Dark Day and the Romanovs

It was a dark, rainy, gloomy day--all in keeping with the mood I developed.
Started off by going over to tell Susan I wasn't going to walk because I wanted to rest my knee.  However, I didn't really rest it.
After listing my bed for sale on Craigslist, then Facebook (Tuckerton Flea Market), I talked to Betty a few times--she's having worse problems than I am--and called Marge to see if I could come over later to say goodbye.
Drove to the post office--by that time in drizzly rain--to mail off two more boxes to Ellen's.  I don't even remember what the hell was in them--probably nothing very useful.
From there, I drove to Pat's Automotive, as he was one of those who said he'd like to buy my car when I go. The place was open, lights on and so on, but I couldn't find anyone, so left.  Drove to Lowe's for more tape, the consignment shop to pick up what didn't sell, and to the recycle center to be told they don't take household cleaners.  I'll have to go to Manahawkin, but don't know where.
Back to Pat's and I still couldn't raise anybody, so I went home.
It was after 2:00 by then and I was hungry.  Had a message from somebody who wanted to buy my bed.  Called her back and told her I had to be paid first, so she'll bring the money on Saturday.
Doorbell rang when I was on the phone with my friend.  It was Crazy Bob and Barbara, who also wanted the bed.  Already sold, I said, and not feeling very neighborly, I didn't invite them in.  It was raining and I didn't want to mess up the house even more.
Went to see Marge and we had a stimulating visit.  She's terribly frail now, but seemed in good spirits.  As I told her, she's one of the few people with whom I can actually discuss topics like religion and nationalism without running into the stone wall of knee-jerk belief (Aline is the other, of course).  I like her husband, Fred, too. We embraced and smiled and I thanked them for being such good friends.  I know I'll never see them again and I wish it wasn't like that.
The other downer of the day came when Walter e-mailed me to the effect that the tenant's  move-in date was the 15th, not the 10th.  I had wanted the later date in the first place, but had understood it was the tenth, so arranged everything around the date.  I even got a plane ticket for the 12th.  Hey, I'll probably just let the house be idle for the extra days.  I was down in the dumps about it, but the hell with that, I'm just going to follow my original plan.
Got the lease agreement, and forwarded to my financial advisers; I haven't looked at it yet.
Literary Note:  For years, I've been fascinated with the doomed Romanovs.  Am listening to a joint bio of the four daughters and have been watching documentaries about the family on YouTube. In the past, I've read a lot about that era; always thought Kerensky was a fascinating man.  Hey, what if he had prevailed and Lenin (even more fascinating) and the Bolsheviks hadn't? And suppose the Czar and his ilk had been a tad less positive they were the centers of the universe?  And imagine the peasants had been allowed lives slightly more exalted than those of their pigs?  Would the revolution have occurred?  Possibly, but I think it would have been different in significant ways.