Futurelawyer

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Does The FutureLawyer Need An Intervention?

Thank goodness I have been able to hide my addiction, largely due to the fact that I refuse to pay Five Dollars for a cup of coffee. I hide in my home and office, and indulge my addiction throughout the day and evening, and no one knows. At least, that is what I tell myself.

The Sixties - When A Complete Steak Dinner Cost $1.49.

Buck Forty Nine Restaurant. In the second half of the Sixties, the FutureLawyer was a poor, struggling college student living in a dorm in New Orleans. The most memorable times of that period were breakfast at the Camelia Grill and dinners downtown at famous New Orleans French Quarter restaurants. Not having money, however, severely restricted French Quarter eateries, and the best place to get dinner was a small chain of restaurants called the Buck Forty Nine. A complete steak dinner, with salad and potato, really did cost $1.49. Of course, with inflation, that meal would cost $15 today; but, at the time, it was a special night out for college kids. What are your most memorable eating and drinking establishments from your college years?

If You Need A Mood Altering Drug, Caffeine Is The Best Choice.

5-healthy-reasons-to-drink-coffee. We all experience the need, on occasion, to alter our mood. As a senior, I have chosen, for many years, to use coffee, which has the drug, caffeine, and which has the pleasant effect of increasing alertness, and serving as an energy boost. In fact, I drink it all day long, and have developed a tolerance for it, such that I can drink a cup late in the day, and still sleep soundly. I seldom drink alcohol, with an occasional single malt scotch, several times a year, being the extent of my use of that drug. The negative health effects of too much alcohol have informed my limited use of it, and I have never liked the effects of it anyway. So, if coffee is the choice I have made, I decided to do some research into the long term effects on my body. Of course, at my advanced age, it is too late to make any life changing habit changes; but, I wanted to know anyway. I am happy to report that the science says that caffeine is health enhancing, in several ways. Coffee has been proven to reduce the risk of cancer, reduce the risk of stroke, and help to lower the blood sugar, reducing the risk of Type 2 Diabetes. It also has a beneficial effect on depression, and can reduce the risk of dementia, progressing into Alzheimer's disease. My biggest fear, in my declining years, is the loss of mental capacity, and studies have shown that caffeine blocks inflammation of the adenosine receptors in the brain. The adenosine receptors can start a chain reaction to begin a cognitive decline. So, forgive me for this not intended to be humorous post; but, I am going to get another cup of coffee.

My New Grocery Store.

Blueberries are low in carbs. Great addition to my diet.

Okay, Love, You Got Me.

Usually I am the one who takes secret photos of my dinner companions while we are out. But, apparently, giving Diane a smartphone with a decent camera was a mistake. I have created a monster in my own image. Actually, this photo is an interesting story. The Library restaurant, where we had dinner last night is inspired by the George Peabody Library in Baltimore, Maryland. Peabody believed in the power and importance of education in the lives of others. One of his many legacies is the George Peabody Library, an institute he built for, and dedicated to, the citizens of Baltimore in 1857. Johns Hopkins was inspired by his close friend George Peabody to use his great wealth for the public good. The collaboration between these men and the institutions they created is the inspiration for this restaurant, located within Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL. The restaurant is actually a lending library, and the check last night was delivered in a well read and worn copy of the Shakespeare play, Love's Labour's Lost. I actually spent a few minutes reading the play, English Literature Major that I am. I embarrassed Diane by reading from it one of my favorite quotes about love and beautiful women:

“From women's eyes this doctrine I derive:
They sparkle still the right Promethean fire;
They are the books, the arts, the academes,
That show, contain and nourish all the world.”
― Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost

Prometheus was the God of Fire in mythology, a suitable image for those of us attracted to the fire of the love of a beautiful woman. You got me, Diane. 

Coffee Is My Drug Of Choice, And It Is The Reason I Don't Have Dementia.

Drinking Coffee May Reduce The Risk Of Alzheimers Disease. First, the studies showed that caffeine consumption reduced heart disease and had anti cancer properties. We already knew that coffee increased alertness and awareness. Now, studies show that coffee reduces the accumulation of beta-amyloid proteins, which clump up and clog the brain pathways in Alzheimers patients. Forget an apple a day. Drink 4 to 6 cups of coffee, and keep your wits. This is not a joke, he said between sips of his favorite beverage.

Thanksgiving Is Not A Good Time To Start A Diet.

Actually, there is no time to start a diet. Diets presume deprivation of the pleasure of eating tasty food, like turkey, sage dressing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, whipped cream, and I could go on. At my age, however, diets are somewhat anti-climactic. I am already considered by some to be past my expiration date. This confers some freedom in dietary choices, a freedom that I plan to exploit at every opportunity. So, bicycle guy, deprive yourself as much as you want. I will live joyously for the both of us. 

It Turns Out That The Real First Thanksgiving Was Here In Florida.

Before The Pilgrims, The First Thanksgiving Was In St. Augustine. As woke activists challenge the Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Massachusetts as a symbol of early American settlers dominating the indigenous population, it is interesting to find out that the true first Thanksgiving was a diversely populated meal in St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. By 1621, the melding of the races had already begun in Florida. 

"Historical eyewitness accounts describe the first Thanksgiving as a scene marked by diversity, with colonists and local Timucuan people in attendance. More than 400 artifacts left behind by the various cultural groups that made up the first colony are currently on display in the Florida Museum’s exhibit, “First Colony: Our Spanish Origins.”"

Whichever tradition you favor, Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks in the present, and the continual savaging of the sins of the past serves no rational purpose, other than to divide us. Just stop it. And, thank whatever deity you believe in that you get to spend another Thanksgiving day on the earth. Your reaction to life is the only thing you control anyway. I choose to spend my day giving thanks for my wife, the turkey, football on television, and the other delights that await me today. You do what you want. 

Gravy Wilts Under A Withering Cross-Examination.

Thanksgiving tables are well known to be hotbeds of anger and argument. You would think that gravy would be smooth and easy going; but, never discount the cross-examination skills of a turkey. Gravy was innocent.