I was really proud of Ron today

Heidi, I put the request on my prayer list. (((hugs)))

Today Ron was feeling pretty talkative. He wasn't as gloomy as usual, or maybe my mild mania helped me slough it off.

We went to Burger King first. We got some burgers and then headed to the Blood Center. Sadly, Ron failed his iron test. He had hoped to donate. I'm still fighting off that cold - more of a "sinus thing" now, and decided not to donate. They didn't want it, when I told them.

When we got picked up, we rode with a guy I'll call Recliner. He has the very bad habit of sitting in the front seat and reclining it to a 45 degree angle, then playing dumb when the driver/backseat passenger asks him to move it to an upright position. He moves the entire seat forward, in a few jerks, then acts exasperated. I think it is a cheap and nasty trick.

I don't like him, and it shows. It's not just the recliner trick. He does things like make the driver wait for minutes past the pickup time, demand the driver stop and buy him snacks, etc. He acts in a very imperious manner, treating everyone as his servants. He is greedy. He also happens to be blind.

I have a very low opinion of the average blind guy in Houston. They all seem to be immature, materialistic, and selifish. This guy is no exception. Whenever I meet him, I always make a point of telling Ron I'm so GLAD I married HIM.

Whenever we ride with Recliner, he always wants to talk about all his stuff. I have so much stuff. I have the best stuff... my favorite comment: "I have such great speakers - I wake up all my neighbors when I listen to music." Maybe I should add "inconsiderate". Everything I have seen since I met him enforces my initial impression of selfish, materialistic, immature, and demanding.

Here's a tip, people. Talking in a negative, hostile, manner about your ex, someone *I* have never met, does not impress me. It makes you sound like a person in need of counseling. I don't need to know how things crashed and what a barking dog you think she is - yet several of the blind guys I mentioned do this.

Along the lines of "Oh, I had a woman too, but she...." Deal with it! Don't go around dumping your poison on people! I am really sorry I have done that in the past, particularly when depressed. I am really working on the negativity.

Anyway, we get in, the guy is being a butthead about his reclining seat. I told him 'Your head is practically in my lap". He moved the seat up but refused to elevate it to upright. You're not allowed to do that on Metrolift.

The last time we rode with Recliner, he was trying to impress me by saying various agencies wanted to give him money, "Up to a million dollars". I was polite, but obviously uninterested. He kept dropping the number like I would become impressed.

Today, he started talking about the "powerful" repeater he had (he is also a ham radio operator) he is having installed nearby. I was polite again.

Ron finally cut in. "What about your soul?" WHAT?

"I find STUFF very boring. What about your soul? Do you know where you're going when you die?"

Ron and I were treated to a bizzare monologue:
"I've been through the tunnel. I KNOW what's next. I've been through the tunnel. You feel this? Well, you can't, there. You can't feel anything. All you can do is see. ...."

I thought, to myself, it sounded A LOT like HELL. I was about to ask him if he were saved.

Since the guy was a ham radio operator Ron chose to use a radio analogy. "We're on AM band right now. Don't you want to go to FM?"

NO, I like it better here.

Ron said, "Well, I hope you enjoy it then. Personally, I find this reality about as interesting as a baby rattle. But you shake your rattle and enjoy it, but don't expect to impress me with all of your 'stuff'. None of it matters in the long run if you aren't saved."

I agreed, emphatically, with Ron. The guy shut up for a while. "So, you're going to Starbucks. I only go to the [Marble] Starbucks." I made an indifferent noise. "You've never been there? It's a LOT better than any other one."

I said I was happy at mine, and Ron agreed. "How much is a cup of coffee?" [remember I said the guy was always asking drivers to buy him drinks and snacks? Here it comes...]

I didn't play along. "I don't know."

"You don't know? What do you get then?" I told him.

"Huh." The fact that I consume a high-fat diet generally renders people speechless, especially as I'm only in the overweight range.

We pulled up. Ron and I quickly said goodbye and got out, before he could demand we bring him something.

If anything, I would have gotten a drink for the driver.