Sheltering-in-a-Better-Place 2020

Good morning!

Being that there is currently a sleeping family member in every available space here and I always am up one or two hours before they are, I am having my morning tea (a delicious Milk Oolong, by the way) on the staircase!

44 hours.  That’s how long we get to stay at this AitBnB we paid for.  I thought that nothing would ever replace my grandparents old coach in the Pismo Beach Senior mobile home park, but this has been quite satisfying... it even smells like that place... the smell of sand and ocean air that has permeated the carpet over the years.  We have 4 hours left and I am happy to say that every minute has been a much needed infusion of happiness and relaxation.

We head back to Fresno and 105 degree (41C) heat in a few hours, but at least it’s supposed to cool down tomorrow.

It sounds like the entire state may be heading into another round of lockdown, though nothing ever changed much for us (and we’ve been careful to avoid other humans while here).  It has been really exhilarating to get away for just a couple days.

Why I support Bernie Sanders

I was recently asked outright why it is that I support Senator Bernie Sanders for President.  My initial response was something like, "It's complicated.  I'll write a 10,000 word essay on my blog and then post a link".  So I went off and wrote a few detailed paragraphs about anti-corporatism and the Green New Deal and blah blah blah... after working on it for an hour or so, I realized that it didn't explain all of the different facets enough and that I'd have to come back to finish it later.

A week or so went by.  During that time, my wife and I won tickets to go see Hamilton (the musical, for those of you who have been living under rocks) in San Francisco and decided to drop everything to go.  Somewhere near Oakland on the drive up there on Tuesday, we went under an overpass where someone had posted a homemade sign which simply read: "Bernie: People over Profit".  I saw this and thought, "Yeah, that about sums it up... I'm gonna totally steal that."

It's so beautifully simple.  In a society and economy where corporate profits hold higher importance than shelter for the poor, healthcare for the masses, or the declining state of the environment, "People over Profit" kinda says it all.  I mean, we can sit around and debate the finer details of a Medicare for All plan, or how something like the Green New Deal should be implemented, but I really think that for most people, our reason for supporting someone like Bernie Sanders is just that he exudes this attitude and always has.  It's synonymous with "Love thy neighbor as thyself" (and you would think it would resonate with more Christians).  People recognize this, as we also recognize the stark differences between him and other candidates who represent the same old mantra of the past which may have talked a good game, but was really still "Profit over People" when it came down to it.

Yeah, I'm good.  That was easy.

Sometimes, I just have to save these Facebook exchanges...