I saw somebody get hit by a car today. Such a gruesome thing to behold, the physical reality of the impact. A guy on a Vespa was hit by a vehicle whose elderly driver appeared not to be paying any fucking attention. The Vespa rider did not appear to be seriously injured but he was in a lot of pain. Plenty of people gathered ’round, and coincidentally an ambulance just happened to be motoring past right as this happened. The ambulance’s siren was on, suggesting they had a patient in the vehicle. But the driver stopped anyway to help the crash victim. If there was a patient in the ambulance then I hope it was not serious. One person implored the victim not to stand up, as that would worsen his injury. But I guess standing up is one’s instinct after getting hit like that, if only to see that you actually can stand upright. Man that guy was hurting. It was on 34th Avenue across from the Ravenswood Houses.
The worst accident I ever saw was on 2nd Avenue at 79th Street. an elderly woman just got totally blown away by a yellow cab. Her body and one of her rain boots flew through the air. She was just dead on the street. That incident made the nightly news, where it was reported that she had crossed against a don’t walk light and the cab driver was held blameless. More recently I saw two bikes get tangled up on the Ed Koch/Queensboro bridge. That was scary as hell, as I came within a few feet of getting tied up in that mess myself….
The debate was interesting. Nothing unimaginable came from it, but I laughed and laughed at the idea that our national security is at the mercy of a mythical 400 pound hacker. From what distended corner of Donald Trump’s mind did that ludicrous image emerge? I actually thought he was winning the debate at first but in the end I think it was a draw. His complaining about the microphone not working is bullshit. Great television, though. It was interesting to me how she looked up and over the audience, while he seemed to look down on them, scowling. I interpreted her look as dismissive, and absent. His look was more congenial, if somewhat comical. I don’t think her attempts to diminish his stature by calling him “Donald” were effective. It made her sound stupider than it was intended to make him look. I guess because of his brand and media presence as “The Donald” it is not inappropriate to call him Donald. But would she have addressed the President as “Barack”? Probably not. I hearrd trump reaching into a grab bag of buzz words that resonate with his fan base. “Law and order.” What would that really mean in Trump’s America? More police shootings? National Guard troops in every K-4 schoolhouse? Martial law? She seemed more poised but also politically adept at saying as little as possible.
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The pension buyout comes with quite a bit more money than I expected. I somehow got the idea this would be like an IRA withdrawal, with a fat penalty. No penalties at all. Just have to withold some taxes, and in so doing I will get some of that money back. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. All that corporate teat on which I sucked has come back to roost. All I can do is laugh about it.
I got a somwhat strange call from someone in Scotland who says he is a descendant of John Johnston, one of the occupants of the mighty Johnston mausoleum at Calvary. I couldn’t fully understand everything the bloke was saying, but it made me realize that my Skype account includes worldwide calls to landline phones. So maybe I’ll call him, but first I sent an e-mail to what I think is his address. I think he was saying he had loads of information to share regarding the mausoleum. Maybe he himself will one day occupy that mansion on the hill.
Then I got another call from someone who identified himself as “Lunar”. He is a phreaker who wants to help revive the payphone number listings section of the payphone site. I don’t know if I will call him back. I don’t really have much to give to the phreakers of the world. Although his area code would seem to say that he is in Tampa, where I grew up, so that could be interesting. People seem to be noticing me on Twitter. It’s strange interacting with people who think I am famous, if only marginally so.
Beauiful woman sitting neaarby… more handsome than beautiful, I think. At the ghetto coffee shop.
