weirdness

So So many things (10,000 to be precise) seem to be wrestling for the center of the stage (where the eye involuntarily goes and the lights are brightest. Maybe it is simply the magnetic tug of awareness bringing things towards the light. True North or not, they come and for a splendid moment in this time and space, exist as a result of our perception. Did I bring them here? Or are they here so I will notice? Have they always been here, but I was too blind, busy or bored to see? Or do I need to respond to their presence and use them much as a magpie dines upon the roadkill du jour? Let's play this out, he thought, see if any of this makes any sense.

Yesterday was a weird one. In a series of weird ones. It HAS been a long, strange trip, he sang, remembering that not once in the maybe 50 times she saw the Dead, did they (I think it was Bobby's 5th) ever manage to get that harmony right. Lately it occurs to me....what a long.....

The list of chores needed to get done with efficiency, as there was precious little time between Boise and SF. Two days. The visit to the Kitsap Health Center for the physical had been booked for weeks, and today was the dreaded day. Every man knows the why of this dread. Especially those over 50. The lubricated, gloved, sterile finger up the exhaust pipe testing for rust, carbon deposits or signs of abnormal wear and tear. It had been eight years since the last check, so the question needed an answer, worse, the test is digital, and not in the current primary usage.

After the testing, across the Highway to pick up my income tax return. yes we filed an extension, but I needed to face THAT music next. I never even considered what the RCV retainer would mean to my taxes, especially that rediculus bit of extortion known as the "Self Employment Tax". So for the first time in almost as many years as the time between my checkups, good ol PMX5 actually showed a profit in 2007. I was not prepared for the amount I was being asked to pay. Or the amount I was being asked to pay for the service of being told how much to pay. The cosmos is doing a thourough job of testing today, he thought, suddenly feeling a second stinging sensation in an already tender area.

Off to Central Market to get a present for a friend celebrating her 47th birthday. A hundred dollar gift certificate will help put some good food on their table. Let's do some math so far.

Visit to doctor: $222.00
Visit to accountant: $4,812 for IRS, $450 for accounting firm
Visit to store: $116.55

Man, it's not even ten in the morning and I am out over 5 large. Better get back and book the UK/France trip while I still have some credit.

Too late.

SeaTac to Exeter to Nice and back: $3,200.
I book two hostels to compensate, no rental car, I'll ride the bus or walk.
I check e-mail
Things are getting stranger by the gigabyte.
I transfer funds to cover the IRS check.
So much for the new sound system.
I try to write a sensitive response to a delicate domestic scenario, fail miserably and feel worse as a result. I try once again to make sense of all the ramdomness, chaos and heartache. Is there a message here? Is someone knocking? WFT?

I still need to pack for SF. Don't forget the ointment.