I just learned that my homeless little brother died... two years ago... of covid.

What an odd feeling this is. It's not grief. It's not sadness. --- It's like "Oh! Well that explains why we haven't heard from him."

He wasn't mentally ill, but he wasn't very bright either. He was 66 years old. He had income from SS, USPS retirement, and USAF benefits... he could (if he wanted to) have lived a humble life in a small apt, or owned his own mobile home. But he seemingly preferred to live in the "by the week" motels. When he ran out of money and was evicted, he'd move on to the next hotel whenever his check came in. In between times, he lived on the street, or in shelters.

He had no wife or family that we know of. We don't know who is cremains were given to, but she texted us to let us know what happened. --- It's so bizarre. She doesn't respond to our texted replies/questions. There's no answer when we try to call and her "mailbox-is-full" so no voicemails are possible. It seems unlikely that we'll ever know more than we do now.

It is what it is, I suppose. We tried to help John as much as we could. He wasn't in need of money and he often helped others with his benefits (I think he was being taken advantage of) but he was an adult and could make his own decisions. Even the poor ones.

We weren't estranged (in the usual sense) but he seemed to have no particular desire to keep in touch or let us know where he was or how he was doing. John was functional and independent, but his IQ and maturity was about the same as an adolescent or early teen. (Smoking was his only vice... no drugs, no weed, no booze.)

So... now we know. Now we can stop worrying and wondering. Maybe what I'm feeling is relief.

Thank you for listening (reading).

In the Lattimer vs Bowman contest... things are heating up (so to speak).

I received a "NOTICE OF DATA BREACH" from AT&T *

* and in the letter they state: "... we're writing to inform you that AT&T has determined that some of your personal information was compromised."

Apparently on March 26th of this year, AT&T customer information was included in a dataset released on the "dark web" on March 17th. --- I'm not sure what this "dark web" thing means, but it sounds ominous.

They don't say specifically, but I'm sure the data in their possession was from the time when I was a DirecTV subscriber. After many years of satisfaction with DirecTV, the moment they were taken over by AT&T everything went downhill so we moved on.

For my trouble, they're offering me a free one-year subscription to Experian's "Identity Works" which provides credit monitoring and identity restoration services. I've decided to go ahead and sign up. It's free... and it couldn't hurt, right?

Today, Peace Officers Memorial Day, flags should be lowered to half-mast *

* or in the case of flags mounted to houses, a black ribbon indicates the same measure of respect.



https://www.policeweek.org/schedule.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Officers_Memorial_Day

FIRST CLASS TRAIN Across Japan 🇯🇵 (Overnight on "SHIKI-SHIMA")

I wish we could have nice things like this in the US.

Madeline Albright was a Jewish Holocaust survivor.

This is shameful. What good or legitimate reason would ANYONE have for voting against H.R. 3354 (https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60257) a bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 220 North Hatcher Avenue in Purcellville, Virginia, as the “Secretary of State Madeleine Albright Post Office Building"

The bill also includes other post offices that are to be renamed for fallen military heroes Corporal Michael D. Anderson Jr.; Specialist Justin Dean Coleman; and Colonel Joseph William Kittinger II for his lifetime service.

What's a good/fair tip to give the guys at the AutoBell car wash *

* for vacuuming the floors and trunk, hand-drying, cleaning glass surfaces, shining the tires. After driving through the automatic car wash, I will sometimes treat myself to having the interior cleaned as well. Often it's a team of 2 or 3 per car (depending on how busy).

If the drive thru premium wash/wax is $40... what's a fair tip for the workers? Perhaps 20% for the team to split? That's $8... or round-up to $10? Or should I tip each one individually?

Michael Moore won't be remembered for his movies *

End of watch: April 29, 2024

Joshua Eyer, Sam Poloche and Alden Elliot
End of watch: April 29, 2024

https://www.odmp.org/officer/27029-police-officer-joshua-eyer
Eyer is survived by his wife Ashley and a three-year-old son.


Poloche is survived by his wife and two children.
Elliott is survived by his wife and one child.

https://twitter.com/JoeBrunoWSOC9/status/1785146318781915455

"These officers died as heroes and made the ultimate sacrifice in their service to our state," Todd Ishee, NC Secretary of Adult Correction, said in a release. "We remember them, we honor their service, we send our deepest condolences to their families and friends, and we pray for healing for all affected by this tragic incident."

I can't stand to listen to him. Sauer's voice makes me feel like I need to clear MY OWN throat of phlegm *

* not ridiculing a disability or medical condition... just stating a fact. He's difficult to listen to. (Maybe it's part of their strategy: to have someone who's annoying enough that he won't be asked too many questions, thus leaving the Justices with incomplete and spotty information. Or perhaps it's a sympathy ploy.)

He speaks so fast, I'm reminded of that fast-talker from the FedEx commercial.