stardate 8.17.2025: freedom
everything about this trip has been easy. freedom (in 2025) is amazing... compared to that which is on the forefront. the uber to CLT, the breakfast-beer at the airport, the wifi, the flight on american airlines, the enterprise car rental, and the gps to constantino's & the venda bar.
the codes let me in to my amazing 2-bedroom villa, overlooking the fountain and restaurante' area. air conditioning, easy wifi, fridge, a bed with great pillows, and a super shower.
wednesday, 13th: the afternoon was fun, with kevin & steve arriving at the venda bar for pizza & beer, and hanging-out at steve's place before getting john and going to dave's for dinner. a gool ol' family time.
thursday, 14th: i walked atwells avenue (coffee at roma) prior to visiting classical high school and getting a tour. great memories.
around noon, i picked john up and we went for a walk at lincoln woods, prior to hanging at steve's. hazy little thing was involved.
then, i made my way back to constantino's for the classical re-union of friends. lori, joyce, susan, diane, ed, frank, greg. kevin brought my bailey's, and lori brought me home-made wine. diane was the consummate hostess. ed put everything on his tab and threw our money back at us when we attempted to contribute. classic!
friday, 15th: the martha's vinyard trip fell through, and i went to jamestown. walked the streets, visited sharon at the secret garden, and took the 'ferry' to newport. loved it. walked, sipped a couple, and jousted with steve about the change in plans. upon returning to jamestown, i re-visted jb's and was seated outside, facing the bay. i had overpriced chowduhhh, overpriced rice, overpriced blackened shrimp salad and an overpriced bottle of zin. i loved every overpriced second of it, and gave my (usual) overpriced tip. then i went to beavertail.
friday night was a venda bar night, and i sat with diane and her husband (al) and had a nice time.
saturday,16th: the day was filled with a lenny party (coffee on the street at constantino's, an italian veggie grinder, and people watching). at the room the day became one of writing, and then a walk downtown -- and photos of the memory lane stuff.
i returned to hang-out for satruday night at the venda bar, with a nice seat -- watching a band that played quite a bit of country. i hung-out with waiter joey (who spoke about his girfriend, travels, hope & dreams). i ended-up getting a pizza and had another full night's sleep in the wonderful king-sized bed in room 7.
sunday, 17th: this will be the day of our family get-together. my plan is to have a make-up beer with steve at 11 prior to being a great sibling -- hopefully all afternoon. 0851: got an email from steve, and we are in make-up/communication/forgiveness/understanding mode. he's a great brother.
monday, 18th: i'll have breakfast with ed & frank, and will visit URI and the beaches, and come back & pack for an early morning takeoff PVD-CLT.
------------------my (optimistic) prediction of the near & distant future----------------------
robot cops & robot-dog cops will patrol the hill. they will keep the peace at the price of freedom. cameras will not only record everything you do and say, but that information will be banked with the rest of your clicks and likes and purchases and thoughts.
those who buck the system will disappear (and death would be better then the many, many alternatives). the idea of getting into a car and going to the beach will be long gone, but the experience of a perfect beach will be available in a headset that projects a reality more real than anything we've ever known.
jobs will be gone. wealth inequality will increase exponentially, as will the gap between humans and artificial intelligence. i will be closing-in on 70 years old, and it will be time to either (a) marry lori, or (b) hide-out in palwan, phillipines.
bullshit. there will be no place to hide.
all that i'll have, really, is memories and gratitude... which is (really) exactly what i have now.
:)
-the end.
