It’s About to Get Real

Blog, , , , , 23 Comments

Kat and I don’t see much television.  We do Netflix.  I enjoyed The Wire.  Kat hated Breaking Bad so bad we didn’t last to Episode 5, and we both loved Person of Interest, and later, Justified.  The last one takes place in Harlan County, KY, and stars the guy who was the sheriff in Deadwood, Tim Olyphant.  Oly’s character in Justified is U. S. Marshall Raylan Givens, who shoots more people than he did in Deadwood.  I’d put his six season kill total somewhere around 60, but who’s counting?  Of the few bad guys Raylan doesn’t kill, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins, Jr. in Hollywood life), is Justified’s most charming and intellectual character.  You saw without noticing the “Trump Digs Coal” signs held by various state delegations at the GOP convention.  That phrase came from Justified.   There is a strange kind of kinship between good guy Raylan and likeable bad guy Boyd.  Late in the series Boyd revealed why:  “Well, we dug coal together.”

boyd

Among its many memorable characters, Constable Bob stands out as a good guy.  Bob’s a life-long wanna-be, and as a county constable, appears likely to never be.  Raylan likes him though, and when the time comes and the chips are down, ol’ Bob comes through.  Bob’s being beaten senseless by Yolo (You Only Live Once) a hit man hired to extract certain information likely to be lethal to another character.  Yolo says to Constable Bob “Shit’s about to get real.  You know what that means?”  “Means you’re gonna hurt me worse.”  “Yes, you do understand” and the beating went on.

Raylan and Bob Sweeney
Raylan and Bob Sweeney

I kinda identify with Constable Bob, maybe not as tough.  This is where must I ask if you understand the meaning of “Shit’s about to get real.”

 

Let’s dig some coal together.  If Kat and I have any Republican readers left, please allow me to mention that you have greater concerns than who controls the Supreme Court.  If there are no people alive for The Supremes to judge, their political affiliations are moot.  It doesn’t really matter who runs our government if its people live in caves.  If you’re a Democrat, think about equal rights for all, social spending for those who need it most, and yeah, maybe that other thing, the end of the world.  All of you, please, think hard about supporting Donald Trump and think twice about simply not voting.  Not voting ain’t good enough.  Vote for that mean, secretive old lady.  She ain’t middle of the road, but she’s on the road, not upside down in the ditch.  You can help save the world.

 

You can save me too.  Kat has decided that should The Great White Snapping Turtle win or steal this election (he is close to Putin and those wily Russian hackers) that she and I will emigrate to Costa Rica.  That would be a disaster.  She’d likely kill me within a year.  After over 40 years together, how could that be?   Well, she thinks I speak Spanish because I took two years of it in high school and can usually read taco truck menus.  But like you, I didn’t pay much attention in class.  To say that I speak un poco Espanol is a damned lie.  I speak un muy poco Espanol.

 

Jackson is of the Mediterranean mindset.  Kat is as Teutonic as Kaiser Bill.  Costa Rica is laid back, if not fast asleep.  Research into life there has told me that ‘Ricans see Americans as too concerned with getting things done.  In the CR, one looks at things as a process; it may take most of the summer to get your central cooling repaired, but in time it will get done, you know?  A Salvadoran friend of mine (they are famed for their borderline Teutonic work ethic) likes to joke about the laziest Hispanics, those no-good Brazilians.  “Ah Jackson, do you know what they say in Brazil?   ‘Why put off for tomorrow what you can put off for next month?’ ”

 

If some ‘Rican suggests that to my Kat, I won’t be her first kill.   Save me: throw some coal at Trump.  I still have National Parks to visit!

23 thoughts on “It’s About to Get Real”

  1. Jackson, from your pen to all ears reading here, so to speak.

    Every vote always counts, and now more than ever.

    As I have said before, I’m not a fan of Hillary, but I will be there to vote for her.

    The thought of Trump being elected makes my blood run cold, and then some.

    It boggles the mind why Trump supporters choose to be blinded by him.

    It’s certainly not as if he is hiding his true self.

    ===

    There is a show you probably don’t see, though it is on Netflix.

    It’s called _House Hunters International_, and there are many episodes about Americans moving to Costa Rica.

    Based on the show, many locals now seem to speak English, but the pace of life looks as you described it.

    At least you can drive there, and so also drive out of there if you find you don’t like it. 🙂

    Let’s hope that never becomes necessary.

