Today Joe Robinette Biden, 46th president of the US, announced his decision to not seek re-election, therefore ending his presidency after one term when in new January a new president is announced. He didn't say he's stepping down as President, so he's going to finish out his first term and that's it. I think everyone at some level, no matter how much you disapprove of Biden's policies or work as President, can empathize with how difficult it was for him to do that. We've all had grandfathers, and nowadays my parents are closer to Biden's age (81) for comparison, and I can sympathize with the sorrow of giving up on a position you loved, fought hard for, wanted to finish. My mom in particular actually appreciates her job and wants to finish what she started instead of go off into retirement and not be involved in anything, have people depending on her and working as a team. But then again, my mom's just a research scientist at a pharmaceutical company, the world will go on without her. Joe Biden's the president of the United States, it's literally an existential issue or at least a matter of global importance who the president of the U.S. is, so his appreciation for his job can't come before the welfare of the country and the world. My friend's mom, a physician, also says she can diagnose early signs of Parkinson's showing, so in a few years I think Joe might unfortunately develop more symptoms and it will be clear to him and everyone else that he did the right thing. Sometimes, as painful as it is to admit it, keeping on doggedly at something and tryingto make it work just doesn't work. Life isn't like those "Just do it" Nike commercials urging you to never quit, or movies showing the main character finally reaching their goal despite various obstacles.... sometimes life just ends, or a part of your life just ends.
As more and more evidence exists about alternate universes and multiverses existing, or that our universe is just a simulation being created by someone else, I often wonder what would happen in different universes: would the bullet that grazed Donald Trump's ear last week actually moved to the right and hit him and killed him? Does Joe Biden continue on as President into the general election and the Democrats take their chances against Donald Trump? So many unanswered questions that I ask about my own life: where am I living in other alternate universes? Made it rich from cryptocurrency and living in a mansion somewhere? Or never moved to U.S. and stayed in China only to be beaten down by the intense competition there and living just a straggler's life, married to a "farmer's wife" as MJ calls them? It's hard to know how anything would have played out. Today my sister Emily very nearly won $91,000 at blackjack if she had just put a little money in the "Diamond Deluxe" square of her blackjack hand which would have entered her into a lotto to win the big jackpot offered at the casino for triple diamond 7's dealt to her: would need to have 2 diamond 7's in her hand, and then the dealer (from a 6-deck shoe, almost impossible), also dealt himself a diamond 7. 3 diamond 7's = JACKPOT. If Emily would have just had any money in the "Diamond Deluxe" square, she would have won $91,000 on the spot. I've seen someone win it before: the casino manager has to come verify, the table completely stops, paperwork is drawn up, lawyers have to get involved, you have to sign for it, and they don't pay you cash: all part of a check that is sent to the federal government and reported as income, so you end up probably seeing about $50,000 of that money. BUT STILL..... I've never won anything close to lotto money like that before, and I'm sure Emily hasn't. Bonuses like the Diamond Deluxe and other Blackjack bonuses hit very very rarely, and when they do they inspire other people to send good money after bad.... trying to hit the bonus. It's a sucker bet, where the payout is much less than the odds would dictate. Sadly, the people around Emily blamed her for not putting a bet in Diamond Deluxe, "you would have won $91,000!" "Why didn't you play that?" Everything is hindsight after it actually happened. Those people were just jealous that someone else hit it, it wasn't like they would be happy if Emily did get it, in fact they probably would have been even more upset if Emily did hit the lotto. The fallacies of gambling, I often find some of the worst people at casinos, definitely not somewhere to try to make friends or have pleasant conversatinos .
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