The Numb Recall, 72th Day of Childwinter, 525 M.E. (Helios): I went full Tyler today, a 10-mile walk along the Chattahoochee taking in the Cochran Shoals and Sope Creek loop trails. I'm at 50 miles now for the month of March, far beyond the Carter 39-mile challenge, and 216 miles on the year.

Mumps, I now realize, is an existential threat to me. I'm retired, and I rely on my life savings in my IRA and 401(k)s and on Social Security to support me. But with Mumps recklessly destroying the economy with his ridiculous, feckless, on-again/off-again tariffs, he's tanking the stock market and the money in my accounts is rapidly evaporating.  He's also becoming increasingly vocal about ending Social Security. I could survive on my savings should Social Security disappear, or I could rely on Social Security should my savings evaporate, but I can't survive losing both. 

On top of that, he's already conceded that, yeah, another recession may be coming. I can foresee the kind of double-digit inflation occurring here that has made the currency virtually worthless in other countries, so on top of losing my income and savings, I may be looking at radically escalating costs - for everything from food to power to gas to basic services.

It's not far-fetched to imagine that should all three occur (stock market crash wiping out my savings, Social Security getting discontinued, and double-digit inflation rendering the dollar worthless), I could be homeless.

Ergo, Mumps is an existential threat. But at least I'll have the reassurance that multi-billionaires won't have to pay high taxes.