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My thoughts released; a mind set free |
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These pages contain my thoughts, from meandering ideas and persuasions to deep cerebrations and serious mentations. Why, for what purpose? To release my mind and set creativity free. Somewhere inside the constraints of my mind dwells a writer, a poet, an artist who paints with words. In here I release those constraints and set the artist free. Perhaps, lost somewhere in the depths of thought, is a story or a poem, waiting to be written. 
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| Another beautiful day, sunny and almost fifty degrees, we should hit the lower sixties this afternoon. It's windy out, but that's fine with me, it will dry up some of the mud and melt the rest of the snow. Again, the only down side is having to go into work in a couple hours and not being able to enjoy the nice day. On my way to work yesterday I seen a bit of open water on the lake. Not much, but it's a start; the warm weather, sunshine, and wind should thaw the ice quite a bit today. You likely figured out that I'm eager for the ice to melt off the lakes. "Why?" My wife, Rhonda, and I tried kayaking last summer and loved it. Last fall we purchased a couple of kayaks and had a couple of opportunities to try them out before we had to stow them for the winter. We have been patently waiting through winter to take them out again. It would be ideal to wait until all the ice is off the lakes and the water temperature is warmer, but that could be another two or three months, depending on how nice of a spring we have. Like me, Rhonda is eager to get the kayaks out of storage and back in the water. She even suggested taking them out as soon as there is enough open water along the shoreline. We could also launch them in the Sioux river close by, which is now fully open. It's a pretty slow flowing river unless there's flooding, so it wouldn't be terribly difficult to keep the kayaks upright. But, the biggest concern is our inexperience and the possibility of flipping them over and landing in the frigid water. It wouldn't be terribly bad id we were close to the landing and the vehicle, so we could get out of the water and into dry cloths. But, if we are any distance away, it's going to be a very cold walk back to the truck. I suspect that our eagerness will win out over common sense and we will be out in the kayaks soon. But, I do know we will prepare for the worst just in case we end up going for a frigid dip in the icy waters. If we take them out on a lake, we will have to remain close to the landing, and if we venture out on the river, we will need to pack dry cloths, towels, and a portable heater along with us. I've almost got myself convinced, now it's just a matter of waiting for the ice to melt a bit more. |
| What a beautiful spring like day! We have sunshine with just a few clouds, very little wind, and it's almost forty degrees already. The dumping of snow we received on Sunday is melting fast, the spring birds are back, and I seen a little bit of open water on the lake. The only down side to all this is work, which I have to get ready for shortly. But, even that isn't much of a down side since I work outside and it's beautiful out. A light jacket and sweatshirt should do just fine, especially since it's going to stay above freezing tonight. I had Hannah, our dog out for a while earlier and looked to see what's wrong with my car. I hit a couple of huge snowdrifts Sunday and packed the entire engine compartment full of snow. I was surprised there wasn't any serious damage done after I thawed it out. The only two things I fond wrong are squeaking brakes and my speedometer quit working. The brakes look fine and have plenty of wear left, so no idea why the squeak sometimes. Next week when I have more time I'll have to pull the tires off and look them over to see if something is caught up in the mechanism. As for the speedometer, it's kind of baffling. It's an older car and has a cable assembly to run the speedometer. The cable itself looks fine and it is secured properly to the transmission. I have noticed it quit working a few time over the winter, when we had extreme cold. The needle on the dash would climb and fall until things warmed up, then it would work fine. I can't get at it without removing other items, so it will also have to wait until next week. It is either not engaging properly in the transmission or in the speedometer itself. With the cold making it malfunction, as well as the snow being packed around the transmission makes me think it's the transmission end that's messed up. I'm hoping for an easy fix, but may have to replace the cable itself. Being an older car, parts can be a bit difficult to find and I may have to order it online. |
