Day twenty-nine

Eleven hours of sleep. Bliss. I’m not saying I’m properly caught up, but it’s definitely  a start.

No, I did not go to the gym yesterday. I did get dressed to go to the gym. I fully intended to go, but I didn’t I know. Bad, bad, bad. Or was it?

Yes, technically speaking, it was bad. But what did I do instead? Something I haven’t done in a long. With a fire burning during the daytime, so I didn’t need a blanket to sit on the sofa, I sat on the sofa and read the latest Rebus. On reflection, I should probably have gone to the gym before I sat down with a favourite author, because, once I started reading I could not stop.

Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I just read a good book during the day? I’m tempted to say years, because it has been since I did so in the house, but that would not be accurate. In the summer, when the sun is shining, I do spend good chunks of the afternoon on the garden swing with Stella and a book. (So much does Stella enjoy our reading time together that she has actually been known to stretch out on my lap. Something she never does indoors.)

But managing to sit on the sofa, reading, when the nasty computer is mere feet away whispering, “Psst, come over here. There are lots of lovely mindless games you could be playing instead of reading that silly old book”? No, that hasn’t happened in a long, long time. And that’s a good thing. Perhaps not as good as reading on the sofa and going to the gym, but still a good thing. Seriously. Knowing I can sit down to read in the afternoon without having to leave the house, that it is possible for me to actually turn my back on the computer in favour of a book for an afternoon, really is a good thing.

Except, of course, I didn’t get to the gym. Obviously this scenario needs some work. Fortunately I have a doctor’s appointment at 1pm this afternoon, which will get me to the village at the perfect time of day to go to the gym and go I shall. I haven’t seen my doctor since the day of the US election, when he optimistically suggested Hillary Clinton would win by a landslide. I shall remind him of this.

When he asks how I am doing, I will be honest and admit this is a historically bad time for me. The excitement (and eventual triumph) of the panto weekend is over and winter looms ahead. Never a good time. Hopefully I will soon have another project into which I can get my teeth, but working on my one-act play with my mates is not yet guaranteed and I suppose I should be considering contingency plans. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any, but I should at least try.

And now, since I’ve mentioned the subject of the US election…

No, this isn’t going to turn into a full rant. I just can’t help but wonder what Jill Stein has been offered (and by whom) to be the sore loser. It is no surprise that she’s raised millions of dollars in a short period to pay for recounts in the Rust Belt states. If I lived in the US, as broke as I am, I would have instinctively thrown ten or twenty bucks into the pot, desperately hoping that there was still some slight chance of ending the Trump nightmare before it had properly begun. I don’t know if there will be a recount, but even if there is, I suspect the outcome will be the same, that brief glimmer of hope extinguished. And what if the long shot pays off, as unlikely as it is? The world would exhale a huge sigh of relief. Hillary Clinton, the winner of the popular vote would somehow be declared the winner of the electoral college (despite Trump’s large lead in those states) and thus be acclaimed as the next President of the United States. Assume this happens (which it won’t). Then what. Clinton takes office with both the House and the Senate firmly in the control of the Republicans, who would block absolutely everything she might try to do. Yes, the possibility of Trump nuking Turkey for denying him a building permit might be eliminated (and that would be a good thing), but there would be four years of gridlock with the Republicans blaming Clinton for everything.

As bizarre as what they had to say may seem, the American people have spoken and, assisted by the country’s ridiculous electoral college system, Donald Trump won the election. Empires in decline somehow end up with the leaders they deserve. (Think Caligula or Nero, the latter of whom was supposedly very popular with the common folk.) Most of Trump’s cabinet picks so far are bad news for US citizens who believe in public education, health care, living wages and racial and religious tolerance. Some of his cabinet picks are bad for the rest of the world. None of his cabinet picks are good news for anyone except the racists who voted for him.

I’m just glad I live on an island which is of no interest to Donald Trump as a potential location for one of his resorts. I’m pretty sure we won’t get nuked.