I've been out of touch for most of the week, but I see that the Democrats are taking over the U.S. Senate, now that a Republican senator has left his party and become an independent. I'm pretty pleased about this.

Wait! It's not for the reason you might think. Oh, sure, I'm delighted that the president will have one more obstacle to prevent him from chopping down all the forests and strip mining the mountains in order to make guns and bullets and stuff. It'll be harder for him to turn all the abortion clinics into new prisons, or take the money now used to feed poor children and return it to the oil company executives.

But the real reason I'm delighted about Senator Jim Jeffords (of one of my favorite states that I've never visited, Vermont) becoming independent is that I see it as the wave of the future. I hope other senators follow, until we have one hundred independent men and women in that noble legislative chamber. No parties, just people.

Then the senators can vote their consciences instead of the party line. Coalitions can be fluid, based on principle rather than loyalty to the funding source. Debate can be open and reasoned, not constant regurgitation of conventional ideology and standard orthodoxy.

Seeing statesmanship in action, the House will surely take up the cause of independence, and soon there will be no more politics as usual. Politics will become a respected calling again, and the government will be run by citizens who put the people first, and think of the interests of those who don't have the money to buy influence. The future of the planet will at last be in good hands.

And this is all probably going to happen. I'd like to thank Senator Jeffords for setting the wheels in motion.

I don't do segues. I just put these lines in between random thoughts. Then I type it, code it, and call it an entry. It works for me. So, pressing on . . .

My diet has stalled. I lost ten pounds the first three weeks, then just one more the last three weeks. And that one pound could be nothing more than a statistical variation. It's not that I'm eating more, or worse. I'm still keeping to the two small meals plus one regular meal per day.

No, the problem, as always, is exercise. I walk six long city blocks to and from the post office each day. I work fairly vigorously in the garden almost every afternoon. But that's all. Running up and down the stairs, which I thought would be a better alternative to calisthenics or aerobics, has been something I haven't been able to keep up with.

Well, it's boring, isn't it? It's just as boring as rowing or cycling or jumping up and down ... anything you do in one place. It's even worse because I can't see the TV until I get to the bottom of the stairs.

The hardest part is getting started. When I used to get up and run on the city streets every morning, lo these many years ago, I had no trouble after the first few steps. It was exhilarating, and I didn't want to stop. The same principle applies to any exercise, I think, at least in my case. Once I get moving, keeping up the momentum isn't a problem.

It's disappointing not to be making better progress. But I have to keep trying, because in spite of it all I am feeling better.

Bonnie reminded me that the "tree" I made such a big deal out of in yesterday's entry is in fact a Japanese wisteria. As I told her, that's one more growing thing I know the name of, leaving only about a million to go.

Yesterday. You're going to have to hit the previous link down below, because I am not going to link yesterday's entry here.