| Last entry was on the 13th and I haven't been very active on the site most of the week. It all started with this past weekend... My normal work week is Friday through Monday for the winter and business tends to be a bit slow until May. But, the last few weeks have been kind of busy. Friday, for some reason, was even busier and I was tired and looking forward to getting home. But right at closing time a couple of people showed up at the yard and I was running late getting things locked up and into the store. Once inside, I discovered that they were putting up sales, and would have to stay later, until they finished. A quick side note about my job, I'm a security guard for a home improvement center and work in the yard. Once the store closes, I wait inside until everyone is out of the store, ensure everything is locked up, then exit with management, ensure they set the alarm and lock the door, then I'm done and can go home. So, back to Friday. I should have been out of the store and home by about 10:00, but because of the sales being posted, it was pushing 11:00. In looking at the bright side, I figured they wouldn't be posting any sales on Saturday now, so I should be home by 10:00, which, with the time change, would be nice. Saturday was another busy night, but I was able to close up the yard on time and after doing a security walk of the yard was inside on time, only to find the store was taking down the current sale and putting up another sale for the upcoming week. Tonight went even slower and instead of getting home by 10:00, it was after 11:00 by the time I got home. With the clocks advanced for Daylight Savings Time, it was after midnight when I went to bed. Sunday I woke at my usually time, but with the time change, it was now almost 9:00 and I had to rush a bit to get my time in WdC, get my stuff ready for work and get to work on time. Sunday's my shift starts earlier, but the store closes at 8:00 so I'm usually out of there by quarter after. Last Sunday, however, a snow storm had moved in and I wanted to get to work earlier so my wife could get home before the roads got bad. I clocked in around noon and had an extremely slow day because of the storm. Three people ventured back to the yard in the storm over an eight hour period. By 7:00 o'clock that evening it was looking like I would be locking up the yard a little early and be out of the store shortly after 8:00. But, with just twenty minutes left to go, a semi shows up and the store manager decides to unload him before we leave. It usually takes about an hour to unload one of these deliveries since they are pulling both an enclosed trailer and a flat trailer. This night was no different and it was pushing 8:30 by the time he was unloaded and exiting the yard. With the winter storm raging on, snow was drifting in the yard and what snow plowing was done was just enough to keep the main lanes open, with a couple of huge piles at both ends of the yard. For some unknown reason, the trucker decides it would be better to try and run through one of these instead of backing up and avoiding it. You guessed it, he got stuck. It took over a half an hour of shoveling and throwing sand to get him moving again, so it was now after 9:00 by the time I was able to lock up the yard. By quarter past 9:00, I was on my way home. It was still snowing, the wind had picked up even more so it was drifting and difficult to see, and I had twenty five miles to drive. I seemed to be the last person out on the roads and had to dodge snowdrifts all the way home. Of course, I couldn't dodge all of them, but most I did have to push through were smaller drifts and things were going pretty well, just slow. It took another hour to drive home. The last mile and a half things got even worse. There was no way to avoid the bigger drifts, so I had to drive in the center of the road and get up enough speed to bust through them. Consider I'm driving an older model Dodge Aries, front wheel drive and close to the ground. Some of the drifts were high enough that in pushing through them, snow would pile up onto the hood and my headlights were packed full of the sticky stuff. But, I managed to get to town only to find a humongous drift on the railroad tracks. I live just past these tracks, so I stepped on the gas and hit the drift with enough force to push through it. I almost got hung up in it, but the tires grabbed enough to half pull, half spin as I came out the other side. I had snow everywhere, but I was home. I pulled into th drive, parked, and carried my gear inside. I was exhausted from the long weekend, and now after driving through the storm, I was ready to just get into bed and pass out. Monday morning I woke to sunshine and cold temperatures, but the storm had passed and the plows were out. My wife left for work and I spent a quiet day relaxing and just taking it easy. One last night of work and then three days off. But, when it came time to leave for work, the car started very hard. Once it was running, it was misfiring and making all sorts of strange noises. It was froze up so much it didn't want to move. I let it run a few minutes more and then tried to back up again. It moved but it was reluctant, the steering was difficult and the brakes didn't work. I pulled back into the drive and shut it off, then opened