Johnny Olsen

 I learned a piece of family history I wish I had not.  My sister is out here visiting from Minnesota and we get into some pretty deep conversations around the fire pit.  Let me paint the background.  Here we go.

 I always knew that my paternal grandmother had an older brother who died when he was two years old and that his name was Johnny.  I always assumed that he died of disease as many kids out on the prairie did back in 1913 and I never thought to ask what he had died from.  Nope.  He did not die of disease.  Johnny died because his father (my great-grandfather) and the large animal veterinarian operated on Johnny after they got liquored up.

Imagine this.  

The year is 1913 and the location is Donnely Township located in rural west-central Minnesota.  There is no electricity, no telephones, no running water, and the main mode of transportation is still via horse and wagon.   There are no hospitals nearby.  It's the middle of winter with white-out blizzard conditions.  Your two-year old son needs his appendix removed.  

What do you do?

Well, apparently dad and the large animal vet, which is the closest thing to a doctor they had access to, decided to get rip-roaring drunk, got the kid rip-roaring drunk, and then decided to operate on him on the kitchen table.   

The ending was horrible.

At first I felt extreme anger and rage hearing the truth about Johnny's fate for the first time.  How could my great-grandfather be so dangerously DUMB!  How could my great-grandmother stand by and allow this to happen to her BABY.  I knew there was a history of alcohol and abuse in my family, but this was over-the-top child abuse and MURDER.

After sitting on it for a couple of days and allowing this bit of unpleasant family history to process, I became mournful and felt compassion (which surprised me).  I put myself in their place.  What were my great-grandparents' options?  Again, to re-iterate, the year is 1913 and the location is Donnely Township located in rural west-central Minnesota.  There is no electricity, no running water, and the main mode of transportation is still via horse and wagon.   There are no hospitals nearby.  It's the middle of winter with white-out blizzard conditions. 

Market Manipulation

 The Orange Cheeto can call tariffs on and off on a whim.  Doing so can send the stock market into spins and spirals.  How wonderful to know before hand which levers to pull and place stock trades accordingly.  This is insider trading at its worst.  It's manipulative and disgusting.....all so billionaires can make even MORE money.  

The billionaire class is insatiable.  

Generation X and Middle Children

 Generation X is just that.  We are anonymous and unheard and blend into the wall.  We were ignored.  The Boomers, Millennials, and Gen Z are the focus.  Boomers think of Gen X as millennials, and millennials think of Gen X as Boomers.  Nobody cares what Gen Z thinks of us.  

Generation X is often compared to being a middle child - ignored and left on their own to figure out life without guidance nor support from anyone.  

Here's the kicker:  I am Generation X........AND........I am also a middle child.  Double whammy on the scale of being invisible and ignored.  I know PMF (one of my coven group) can relate to me as she is also a middle child of Club Gen X.  That's why we "get" each other without saying a word. 

Four Kites

 Have you ever had your astrological birth chart done?  I had mine done recently.  I had no idea what to expect from it.  It's a long story, but M knows of a lady who does charts.  I decided to give it a go.  I contacted the lady and we talked for a long time.  She is a long-time resident of Sonoma County and lives close to my sister-in-law.  Quite frankly, I'm surprised I have not bumped into her earlier.

After giving Chart Lady my basic birth information, I waited for her to contact me to set up an appointment to go over the outcome.  She did.  When I arrived at her house the first thing she told me was how rare my chart was as it had "four kites" in it.  Chart Lady was so astounded that she contacted the person who taught her astrological charts as mine is so rare. 

First off, I know NOTHING about astrological birth charts.  I was kind of freaked out because I had absolutely NO idea what having "four kites" even meant.  Was I going to die in a freak accident?  Is the devil going to condemn me to hell?  Will I die of measles in Texas?   Will I be forced to drive a Tesla for the rest of my life?  

Apparently, having a kite in your astrological chart is extremely rare.  Having four kites that overlap each other is unheard of.  My "kites" are poised to come to power in the next 5-10 years.  I'm still trying to figure out what this all means.  It's like my suppressed, cosmic zit is about to finally pop with all the good stuff.  Chart Lady showed me birth charts of the hundreds of others she has done.  None even had a single kite.  Chart Lady is not some schemer where she intends to make money on any of this - as the skeptic in me went there.  Chart Lady is comfortably retired and does this for the pure passion of it.  She does not charge any $ and is not trying to sell anything.

In the meantime I am trying to figure out the whole "kite" formation in an astrological chart means.  I have a long way to go as I know nothing - assuming any of this means anything at all.

I guess I will go and fly a kite.  In fact, I will go and fly four of them.

Just What Do We Say?

I'm not sure what to say to our friends who are going to visit from the UK in a few, short weeks about our messed up governmental affairs.  I'm sorry the entire world hates us right about now.  Hey, I have an idea.  How about going to Laganitas for a pint and some nachos? 

 

Market Crash 2025

As I type this I am anticipating a market crash in just 4 hours or so.  How do I know?  I don't, really.  I am just going off of hippie vibes and other woo-woo-measurements-witchy-bitchy vibes Wall Street does not recognize but yet someone like myself gravitates towards.   

Am I wrong?  In a few hours you will know.