Good to hear from you.

I thought the exchange died a lonely death

On the Western liturgical calendar today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

As an Orthodox Christian this year I am a couple of days behind since our Easter is one week later we will begin Great Lent on Monday the 23rd.

In addition to some very strict fasting we will be praying every weekday--sometimes multiple times each day--the Lenten Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian:

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk.

(Prostration) 

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Your servant.

(Prostration) 

Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed are You, unto ages of ages. Amen.

(Prostration)

 

Last edited by Tarnation (2/18/2026 11:26 pm)

03/09/2026

The mood is erratic.

I'm having one of those days.

Things from my past are haunting me.  From the shooting incident to something as unimportant as a slight from twenty years ago.  It's annoying and it's really effecting my mood.

I've been watching something titled “reels” on Facebook.

I have to say, I'm learning a lot of new things.  Karen:  This name is used as an adjective and seems to be derogatory.  I'm wondering what, exactly, it means.  Who's Karen and why is there so much stigma attached to the name.

I learned the term “porch pirate”.

Porch pirates refers to people who snatch delivered packages from other people's porches.  Theft, in other words.  The videos I see usually feature a booby-trapped package that explodes with a florescent dye or, in some cases, sewage.  It amazes me how quickly a thief complains about being a victims.  Some even call police...and get themselves arrested for stealing packages.  Does anyone know if there's a law against deploying a booby-trapped box that only goes off if someone steals it?

Traffic stops.

There seems to be a bottomless pit of traffic stop that end up with a dozen police cars and the driver is cuffs.  Question:  How hard is it to simply provide the requested documents?  If I ended up in a cell because of a  broken tail light I'd feel like a right ass.  And why run?  Can you outrun radio?  No?  Then pull over, you're just making things worse and you're not going to get away.

We hate each other.

One video after another show people in violent confrontation over the stupidest things.  Someone cut you off in traffic?  So what?  Is the car damaged?  Did you crash because of it?  In a whole two minutes you will never see that driver again so why get all wound up?  Just let it go.

I kinda like the court proceeding videos.

A substantial number of them are homeowners associations (HOA's).  By and large the people representing the HOA seem to think they have their own legal system.  I've seen video of HOA representatives entering private residences while the owner is away.  This is illegal as hell but listening to these arrogant, jack-booted thugs, they feel anything goes if the HOA guidelines say so.

It's almost impossible to go on Facebook without stumbling over current events.

I avoid the news because I just can't take all the hatred anymore.  It affects my mood which probably accounts for my current state.  I really should know better.

I'm a shut it.

I have no friends in this area, no family, and nothing to do.  I spend a great deal of time napping and I mostly watch movies or play games while I'm awake.  I don't know for certain if it's the PTSD that's stopping me going out in public or if it's just the ambient sense of anger and mistrust in the general public.

Could everyone please take a deep breath, count to ten, then go about your day without escalating a minor interaction into a full-blown confrontation?

Rant complete

Thanks for listening.