the hood and looked inside. Snow, nothing but snow packed everywhere. Well, I didn't make it in to work Monday, and spent the time trying to dig the snow out from under the hood. Tuesday I put a heater in front of the car to melt some more of it out. I don't have a garage, so it wasn't the most efficient way to melt the snow. The last few days were above thawing, so the weather helped, but yesterday I ended up putting the heater back in front of the car and blasting heat under the front while I used a blow-dryer to melt snow from on top of the engine. The good news is, once I had the snow all melted, the engine dried, and most of the ice busted loose from things, it started right up and ran fine. I looked everything over good and could find no damage done from the drive home. Just in time to return to work today; I hope this week goes better. |
| Well then! I had an entry just about done and the power flickered out. So much for my entry, and not enough time to even begin to re-write it. So, it's get ready for work, grab a bite to eat, and off I go. I likely won't have time to write after work since they start staying open later tonight, but tomorrow I hope to spend a bit more time here with everyone. |
| Just some thoughts that want out: Daylight savings time starts at midnight. Why, what good is it? I would think it costs all the way around. I've heard some interesting comparisons of daylight savings time. One, take a blanket and cut one foot off the bottom and sew it to the top to make the blanket longer. Another, put a dime in each pocket, this is normal time. Now, instead of having just ten cents in your pocket, move one dime to the other pocket so you have twice as much money. To me it seems silly to change clocks so you can get up earlier. I mean, if I get up and seven for work at eight, but don't have enough time, I just set my alarm for six and the problem is solved. Much easier than setting my clock ahead an hour to accomplish the same thing. It's like the government is saying, "Hey, it's spring time now and we think everyone should get up an hour earlier so they can be more productive with the extra hour." Never mind your going to bed an hour sooner and lose that hour of productivity. I worked in a sawmill many years ago that ran all year long. In the winter, the cold was a big factor for running pneumatic systems, so they started us later in the morning when it was less cold. They also had one person come in early and start all the fires to warm the place up. We would work later in the day to compensate the late start so we still had eight hours a day. In the spring, we would resume start-up at seven in the morning, since it was now warmer, but during the hottest part of the summer, July and August, we would start at five so that we could get most of the work done before it became overly hot and miserable. It worked great and no outside agency had to regulate this; it was just good business sense. To me, daylight savings time just doesn't make any sense. I know, there are some people who like it; I know a few. Mostly, this crowd likes the idea of getting up an hour earlier and enjoying more daytime. Of course, even without changing the clocks, they could just get up earlier and do the same thing. I work from four in the afternoon until about ten-thirty at night, so for me, I don't have to go to work now until five. But, I don't get done until eleven-thirty so I'm home later and will sleep an hour more in the morning. What have I gained? I wonder, how would it work if the government left the clocks alone but just told everyone that you need to start getting up an hour earlier on Sunday. Would anyone complain? Or, would everyone just say, "Well, it's the government, so if they think I need to get up earlier, it must be so." We would likely see protesters marching around with signs stating, I'll get up when I'm damn well ready to get up. Well, there it is. Every year I wonder why this crazy policy hasn't been revoked. Why hasn't anyone figured out that we don't gain an extra hour by changing the clocks? There are some places that have figured this out and refuse to change the clocks, which must make this whole thing even more confusing when dealing with the rest of us who still do. I learned a long time ago while in the service a simple policy: If it's not broke, don't f*** with it. "Sorry to say, my clocks are working fine, but tonight before I go to bed, I'm going to f*** with them anyway." |
