Up at 7

 Now that's more like it. When I worked, by which I mean it was always "first shift" which starts at 7, I was up at 6 or a bit before and waking up at 7 was "late". But I'll sure take it. I'd gone to bed by 10 last night, and had some weird dreams but nothing too bad, and got up because I didn't want to sleep any more. 

Because I felt I had the time, I read one of my latest Little Free Library finds, Black Beauty. Of course I read this as a kid, but it was pretty great to go back to it again and read it as an adult. It was actually never intended to be a book for children, but for adults, keeping in mind that most of the author's readers would be those of modest literary tastes. It's as much a critique of English society as it is of that society's treatment of horses, and stands up quite well. 

Of course I skimmed the latest news and it's war and rumors of war. The Orange Blob, even while he's in court for insurrection, is trying to start up another insurrection in Texas, and encouraging other like-minded states to send *their* National Guard troops to fight Federal troops in Texas. 

Someone pointed out on Reddit that followers of the Orange Buffoon all think he can do something for them. Coal miners think he'll be able to turn time back to the 1950s so they can mine coal and live in coal-mining towns on company scrip. Racists think he'll re-enslave the blacks and let them shoot anyone not white. Businesses think he'll eliminate worker protections (and this is a parallel to I.G. Farben and Thyssen and so on backing Hitler) and enlarge the prison-industrial complex where the US already gets so much of its labor. And so on. And it's been pointed out on Reddit that even when Orange sHitler had a lot of power when he was in office and had a majority Republican House and Senate, he didn't do anything but "golf and grift". 

This all makes me wonder if I'll hold out until September here. Of course I've told Ken I'm sticking around until November, to vote in the election. I keep mentioning that in passing to keep the deception alive. But in this way I'll short-circuit his attempts, conscious or not, to make my life hell right during the time I'm getting ready to make this big, and final I hope, move. 

I keep hinting to Ken whether he's inclined to buy "anything extra" from me and he never is, so I'll have to find other venues to sell said things. In a way this is good, as it will enable me to keep the selling-off of things that are too valuable to give away obscured, and thus not give away my time line. 

The fact is, my plan has long been to not leave here until I actually reach the age of 62, thus making sure I'm eligible for Social Security as soon as I get off the plane. But already I could probably leave next week and scrape by OK. So I might want to make September the last possible time rather than the earliest. 

I packed 9 things and went to the post office and FedEx. There was a ton of traffic today and I have no idea why. I picked up packing materials on the way back. 

I got back here and "washed" the parts I'd taken apart yesterday, using Windex. I set them on a piece of cardboard to dry and they'll be ready to photo and list tomorrow. 

I think I've found the actual cause of "my" headache. I think it's chocolate. This is why I gave away the chocolate I had around here, and have cut chocolate consumption to zero. And the headache is zero.