    ===

    The election is seven weeks from this coming Tuesday, so it won’t be long now until we know.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Kahuna, you are so dead on correct: you and many a mohel say, “It won’t be long now.” But I fear a trip through the length of Mexico might be fatal to The Red Sled. Good diesel is a given in the USA, but south of the border … I worry. And They All Say “the trouble with pulling a ‘Stream through Mexico is that there are like twelve good diesel mechanics in the whole country.” And as Papa Hemingway put it in Islands in the Stream, “That’s difficulter than a diesel engine to a newborn tree monkey.”

      Hem was referring to a particularly unpleasant person (as difficult) but somehow we will get through this. The Donald loves attention but hates scrutiny, which are opposite sides of the Presidential coin. W and his henchmen wanted to rule. I sense that Trump wants to win the biggest election, but really doesn’t want to be President. We might be better served to figure out how a Pence would run things, subject of course to an occasional override from His Majesty.

      Whoo, and I nearly forgot: there’s never been a Playboy spread on the First Lady!

      Love your comments, and thanks for reading.

      Jackson

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  2. I’ve lived in Belize (an English-speaking country) and Mexico, and if Trump wins the election, may have to return to one of the above or another country entirely (Canada is lovely but too cold). Costa Rica is supposed to be very nice but expensive, so that would likely not be the one. Supposedly Nicaragua is up and coming and much safer than its reputation. Mexico is actually wonderful if you avoid the drug cartel areas (duh), and we always felt safe there. My Spanish is likely much weaker than yours as I took French and Latin in high school. 🙂 I love the US but won’t hesitate to leave again should it become necessary. Let’s hope it won’t. I think our country is already great and doesn’t need to be made great again (by whose standards?) Great post!

    Like

    Reply

    1. Em, for me it would be Austria, the Land of Mozart and schnitzels. But talk about expensive! New Zealand would work; love me some grilled lamb, but they hate immigrants maybe as much as does The Donald. And honestly, if worse comes to worst, we should stay here and work at being a burr under his saddle. I’m an old guy. He could be my last President. I owe it to posterity to try to make sure he isn’t the last for us all.

      Thanks for the kind words … I was kinda scared.

      Jackson

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Yes, I do get the burr under his saddle point. Kinda goes along with the old adage “The best revenge is living well.” Right? I guess as long as I never turn on a TV and have to look at his face after the election (whether he wins or loses), I might be able to manage staying put — as much as a traveling nomad ever does. 🙂

        Like

    1. That secretive, mean old woman did pretty well. We didn’t see it, but NPR brought us the audio and today most writers have judged her performance as measured and knowledgeable, and his as unprepared and disinterested in facts, especially about his own statements and tweets. It’s still early in the 4th quarter – way too soon to let up – but she looks to have just scored a touchdown that puts her up by ten. I still plan to work the phones in North Carolina on Election Day, but I’m a bit less worried about being killed in my sleep in the CR.

      Jackson

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I streamed it on PBS and couldn’t agree more. If you had seen it you would feel even better than you do now; Trump’s mannerisms, ugly faces, annoyance, interruptions, sniffling, vs. Hillary’s calm demeanor, smiling occasionally (especially when Trump was dealing out some whoppers), taking notes, looking very “presidential”, and letting out the rope so DJT could hang himself. Brilliant! I slept like a baby last night.

        Like

  4. I saw some of it last night, and also read about it today.

    There are several articles about it linked to this one:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-lost-debate_us_57e9f701e4b082aad9b6aca5

    It is too soon to tell if this will make a big shift. Trumps supporters have liked him all along, when he was doing the same things he did in the debate.

    It’s hard yet to gauge how many of those supporters watched it, and if any have changed their minds.

    One thing that may have helped most in the debate is the split screen where, as Emily described, one could better see facial expressions which tell more than words.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Trump’s hard core supporters are not going to change their minds. I think the battleground is the undecideds and those who want to go Libertarian or Whatnot. I do feel better.

      Like

      Reply

    1. For nearly twelve minutes I wondered when they’d break into the lyrics “We don’t need no education” and then I was rewarded.

      All I can say is vive la 1st Amendment. Or as my hero Molly Ivins put it “You know this is a great country when a poor black boy can grow up to become a rich white woman and marry Elvis Presley’s daughter.”

      Jackson

      Like

      Reply

      1. Yes, it did take a while in the video to get there.

        Agreed re First Amendment.

        That is a funny, apt quote.

        Like

      1. Of course all for free speech, but the name-calling only brings all of us down in the dirt.

        There are other, better ways to get across one’s feelings, etc.

        Like

Leave a comment