| I suppose I'm venting this out, but yes, I feel I'm being buncoed. Bunco or it's alternate spelling, Bunko is a nice colorful word we seldom hear anymore, but it does fit the situation. Maybe in times past I could call the Bunco Squad, but I doubt they could actually do anything about this particular rip off. Nonetheless, I feel I'm currently being buncoed by my internet provider. I live in a very small town in a rural area, so there is no competition to our one and only internet provider, the phone company. Actually, it is a cooperative, so one would think it would be reasonably priced, possibly even cheaper than other services. That's not the case, however. Because of the rural location, the actual phone service is very limited, even though they advertise unlimited local calling. The term local is key here to mean anyone in our relatively small community. To access other areas close by, one must pay an access charge for each neighboring town or pay local long distance charges, which cost even more. This results in phone services that cost more than using a cell phone, but with much restricted calling. They also offer high speed internet with ranges from the lowest speeds at $40.00 up to the highest speed at $90.00, with a few packages in between; this does not include special fees and taxes, just the basic internet fee. In order to stream movies, we needed to go with the second package which costs $45.00 a month and is barely enough to stream without interruptions. But, coupled with the phone service it was costing us almost $100.00 a month, and that was with no additional calling packages or long distance. Since we use cell phones and have a mobile home phone that allows unlimited nation wide calling for $15.00 a month, I talked to the cooperative about disconnecting our land line but still keeping the internet. This was possible, but they charged an additional $5.00 for the service if it wasn't coupled to a phone. I was fine with that and for a few months everything was peachy-keen. But, starting last month, they changed the access to $35.00 for internet without a phone. Now, phone service for local calling runs about $23.00 a month. However, there are all sorts of other fees that go along with having the phone so it averages out to... you guessed it, about $35.00 a month. Of course these prices do not include any taxes or the extra fees for 911 access and such. A summary of charges then is about $80.00 a month for phone and internet; add taxes and other fees, it's just shy of $100.00 per month. Compare now to just internet access plus the line access fee and it costs $80.00 a month; add taxes and fees again and it's just shy of $100.00 a month. To me that's a rip off, I now have to pay the same amount for just internet as I would if I coupled it with a relatively worthless landline, $100.00 a month. Twenty miles from here, my brother has faster and better internet service for less than $40.00 a month. What are my options? I purchased a mobile hot-spot and set it up, but it's looking like it will cost about the same for enough data to do the things we do now. Another option is HughesNet, but again, they don't offer enogh monthly data for our needs unless we pay extra. It looks like for now we are stuck, if we want internet we have to pay over twice as much just because there are no competitions to the cooperatives services, and to me, that's the definition of buncoed. |
| Just some ruminations on the song, "The Final Countdown" for the 48 Hour Challenge. Hmm, ruminations... a deep or considered thought and also the action of chewing the cud. Which is this? I'll let you decide. Upon first watching the video, my thoughts went to the hair, typical of the big hair bands of the time. I also wondered what was up with all the head movement and bouncing up and down. Does this add to the song? Perhaps it helps to keep the rhythm or even to perform better on the drums and with the quality of the singing. Nope, I don't think so, just for show. I do know that as a young boy, watching a performance such as this would have resulted in hysterical laughter, but now it seems normal behavior for a band. As for the song they sing, what does it mean? Well, they're leaving together, I assume the entire band. It's a farewell since they don't know if they will return to earth or not. They don't explain why they may not return, whether it's a one way trip, or maybe they just like it there more and don't want to come back. We don't know. They go on to say that there is no one to blame, yet I tend to think it's their own blame how this will turn out, after all, it seems to be their choice to leave. Next they inform us their leaving ground, I assume it's for this journey they are taking, but then it could just be all the jumping. They do ask if things will ever be the same. Since time is fluid and continuously in motion, of course not. They state in the next few lines that it is the final countdown. I take this to mean they are about to take off. Where? Well the song states Venus. I suppose they are thinking the mythical Venus populated with nothing but beautiful women. Unfortunately, what ever has them hopped up has them also out of bounds with reality. There are no women on Venus, and I doubt they will even survive the journey there. If they do, and if their craft survives landing, they are soon to parish when they open the hatch and the heat incinerates them even as the high atmospheric pressure crushes them. They must have been hopped up in school not to have learned any of this, for they go on about standing tall in spite of the final countdown. They then add, "Cause maybe they've seen us and welcome us all, yeah." Who, as i pointed