The previous two evenings have seen me doing without what has in recent months become my usual allotment of a single can of the strong (8% alcohol) beer that I keep in stock.

I did not skip those two evenings for any health-related benefit. Rather, they were skipped because my younger brother proceeded to pass out after getting home from wherever he had been drinking, and I will not sit with someone so damned feeble-brained that he cannot or will not moderate his alcohol intake.

Last evening he passed out at the dining table where he had chosen to have some supper in the relative dark ─ the living room's T.V. is in clear view from that table.

The miserable souse has become our alcoholic father.

Had he retained what there was of his senses, we would have watched episodes of the T.V. series that we follow via our T9 Android 8.1 TV Box that I have the distinction of being the sole operator.

As company for him to revive to, before I came upstairs here to my computer, I left him with the only news channel that we can receive on regular T.V. through our basic cable package.

It bewilders me that at his age of 65, he has no shame ─ he has been displaying this reprehensible behaviour since even before my wife's two sons came here from Thailand to live with us in September 2008. Of course, the youngest lad is now 21 years old ─ not the 10-year-old that he was back then.

I was into bed by 9:38 p.m. last evening. I had been feeling tired earlier in the evening; but once I was into bed, sleep kept its distance for a probable hour or more ─ perhaps it was even nearer two hours.

I rose just after 2:00 a.m. so that I could turn my computer back on and log into it (and then disconnect its mouse); and then I came back to bed to allow the computer ample time to load ─ this is a warming-up stage it requires, else it will likely freeze if I attempt to use it straight away. I have learned that it even seems prone to freezing if the mouse is not disconnected while it is being given time to load.

I vegetated for a bit, and then rose and returned to the device toward 2:40 a.m. Ahead of me was the day's content assignment for the post I have in development at one of my six hosted websites ─ a task that takes at least three and sometimes even better than four hours.

When first I rose, I thought that my youngest stepson was laying in his bed in the boys' den area and maybe watching a movie or something ─ there was a subdued glow from that area.

But he was not even here, for he soon showed up by unlocking the front door. He had likely been out somewhere in his older brother's car.

There was some light rain happening outside ─ I think that this is the fourth consecutive night in which we have had some rain. Much of yesterday was rather wet ─ I have been unable to sit out in the backyard to enjoy any sunshine since maybe this past Wednesday.

And by mid-afternoon today, it was again lightly raining for awhile. Then came sunshine, followed by heavy cloud cover.

Anyway, when that website post content assignment was completed, I returned to bed in the hope of a good nap. I napped, but not for very long. I was awake and then back up soon after 9:00 a.m., expecting to find my younger brother downstairs enjoying some instant coffee and reading the Saturday morning edition of the Vancouver Sun that I subscribe to.

However, he was still in his bedroom. Soon enough, though, he did emerge for the morning.

Meantime, I added even more content into that website post; and by the time I suspended work for today just into the noon-hour, I had darned near 80% of another day's worth of content added into the post (I have a targeted minimum amount of content that I assign myself to complete on any given day).

By then, my younger brother had returned to his bedroom to rest up before taking off for the afternoon to end up once again drinking somewhere.

He usually spends Saturday evenings with his girlfriend Bev and so stays the night at her home ─ it is not invariable, but happens more often than not. Thus, I may have the T.V. to myself this evening.

But even if I do, I might not have one of my cans of beer. Again, this is not for any health-related reason. In this case, it would be for conservancy purposes ─ I can barely afford a can of beer an evening, so I only have one when I feel a particular need.

And I usually do feel that need if I am watching T.V. with my inebriated brother.

By the way, after I was here upstairs last evening, my cellphone began ringing, and what appeared to be an unfamiliar name (a first and last name combination) displayed.

I never answer my phone if it is not someone in this household phoning me.

My voicemail was activated, but when I checked there was no message.

Then the call started up a short while later, and again the voicemail was activated.

This time, there was a message ─ the first time I have ever gotten a message since setting up my voicemail around a month ago.

It turned out to be Bev, my brother's girlfriend. She was calling because (she said in the message) she was wondering if Mark made it home the previous evening ─ i.e., Thursday. Evidently she had no contact with him at all yesterday.

Apparently she had been trying to phone him, but was not getting a response (perhaps he was still passed out).

I didn't want to call her back, so I started to text her ─ and then I heard my brother talking on his phone downstairs. She had evidently finally reached him.

So I completed my text, explaining that I had no idea that it was she who had twice called me. However, I said that I was adding her to the few people included in my "Contacts."

Until then, there were only four other such people ─ my brother, my wife, and my two stepsons. I exist in a social vacuum.

And as so often happens, I am off on a tangent with this post.

To return to the noon-hour, I involved myself with something else here at my computer after I suspended work on my website post; and then very early into the afternoon I was back in bed seeking my day's second nap.

I succeeded, but once more it was short. I was up and out of my bedroom well before 2:00 p.m., discovering my younger brother to be gone for the afternoon.

I went downstairs to peruse the newspaper and then boil some water for my day's third and final caffeinated beverage, and in so doing had some conversation with my youngest stepson who was readying to go out.

He had an afternoon shift today, and at 2:00 p.m. we bade one another adieu, and he was off afoot. He works approximately a mile from here, so it should be no trouble for him to walk the distance and not bother with a bus...but who knows?

I soon began work on this blog post, and took an exercise break early into the latter half of the afternoon. A weigh-in while attired solely in my undershorts revealed me to be hovering around 185 pounds.

