ZULU

"He [his father] bid me observe it, and I should always find, that the calamities of life were shared among the upper and lower part of mankind; but that the middle station had the fewest disasters, and was not expos'd to so many vicissitudes as the higher or lower part of mankind; nay, they were not subjected to so many distempers and uneasinesses either of body or mind, as those were who, by vicious living, luxury and extravagancies on one hand, or by hard labour, want of necessaries, and mean or insufficient diet on the other hand, bring distempers upon themselves by the natural consequences of their way of living; that the middle station of life was calculated for all kind of vertues [sic] and all kind of enjoyments; that peace and plenty were the hand-maids of a middle fortune; that temperance, moderation, quietness, health, society, all agreeable diversions, and all desirable pleasures, were the blessings attending the middle station of life; that this way men went silently and smoothly thro' the world, and comfortably out of it, not embarrass'd with the labours of the hands or of the head, not sold to the life of slavery for daily bread, or harrast with perplex'd circumstances, which rob the soul of peace, and the body of rest; not enrag'd with the passion of envy, or secret burning lust of ambition for great things; but in easy circumstances sliding gently thro' the world, and sensibly tasting the sweets of living, without the bitter feeling that they are happy, and learning by every day's experience to know it more sensibly"--Robinson Crusoe

After his first battle: "How do you feel?" "Sick." "If you feel sick, you're alive"--Zulu

Sergei and Maria met me for lunch Monday.  Later I went to The Bay and bought new pajamas, long johns, socks and underwear.  I like the feel of fresh cotton!  Tuesday I got my flu shot at Shoppers Drug Mart, and it took longer than it should have:  I didn't hear them when they called my name.

Last night I watched Zulu (for the second time) with the History Meetup. It's a rousing, somewhat old-fashioned "stiff upper lip" war movie.

I've started binge-watching the anime Dragon Ball again, this time dubbed. (So sue me.) And Moira and I are finally watching Ken Burns' The Civil War, this time through Kanopy streaming.

I've been thinking about what Jeremy Corbyn should have done differently.  If it had been me, back in 2016 I would have offered to support the bill for negotiating Brexit if the government agreed to have a confirmation referendum for the specific deal they came up with.  And I would have said something like, "The British people have voted to leave the EU, but that doesn't mean they have to accept whatever deal they're offered.  They have the right to say, 'This deal isn't good enough.  Come back with something better.'" If the Conservatives agreed to it Labour would have put its stamp on the process.  If they didn't (more likely), Labour would have been in a better position to oppose Brexit.

More recently, I would have suggested a coalition with Green leader Caroline Lucas as Prime Minister, since neither Labour nor the Liberal Democrats would agree to making the other party's leader PM. (The saddest words are, "It might have been...") I must say that the Remain campaign managed to do things ineptly both in 2016 and 2019.

John's going to start renovating the kitchen soon.  We've moved everything into the dining room, except for the stove and the sink.  Today I cooked fettucine alfredo, and it was a headache finding everything!