out, there are not any women on Venus. Well, that apparently is beside the point of this song as it goes on about so many light years to go. Venus? Definitely haven't study anything about where they are going. They make this point even more clear in the next line about things to be found. I'm not sure they are going to find much of anything of interest on Venus. A scientist would, but not a bunch of hopped up hair heads who think Venus is light years away and populated with half naked, beautiful women. The final line that actually expresses anything is, "I'm sure we'll all miss her so." They never explain who she is, but I'm guessing she's a groupie the entire band has become intimately acquainted with. I mean to miss her so, if you know what I mean. Of course, if they really believe Venus is full of beautiful, sex starved women, I doubt they really believe they will miss her at all. Probably just on the long journey. You know, they should have asked her, she likely would have joined the journey and likely would have fit right in. After this it's just a repeat of the theme, "it's the final countdown." In fact it repeats over and over, which makes me wonder if there wasn't some malfunction and the clock never finished counting down but just continuously repeated the last ten seconds down to blast off, only to skip at two and start again at ten. Likely a scratch in the record. If someone had set a dime or a penny on the needle arm, it may have played through. No matter, however, since they didn't finish the final countdown they never blasted off, although I'm sure they got plenty high. The result is the same, they stayed here on earth and wrote more catchy songs and avoided the disaster of traveling to Venus. A bit of nonsense writing, I know, but the challenge was to write something, anything, on the song and video; that's what I did. |
| My last entry was on Sunday, three days ago, so time to update. Monday was a work day and I didn't have much time to spend in WdC before work, Tuesday I was off and did spend a little time here. I was also waiting on Fed Ex to bring my mobile hot-spot, set it up, and try it out. I have internet through our phone provider, which runs just a little over a hundred bucks a month. With cell phones, we were able to cancel phone service and that put us down to fifty bucks a month for bottom of the line, high-speed internet. Of course, they added a five dollar access fee since we no longer had phone service. Now, however, they also have a thirty-five dollar line fee added. With fees and tax, it's just shy of one hundred bucks a month for bottom of the line service. So, we are looking at options to replace them. This brings us to Wednesday, today; a good day. It started out slow and relaxing, my wife and I both off of work until Friday. I was up early, about seven this morning. There was coffee and conversation with Rhonda, my wife. I spent a bit of time in Facebook, but not too much. I'm not much of a fan of the site, but my kids, some friends, and family use the site and it's a nice way to see what's going on with them. I did learn something very important during my short visit... Don't eat baby carrots, they will make you sick. Don't laugh, I'm serious, it was on Facebook, it's just got to be real! Alright, so not a good source of truthful information; yes I laughed as well. Next, Rhonda and I created a cheesecake. Similar to your average homemade cheesecake, but with our own twist. We are both currently trying to drop a few pounds and watching our calorie intake. So, if we can cut the calories down a bit, we can enjoy more. Our creation is similar to a New York Cheesecake, but we used Neufchatel cheese which is lower in calories and has a bit more flavor than cream cheese. We also substituted condensed milk for the sour cream, so a bit less sugar was needed. These tow factors lowered the fat and calorie count quite a bit. I can't tell you how it turned out, it's still in the oven, during a cooling cycle. Soon, I will remove it to the counter and let it cool even more before putting it in the fridge to chill before serving. Kind of time consuming, but otherwise not to difficult to make. The slow cool-down is suppose to prevent the cheesecake from cracking. While the cake baked, I retired to the living room to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee. While I rested a bit I let my mind roam free to find something to write about in here. Instead, thoughts of a recent review flooded into my mind bringing thoughts of the story it was written for. The next thing I knew, I was developing an ending for the the story. So, I quickly grabbed a pen and some paper and began jotting down these ideas until I had the last section of the story down in some crude notes. It will be at least a three part book, possibly three or four books in a series. I have the beginning as one story, I have another story based upon the first but capable of being a story on it's own, and now the third part, which can also be a story in itself. Feels Good! that's all I can say; it's been a long time since this kind of creativity has struck out of thin air. |
