October 31st, 2021 Q2

 Hey there,

Day two is here.  Starting this after lunch, which was quite good.  I know.  It was a cup of fruit and veggies, and then there was a hot and sour soup and then a fried cutlet.  Looked like one of their pork specials, but was filled with ham and cheese.  I would actively seek it out on the outside.  So far so good on that.  Betty loaded me up with PB&J fixins but have to open those up as of yet.  If I come out the other end liking Taiwanese food, I just don't know what that'll mean.

Speaking of coming out the other end, the toilet in this place is how I imagine those in heaven working.  

Looks like a normal toilet, but lemme share some of its features.  The lid/seat opens when you walk near it, and will flush and close itself should you leave something in the bowl.  Weird to have it reacting to your presence, but that just makes it my best friend right now.  Will get close to it sometimes just to have it acknowledge my presence.  But that is not what makes it special.  On the wall next to it is the control pad.

They say that there is more technology in your (fill in the blank) than they had in the Apollo missions, and I swear that this thing could easily direct you to the Sea of Tranquility and back.  There are buttons on the top that you can push for a pee or poop depending on what you have deposited, and then buttons that will raise/lower the lid and one for the lid and seat if you are a dude and just need to pee.  The buttons yo see here starting from the left are Off, then two speeds of water to wash your rectum (Rectum? Damn near killed 'em.).  Next to that is one for the lady parts.  I haven't tried that one yet, but it's only day two and you know I'm gonna get in touch with my feminine side soon enough.  And finally, a warm air dryer.  Still working on the buttons below that but suspect they regulate the temperature of the water/air).  I could Google translate the buttons, but it is the mystery of what could happen that is the spice of life.  Air travel, especially a 12 hour jaunt from the States to Taiwan, typically does a number on my bowel movements.  I now put a couple of prune juice cans in my luggage to jump start the flow if needed.  But so far, it is all systems go and in fact have pooped 5 times in the last 24 hours.  Maybe there is some hidden ingredient in this Taiwan chow that they keep a secret...ancient Chinese secret perhaps.

Way too early to complain about the isolation, and with the technology can chat with you all.  What gets me at this point is not being able to go for a walk.  I should be doing some stretching and resistance work...maybe tomorrow.  OK, not tomorrow cause football is gonna be on all day, so the next day.  

Where to start on America this summer.  I went back and looked at the thing I wrote after a couple weeks and those observations held true.  Traffic was markedly better.  All the locals bitch about how lanes were cut back to add bicycle only spaces, but the shit ran smoother.  I wanted to tell these folks that there are people out there that study traffic flows and that sometimes what works is counterintuitive, but like with some of this stuff, getting people to challenge their long held beliefs is not gonna happen.  

With that in mind, want to share my feelings on Jon Gruden.  As a Raider fan since January 1976, he has been part of my experience for a long time.  It was funny when they likened him to Chucky, and he had a moment with us that saw Raider Nation rise to some prominence (until the Tuck Rule).  NFL announcer and back to the Raiders for a contract that was stupid from its conception.  I wasn't a fan of that deal nor of him.  Great brain for offensive schemes, but blind to defense and it was obvious that his interpersonal relationships with the players blew.  I was hardly surprised when the vile crap he spewed came out and good riddance is how I feel.  Here is the thing.  I am a privileged white boy from the valley, and everything that guy said in those emails was the language of my youth.  Walk off a concussion, women's legs are mere pedestals for their titties, and the black shit all were familiar.  Things from your childhood get baked in for better or worse, but then what happens?  For me, I got out.  Study abroads, school in DC and then these last few years traveling everywhere, it is seeing how others live and love and hate.  Not that you can't do that if you never leave home, but suspect it is harder..  I fight the thoughts ingrained in me all the time and it leaks out more than I care to admit and the kids are right there to point it out when it does.  

What the whole affair shows though is that the groups on the bottom are right when they complain the game is rigged.  Gruden coached a group that is wildly black yet he not only skated through, but was promoted to upper management where his take on race was so reprehensible and his power to hire/fire absolute.  When blacks, or women or whomever says the game is stacked against them, believe it.  It's a good place to start. .