The weather is hot and sunny, dry and there is no rain in the foreseeable future. Water restrictions are once again coming to your house, despite ongoing construction of homes, subdivisions and multiple family housing, all on the same water supply. When I pointed this out to Camp, who was late, he shook his head. ‘Water shortage in the rain forest is like running out of sand in the desert. It’s an infra structure problem, not a water problem. The local breweries still seem to be able to make beer and they use a lot of water.’

            We both appreciated our beers, which are over 90 percent water, as Cam wisely pointed out.

            ‘Dr. Fauci recently called the resurgence of Covid cases in the US ‘A Pandemic of the Unvaccinated’ since over 99.5 percent of all infections, hospitalizations and fatalities are not vaccinated. Over 100 million Americans are still not immunized.

We know now that the messenger mRNA Pfeizer and Moderna vaccines are highly effective, even against the Delta variant, and they are safe. Anybody claiming something different has not looked at the statistics or the receding numbers amongst the vaccinated areas and they probably believe in angels, the devil and a cabal of pedophiles run by the Clintons from a Pizza Joint.’

            ‘We’ve been down this road before and it’s flogging a dead horse, my friend,’ Camp said. ‘Freedom Day means you have a right to get sick but no right to infect others.’

            ‘As Dr Fiscus, the recently fired vaccination leader in Tennessee, said: ‘It is a mystery to me why watching your loved ones die of an infectious disease that we can easily prevent doesn’t move more people to reconsider.’

            ‘It’s the Pandemic Blues.’ They’re also singing it for all the world to see in Tokyo this week. Some cynics already call it the Corona Games. The only people who want the Olympics to happen are the athletes, the IOC and the sponsors.’

            ‘Remember that song by the Who: Young Man Blues?’ When Camp gave me a blank look I said: These days the old man got all the money and the young man has sweet fuck all. Something like this.’

            ‘I guess that was fifty years ago and it’s not much different now,’ he said.

            ‘Exactly. Baby boomers and older Americans have spent decades accumulating an enormous stockpile of money. ‘

            ‘Let me look it up,’ Camp said, which was against our rules but we made an exception this time. ‘Here it is: At the end of this year’s first quarter, Americans age 70 and above had a net worth of nearly $35 trillion, according to Federal Reserve data. Their wealth is equal to 16 percent of U.S. GDP, more than double the proportion 30 years ago, federal data show and Canadians are not far behind, having similar parameters.’

            ‘I suppose now the boomers have started parceling it out to their heirs and others, buying homes, starting businesses and giving to charity,’ I said.

            ‘Estimates say that older generations will hand down some $70 trillion in the next 25 years, most of it to heirs – millennials and Generation Xers – and philanthropy,’ he quoted. 

            ‘Wow. That just goes to show the enormous economic power of the baby boomers, who came of age in the sixties and seventies. I guess you and I are part of that generation but my millions have yet to be made,’ I said.

            ‘And mine as well, probably not at the book store,’ Camp said. 

            ‘You’re singing the ‘Old man Blues,’ I laughed. ‘At least we got our health. That’s worth more than all the money in the world.’

            ‘To our health and wealth,’ Camp said, raising his glass.