| Seems I'm kind of in a slump today, tired, unmotivated, and just kind of feeling humdrum. Sort of like a person feels after being up three-quarters of the night drinking and having fun. Not hung-over and sick, but just tired and out of sorts, like your brain is still kind of numb. Not that I was up until the wee hours of the morning consuming alcohol and having fun, not at all. I worked a closing shift last night, then came home, relaxed a bit, had a bite to eat, and just a small glass of brandy. I know, some peoples idea of a small glass is eight ounces or so, but when I say a small glass, I'm saying an ounce or two. Last night it was about an ounce of brandy after I had a lite snack, while I logged into WdC for a few minutes to look around. I slept pretty well, or at least, I think I did; I don't remember anything other than a weird dream I had. I woke up to Hannah giving me kisses and wanting me to rub her belly, Hannah is my my dog. Then it was a normal morning, a cup of coffee and some Hannah time, then I did my Bible study, and then talked to my wife, who called from work. I can't blame it on the weather, sometimes a dismal day can result in a gloomy kind of mood. Today is sunny and bright, in the fifties, and very uplifting. In fact, I should be sitting out on the patio enjoying the nice weather and letting Hannah get some fresh air and run a bit; we still have a half chewed stick left from yesterday to finish off. Nope, no reason I can find; seems I just went from a Weekend Wane into a Sunday Slump. |
| No blog entry yesterday, I just ran out of time, but, at least the time I burned up was productive; I can't always say that. I managed to both finish and edit a poem I was working on for the Weekly Goals. I attempted something a bit different by writing an erotic poem, but written in a romantic style. I also wanted to keep an even flow of rhyme in each verse as well as an equal count of syllables per line. I really like the way it turned out, and my number one fan said it was a winner. Of course, being my wife, she may be a little bit biased. If your interested in reading the poem, you can find it here:
Please, let me know what you think. My title, "Weekend Wane", may seem self explanatory since weekends are often time off from our jobs and time to enjoy ourselves in so many ways, which lead us away from spending much time here in WdC. For me, however, it's just the opposite. I usually work through the weekends; My work week starts on Friday and runs through Monday. There's a good reason and I am not upset by this, even though it does mean I miss out on some things. Since I'm the boss, I have the final say in scheduling and have found that scheduling others to work on the weekends often lead to me having to work the weekends for someone who had plans and needed time off. It also tended to create a lot of grumbling and complaining. By scheduling myself, I avoid these problems and everyone tends to be happier with the scheduling. An added benefit is that I get three days off each week, usually. Since my wife, who is also my best friend, also works through the weekends and has mid-week off with me, so when we enjoy our favorite pastimes, like fishing, hiking, and camping, most everyone else is at work; we have the campgrounds, lakes, and trails pretty much all to ourselves. We had an opportunity to try kayaking last fall while camping with friends, and purchased our own kayaks shortly after. We only had a few opportunities to go out before the weather turned too cold, but it was so enjoyable, being the only two people on the lake. Not only did we not have to put up with other people intruding on the serine setting of the lake, but there were no dunderheads around to mess with us by motor-boating by at high speeds and trying to capsize us with their wakes. As you can see, there are many advantages to working weekends and taking time off mid-week. Weekend wane, then for me, means I'm limited on how much time I can spend here because work so often interferes with one's personal life. Now here's a thought... When I become a professional author and no longer have to interrupt my life with going to a job, will it still be the same? |
| So, where did it go? My blog entry from yesterday, I wrote it shortly before I had to stop my enjoyment and get ready for that alternate world of work. I kind of remember what I had written, and I do remember what I wrote about, but when I logged in my Blog link stated, "(2 days ago)" next to it and the entry is nowhere to be found. This has happened before, as well. Not often, but once in a great while I'll be sure I made an entry and it's not there. Usually, it's some kind of lunatic rush going on and I just write it off as a simple matter of not saving the damn thing. My fault, plain and simple, no excuses, and no one to blame but self. But, yesterday was different; I was enjoying myself on WdC, making some comments on some blogs I had read, did a review, and went through my email. I had gotten some replies back to some