I was born on 3rd base. White, male and middle class.

Well, not me but I read this this morning in my brother's (bill_schubert) journal and it really struck me. And, actually, I was also born on 3rd base - although female, I was born into an era when while we may not have equality yet, I think we can see it from here and, at least most of my life, I've had legal, if not actual support.

We were raised by two people who were married to each other and in a loving relationship for 52 years. We were absolutely privileged in all ways. We were taught and shown that all things were possible. We were given the best foundation possible. I think I could have done more/better with it but I don't think I wasted it either.

My swim this morning was better than usual. I swam for 70 minutes and could have gone longer but traffic. As it was I hit a slow down on the bridge and crawled along bumper to bumper for about 10 minutes. But, the swim was so good, it was like a shield against any frustration, I just went with the very slow flow.

It's a gray rainy Seattle day here but it's getting warmer and warmer. Right now it's 50 degrees outside. Kind of hard to imagine the snow storm in the northeast. And how come northeastern storms all have names? We don't get names here.

Nothing big on the agenda today... just a regular doll making/bear knitting day.

My tweets

• Mon, 12:48: RT @LibyaLiberty: It's time to play... CHIHUAHUA or MUFFIN? https://t.co/nDGn2f2oVX
• Tue, 08:21: Very fun article - what random people at SXSW think about Seattle - https://t.co/a4X7q8hpo1 via @GeekWire

Old people rock and so do pot shops.

I just read that the winner of this year's Iditarod is 57 so 10 years younger than I am but still. GO Old People!!

My tax stuff arrived from the CPA today. I have to sign the form and send it back to him and then he files electronically and the government sucks their $$ out of my checking account. So I grabbed a pen to sign my tax return. It wrote really nicely and felt good so I looked at the pen more closely and had to laugh. I'd signed my federal tax return with a pen I got at the Ganja Goddess pot shop in January. I posted a little quip on Google + about how it tickled me to use the pen they gave me to sign for the feds.

Minutes later I got an email:

Hello Wonderful Susan,
I just saw your hillarious Google+ post about signing your taxes with a GG pen.
I have a quick favor to ask.
Would you please give me a ring?
Thank you, Ananda
GM Ganja Goddess
206.218.8300

I debated a little about whether or not to call and figured what the heck. I'm glad I did. Turns out that giving out pens (or anything else) is strictly forbidden by the Washington State pot law. She asked me, in the nicest possible way, if I could tweak the entry just a bit. No problem at all and I did immediately.

But, how impressive that she was so on top of her social media marketing efforts! Gheesh. I was just impressed they were on Google +.