Six Types of Retirees/Lingerie

 As I was scrolling through an article on MarketWatch to read about Nancy Schlossberg's six type of retirees (Adventurer, Continuer, Easy Glider, Involved Spectator, Searcher, and Retreater) something changed on the right hand side of the screen,

My second thought concerned the pattern recognition algorithm that placed the ad.  My first thought was kinky? Why would a porn site buy space on Market Watch?  Scrolling up I found that the images were ads for Macy's.  

Back to the second thought: Is there a correlation between people scanning retirement advice ads and women's lingerie?  Perhaps the correlation involves jumps in the stock indexes and retirement articles.  Time to retire and buy something intimate for the chick on the side?  Was I flagged as a member of the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement?

It would be a revelation if ads gave you a hint as to why an ad appeared.  ("You looked so sad we thought that some pictures of intimate apparel might cheer you up.")

Sherpa Blanket and Kryptonite Lock and Books

 Some time ago I found a Sherpa blanket blanket on freecycle.org.  We exchanged a few emails trying to decide when I should pick it up because the weather looked iffy.  We eventually decided on the weekend.  On the morning I was going to get the blanket someone offered a Kryptonite lock.  Surprise!! It was the same guy.  He'd stick the lock in the same bag.

What could go wrong?  How about a spell which transformed the parkway into a parking lot?  So it was after a detour that allowed me to spot a used book shop and the cheapest gasoline in a 15 mile radius that I finally arrived at Beechwood Street.

I parked in front of the house, but seeing the house number across the street I figured I'd walk a little way, getting a little aerobic exercise and saving a smidgen of gas by parking in the first available space.  

Beechwood street is numbered randomly, not the way normal suburban streets are numbered with odd numbers on one side, even numbers on the other with numbers increasing or decreasing in a regular pattern,  I thought my mind was failing because the numbers didn't make sense.  Fortunately, a lady who had just pulled out of her driveway, told me that I was probably looking for a house that way as she pointed in the direction where I had parked. 

It turned out that I had parked right in front of the correct house but I'd been fooled by the sign number of the house on the other side of the street.

On the way back I stopped into the book shop.  I'd been there browsing around for a few minutes when the owner was surprised that I was there.  After the usual what type of book are you looking for I browsed around for quite a while.  

I told the owner that there were some books in the wrong sections.  He didn't care.  The only thing which really appealed to me was a boxed set of John Dos Passos' U.S.A. trilogy.  Usually prices are negotiable.   In this case he checked on line and raised the price from the price in the books.  I passed. 

I'd said something early on about looking for engineering drawings for a class.  He mentioned that when he increased the price.  It was his right.  I passed.  

Got a God intolerance?

The full quote from By Molly Young's article, "Better Living Through Stoicism, From Seneca to Modern Interpreters" (www.nytimes.com/2021/12/28/books/stoicism-books.html) :

Got a God intolerance? Try Epictetus!

The article was primarily concerned Mangling her sentences, Young wrote that for a meaningful secular existence, Stoicism might be "swapped in for religion like Lactaid for regular milk.  (Got a God intolerance? Try Epictetus!)"

Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher.  (*I had to look it up.)  It seems that the Stoics had their own version of Winston Churchill's “Never let a good crisis go to waste”.

One of the premises of Stoicism is that it will help you assimilate horrible events with equanimity. The proper way to respond to catastrophe, the Stoics will tell you, is to perceive it as a training exercise. Or, as Seneca put it: “Disaster is virtue’s opportunity.”

 It brings to mind a Garrison Keillor script where the narrator describes not being bothered by his wife ran off to Paris with some guy and his daughter dropped out of medical school to pursue a career in dry cleaning.  No, because by being a writer, it's all material.  

A good deal of my philosophy derives from bumper stickers, T-shirts, and coffee mugs.  Sherry Ross, an old acquaintance had a mug with the slogan, "Grin and ignore it."  Sometimes I act that way.  I know it infuriated a much despised former boss that I relayed bad news with a grin.  

Killer Can't Stand Trial/Drug Treatment CEO Dies With Fentanyl in His System

Two stories confirming my belief in humanity:

From the Orange County Register (https://www.ocregister.com/2021/12/01/man-accused-of-killing-4-in-orange-committed-to-state-hospital/):

Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, who was struck by a bullet in the head during a shootout with police, will begin receiving treatment for injuries that have left him incapable of understanding the murder charges he was facing.

“Every medical expert who has evaluated the defendant has concluded that he is not competent to assist his lawyers in his defense as a result of deficits he suffered from a gunshot wound by the responding police who stopped his massacre,” according to a statement by Kimberly Edds, a spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney’s office. (https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-11-05/accused-o-c-mass-shooter-found-unable-to-stand-trial-case-on-hold-indefinitely)

Gonzalez will now be evaluated by medical professionals who will help the court determine his future placement and develop a treatment plan “in an effort to restore his competency,” Edds said. “He will continued to be housed in a lockdown facility,” she said. “His lawyers will return to court on Dec. 1 to discuss the report with the prosecution and judge.”

In other, unrelated news, from The Mercury News:

Costa Mesa addiction treatment CEO faces federal charges

(https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/08/17/addiction-rehab-ceo-indicted-on-federal-conspiracy-charges-dead-at-51/) we have news that Tarek Greiss, a former anesthesiologist before addiction cost him his medical license died with fentanyl in his system.

What makes this story especially interesting is that Greiss (quoting his bio): "entered the world of addiction recovery through the front door, as a client ... He is a recovered impaired professional who navigated the very difficult road to durable recovery through an intense trial and error period.” At Elite Care, he developed an “Impaired Professionals Program” to help professionals struggling with addiction to keep or regain their professional stature, his bio says." (Image from https://www.facebook.com/BeginningsTreatment/videos/947437509045581/?t=30)

Sounds good, but there's always more to the story: he ran afoul of the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act of 2018 which makes giving or receiving money in exchange for addiction treatment referrals a federal crime. The charging document described a prospective patient being picked up at an airport, given Xanax, injected in the neck with methamphetamine, and was in detox for seven days before transferring to one of his rehab centers.

John Littrell, his attorney, said, “His legacy will not be tarnished by the government’s misguided prosecution of him. Tarek will be remembered as one of the good guys.” I'd like to put it to a vote.