I missed the funeral of President Ford this morning, of course, since it was on at 7:00 am, and I haven’t got up that early to watch anything on TV since the last Apollo liftoff. But since this was a National Day of Mourning, the post office was closed, and that gave me very little incentive to leave my house. I do have to go to the bank, but the bank will still be there tomorrow.

So I observed the sudden and unexpected holiday in the usual way, by working. I’m determined, despite my reluctance to make any resolutions I don’t intend to break, to get through the year-end brouhaha more quickly than usual. Which is to say, something that should take a month but normally takes three months will, if I do things right, take a month and a half or so this year.

Since I didn’t leave the house and therefore didn’t drive my car today, I also didn’t call Saturn to make an appointment for service. The car is due, and it’s also been acting up again. Twice in the last two weeks, both times on cold mornings, it has refused to start — not the first time I’ve tried to start it, but the second time, after driving to the post office and doing my business there.

Both times I’ve only had to wait a few minutes before I could get the car started. The first time I just sat there, making plans to call for a tow. If I’d had a cell phone, I probably would have made that call. The second time, I got out of the car, locked it, and took a walk around the neighborhood. That’s something I could stand to do a little more often, but I’d really like to choose the time myself.

I’d made up my mind to call for service today, but then today came and I didn’t do it. That’s just how easily I’m diverted from my plans. There’s nothing I’ve decided to do that I can’t find a reason to put off until later. And now I have to go to the bank tomorrow, and I have to go to the office store the next day, and by the day after that something else will have come up, and unless I get stranded somewhere by a car that won’t start at all, it’ll be at least next week before I get it looked at.

But that’s okay. Unless I do get stranded somewhere, of course, and then it’s not okay at all. I don’t plan to jump off that bridge until I come to it, though.

Ten protesters were planning to walk peacefully across the Golden Gate Bridge yesterday but were stopped by police, which disrupted traffic for hours. Let’s get this straight. The protesters didn’t disrupt traffic or break any laws. The police initiated the confrontation, because they were afraid of what the protesters might do. And this is in San Francisco! Heads will (or should) roll for this. I’m sure there must be some real crimes that people actually committed that the police could be occupying themselves with, instead of imaginary ones. Go to the airport, why don’t you, and stop the terrorists from sneaking nail clippers inside lotion bottles onto airplanes.