To put that in some perspective, I am at least five feet and 10 inches in height ─ since my 20s, I have always liked to more explicitly claim that I was five feet and 10¾ inches (179.705 centimetres) in height. However, back then I had a thick growth of hair on my head ─ I keep my head shaven in my more elder years.

My age? I am 69 years old.

And I exercised with a 43½-pound dumbbell. There are not too many exercise movements that can be done with one arm at my age using that much weight ─ actually, there never were, even when I was a younger man.

I mentioned my lack of means earlier. Unfortunately, that has never stopped my wife who merrily seems to get us deeper and deeper into debt.

I discover maybe 10 days to two weeks ago that she had succeeded in accessing the line of credit related to our home's mortgage last October and pretty much exhausted the full line ─ in other words, she somehow blew through about $43,000 worth of credit in barely more than five months.

I let her youngest son know about this a couple or so days ago, and just this afternoon made the eldest lad privy.

And my wife? Why, she's over in Thailand visiting her mother. I think her flight left Vancouver International Airport early in the a.m. on Thursday.

The two boys are going to have to assume some responsibility where some near-future billings are concerned, because I just cannot handle them now with this extra miserable debt ─ I think I'm getting hit with over $200 a month strictly for interest payments.

I never mentioned to my wife that I knew about what she had done ─ it would only result in a furiously heated exchange that would resolve nothing.

I lost her respect around the time that I ceased working for a living, so I seem to merit barely any consideration anymore..

The youngest lad angrily texted his mother when he found out about his mother's five-month credit binge ─ she was still wherever it is in Vancouver that she stays when she is not here at home. It was later that evening that she was going to have to be at the airport.

All I know of the text exchange is that his mother apparently apologized to him for this stressor.

And now the eldest son knows ─ and he had been in touch with his mother early last evening via a short video call she made from Thailand. Had he known then, no doubt he would have raised the topic.

Since my retirement in earliest April 2011, my life has only gotten more and more hopeless.

Even so, this past week I received a mailing from the federal government. It was an invitation to apply for a potential addition to my federal pension ─ specifically, something called the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

I had heard of it before, but it appeared to me to be a whole lot of bother to figure out, and in the end I mightn't have qualified ─ so why bother myself?

However, the invitation I received seemed to be declaring that I qualified to some degree. And since it is a tax free income, why not apply and see what comes out of the process?

An article about it that was updated just four days ago can be found at a website called SavvyNewCanadians.com: Guaranteed Income Supplement, Allowance and Allowance for the Survivor.

The combined family income for my wife and I seems to me to be right around the quoted threshold. I am the only one of us receiving the Old Age Security Pension ─ she is not yet even 50 years old.

I won't seek any possible retroactivity ─ I will leave it to the government to make that decision if I do qualify for the GIS. I will just be happy to be getting it once it starts (if that is what is to be)!

I have to supply a certified true copy of our marriage certificate, but I don't know of anyone who has the authority to make that certification. However, there is a Service Canada office (Google map) about two miles from here where I live in Surrey ─ that office lists the GIS as one of the services they offer.

I should be able to hike over my paperwork directly to them and get the photocopying and certification of the marriage certificate dealt with right there ─ and have the GIS application filed there as well!

I think that I will try to get there as soon after their 8:30 a.m. opening on Monday as I possibly can.

I want to finish today's post with something that ought to be of profound interest to 'average' Americans. The following came to me by E-mail two days ago from the Organic Consumers Association; but since I am not American, I was unable to have my (non-existent) senator and member of Congress notified that I wanted them to ban Roundup.

I hope any Americans reading this will respond to the plea.

Presidential Candidate Says ‘Ban Roundup!’

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) is the first federal legislator and presidential candidate to call for a ban on Roundup weedkiller.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is too busy protecting Monsanto to protect you. So let’s call on all of Gabbard’s colleagues to join her in demanding Congress ban Roundup!

TAKE ACTION: Tell your Senators and Members of Congress to ban Monsanto’s Roundup!

TAKE ACTION

After federal jurors found that Monsanto/Bayer’s flagship herbicide caused Edwin Hardeman’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Gabbard shared the news on Twitter:

"I’ve said it before, I’ll keep saying it: Ban roundup! It’s long past time we stopped relying on corrupt corporations with a profit incentive to fund science telling us their chemicals are 'safe.' Victims shouldn’t have to go to trial to get the truth."

Then, sharing Tom Philpott’s article in Mother Jones, “Scientists Found Worrisome New Evidence About Roundup and Cancer,” Gabbard tweeted:

“It is unacceptable that it takes a lawsuit against Monsanto, maker of Roundup, to determine whether exposure to glyphosate can cause cancer. We must protect the ability of independent scientists to research & publish findings free of corporate influence”

In February, Gabbard shared Lydia Mulvany and Deena Shanker’s article in Bloomberg, “Monsanto Roundup Attacks Healthy Gut Bacteria, Lawsuit Says,” that mentions Organic Consumers Association and Beyond Pesticide’s lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., tweeting:

"Monsanto proves they'll do anything to pad their pockets, including manufacturing 'scientific studies' to influence the EPA while destroying small farmers. They unleashed the scourge of Roundup on us and should be held accountable for the consequences."

Finally, there’s someone brave enough to be the first member of Congress and presidential candidate to call for a ban on Monsanto’s carcinogenic Roundup weedkiller! Let’s not let Gabbard stand alone.

TAKE ACTION: Tell your Senators and Member of Congress to ban Monsanto’s Roundup!

TAKE ACTION

Thank you!