questions I had asked, so I thanked the senders, then changed some information in my portfolio, my biography, and checked out the two new groups I had joined, the Talent Pond and Blog Harbor. It was getting to be early afternoon and I had to go to work around three in the afternoon, I thought it best to write in my blog and get that done before I had to rush. After I finished I closed out my browser, had lunch, got ready, and left for work. But it's gone! No entry posted for yesterday... Where did it go? I suppose, is some distant galaxy, on some alien planet, it will show up. Kind of like the radio waves that travel endlessly through space until some alien civilization intercepts them and listens to the broadcast. Hopefully it's not some Dr. Demento or Wolfman Jack they receive and think or exclaim, "WTF is this!" Yes, I suppose in some distant place, at some distant time, my blog entry will get picked up and delivered to some alien computer and the alien will look at it and exclaim, "WTF is this!" Seriously, though, I should contact support; maybe send a nasty letter to the StoryMaster and StoryMistress asking them why they hijacked my blog entry and demand they return it. I mean, what the hell, are they holding it for ransom? On second thought, maybe I should just double check to make sure I hit save entry before I close out the web browser, as now that I think about it, the only logical explanation is I just plain forgot to save... again.  In trying to find a good excuse for being a knucklehead who forgot to save an entry before closing the browser, I went and forgot to express my happiness over getting two verses done on my next poem item. I had set a goal on Monday to write a new poem and add it to my portfolio by Friday. So, yes, I'm happy to announce that I have two verses complete. I was planning on working on it more today, but time slipped past to quickly. But, I do plan on working on it tomorrow and maybe, just maybe, I'll finish it and get it in my portfolio before I have to go to work. That's if I don't forget to save... |
| I have added the Talent Pond's Blog Harbor image to my introduction and am eager to get more active in this group, but so far I haven't received any information from them, or from the Talent Pond. I had to join the latter to join the former, and I thought I would hear some kind of reply or welcome. I also noted that there hasn't been any updated prompts since January. I assume something must be up, and I may address this in the forum. It's been another good day, my back is continuing to improve and I even took some time this afternoon to do up the dishes. We do not have a dishwasher; with only two to clean up after, it seems a bit of over-kill. Standing at the sink tends to cause me some back discomfort since I'm a bit on the tall side and most counter tops and sinks force me to bend a bit while I work. I didn't know how long I would be able to stand there and wash dishes, but it went pretty good and I finished up last night supper dishes and those from today. I also got an item read and reviewed, went through my email, and now have my blog entry in for the day. I haven't done any work on writing anything, but may take some time yet today to try and get some ideas to write about. |
| I'm feeling better today, even though it didn't start out the best. The Dinger, my Lab/Springer mix named Hannah but often just referred to as the Dinger, woke me up by pouncing on me. With my back all messed up, this was very uncomfortable and somewhat painful. Of course she doesn't know any better and just wanted me to get up. From there, I moved my to the living room and sat down on the loveseat and she hopped up on my lap for her morning loving. This is our normal routine, and even though the loveseat isn't very comfortable for me when my back is out, I try and stick to our routine, because she doesn't understand if it changes. So, by the time I had my first cup of coffee and spent some time with my wife and Hannah, my back was hurting pretty good again. But, once I got myself set up in the kitchen with my laptop and spent a bit of time in WdC, the pain started letting up without having to take anything other than some Ibuprofen. Yes! no muscle relaxer or prescription pain medication today. That means I have a clear head instead of being somewhat lost in a opiate induced haze. I also had my blog mentioned in "February 2017 Blogging Bliss Newsletter", which was a pleasant surprise. I not only enjoyed being mentioned, but enjoyed the newsletter as well. So of course, I subscribed and joined a blogging group mentioned within. Now, knowing that my blog is getting read, I would like to make it a bit more enjoyable for others to read. That was the idea with joining a blogging group, to get some prompts for the days when I just can't think of much to write in here about. By this time I was on a roll so I also entered into the Weekly Goals and set a goal to do more reviewing and to add another item to my portfolio. I'm thinking about another poem since I received so many nice reviews on the last one, "Summer Storm"  .Of course, since I'm now a member of "Blog Harbor from The Talent Pond" , I'll be reading over other blogs and hoping to meet some of you. |
