you.

The Ugly

On 7/19/2021, I emailed Roger Goodell (rogergoodell@nfl.com), as follows:

Roger Goodell:

I found your (if valid) email address via “NFL Headquarters Address, HQ Email Address, Corporate Office Phone Number, and More,” on HeadquartersOf, by John Mathew.

Yesterday (7/18/2021), a friend emailed to me the following link: “NFL to Double Down on Viewership-Killing Wokeness With 'Black National Anthem',” on mrcTV, by Matt Philbin, 7/16/2021.

Of course, I had already learned about the NFL’s “Black national anthem” (as if there is one, really) and the NFL’s “politically correct,” “woke,” and “socialist Utopian” agenda. My agenda, for the 2021 – 2022 NFL football season, is to WATCH SOMETHING, ANYTHING ELSE! (I have been a Pittsburgh Steelers “fan” for decades.)

You will not respond to this email, if you do, with any “politically correct” gibberish! I do NOT want to read it!

Regards,

A former “fan” of the NFL

Roger Goodell has not responded. My email to him did not bounce back as undeliverable. I spoke my mind, as any Irish-American would have. Y'all email him too, if you wish. He will not reply. The NFL will not change. I'm done with the NFL.

Since 7/25/2021 (including August 3rd and 6th, so far), I have been trying to educate my hometown newspaper, The Rogersville Review. During my senior year in high school, I worked as an “inserter,” every Wednesday after school. My hometown newspaper has become “new, better, and improved,” meaning worse. They don't have their website and billing “ducks in a row.” I'm trying to teach them. So far, I have managed to restore our postal delivery of The Rogersville Review. I'm still trying to help them understand the details about my gift subscription to my youngest brother. I'll educate them. It may take me awhile.

On Tuesday, 7/27/2021, while working at home, I had enough of my job. Konstantin Jireček (born in Vienna, Austria, 7/24/1854; died 1/10/1918) could have been the one who first said:

We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Decades ago, I memorized that phrase. I submitted my online retirement that Tuesday! I was done. Enough was enough! My Irish dander was up! (I'm sorry, Lord. Thanks for forgiving me!)

The next day, after I had cooled down, I decided to un-retire. I was retired for one day!

My employer will never figure out that expecting one person to do the work of two or more is not rational. I have over four months of paid leave. Instead of assuming that I can find another and better job, after retiring from my current job, I decided to continue to endure the “we, the unwilling,” insanity, until I find another job. I plan to give a month's notice, before I retire from my state job. I plan to start a new job a month later. My current employer will have to pay me over four months of leave time, while I am working my new and better job! Well, that's my plan, as the Lord wills.

Wisdom overcame my stubborn Irish temper, at least on 7/28/2021. Tomorrow, we will see. The weekly routine continues: work from home on Monday through Wednesday and at the office on Thursday and Friday. I'm on a short fuse. The total “Gaggle alert dump” tomorrow, which some unknown “colleague” somewhere assigns to me, could be the deciding factor. We will see!

Conclusion

Mrs. Appalachian Irishman has returned from her afternoon visit to her folks. The mundane details of another day in temporal life are winding down once again.

I'm whittling down the backlog of working documents. Seven remain. (I started them on 5/29/2021, 6/12/2021, 6/14/2021, 6/19/2021, 7/17/2021, 7/24/2021, and 8/7/2021.) I plan to summarize these seven under one “poly-ticks” article. Do you remember what “poly-ticks” means? My next article may be about “poly-ticks smorgasbord,” just to get this backlog behind me.

Y'all keep turning right and going straight out there! We will meet in heaven one of these days, unless we meet sooner.