| Still out of work with this back problem and it's starting to be a real pain. I know, bad pun. Even so, it's really messing up my plans. I don't mind getting out of work for a while, but when my payday comes it's going to be another pain. Besides, if I am going to get time off, I'd prefer to have it enjoyable and productive. Between the discomfort and the medications, I'm anything but productive and enjoying myself. Typically, if I do put my back out, it's short lived misery; a few days and I'm feeling a lot better, off the muscle relaxers, and able to do a few things. By the end of a week, the pain is all behind me. I know, another bad pun. This time, however, it just continues to ache, I continue to have spasms, and I don't feel I'm getting much better. The only thing I can think of that's making it so much worse this time, is at the first signs of it going out, I ignored it and thought a bit of activity may prevent it form getting worse. Normally, if it acts up, I try and take it easy to keep it from getting worse, but that never seems to help, either. So, this time around, I had a few light spasms and some moderate pain, but thought I would work it out by working the muscles a bit. I headed out with my dog, threw a stick a few times for her, then filled the bird feeders. At this point, it hadn't gotten any better, but it hadn't gotten any worse, either. I filled the first feeder that hangs at about shoulder level with no problems and little discomfort. But, when I went back into the porch for another container of feed for the second feeder, I felt a lot of tightness in my lower back. Still ignoring the discomfort, I went back out with the feed and bent down to fill the feeder that hangs just inches above the ground. That's when the sharp pain began and I knew I was in trouble. There was nothing around to hold on to or to assist me in straightening back up, so I drew a deep breath knowing that it was going to hurt like hell to straighten up. I was right. I was now standing kind of straight, but the muscles were shooting pain and the spasms about drove me back to the ground. I was a good ten feet from the house, I was having severe muscle spasms in my lower back, and my right leg was tingling like it was asleep. I knew if I went down out there, I would be there until someone came along and noticed me. So, with no other choice, I did my best to force mind and will over pain and non-cooperating muscles and forced each step until I could collapse against the side of the porch. I now had something to hold me up as I leaned against the wall, but I still had another ten feet to go to even get to the door. I managed to keep myself moving, dong my best to block out the pain, and soon was in the doorway, With a narrow porch, I had more support and things to hold onto until I got to the kitchen and collapsed into a chair. In the process of stretching the muscles and walking off the pain, I accomplished just the opposite, I tightened them even more and was now almost completely immobilized. I now believe that I did much more damage than good, and on top of my normal back problems, I went and severely strained the muscles; this is why it's taking so much longer to recuperate. |
| It's been kind of an off day. I should have worked today, but my back is still giving me problems, enough that I wouldn't be able to perform my duties. Hopefully, I will be able to work tomorrow, but may have to work a short shift. Even though I had the day off, I received a message form the company headquarters and ended up having to make some calls, send out texts, and write up memos for work. This took a big junk of my day, since the medications I took kind of keep me spaced out. I did manage to get a review done, and now, a blog entry. Now I'm off to read through my email and then relax a bit and bed. Goodnight. |
| Cold and windy out today, our February spring has ended. We are supposed to be getting snow, a lot of it, as well. Luckily, the system has remained south of us and we have not had a single snowflake yet today. We could still get some tonight, but it's sounding like an inch or less. I suspected winter would return, but after the warm intermission, it won't be as bad as if it had been snowy and cold straight through. This month is quickly drawing to an end and March is usually pretty nice. We get a lot of snow in March, but not much of the below zero cold. My Mother used to say, "March winds bring April Showers and April's showers bring May flowers." Sleeping on the twin bed has helped my back a lot, and I'm finding it feeling a lot better. I still have a few spasms from time to time, and the Sciatica nerve pain and some numbness into my leg. I'll be missing work tomorrow to give it another day to rest and hopefully get over the spasms. It tends to go back into place just as quickly as it goes out. The only difference is, my back will feel fine before it goes out, and it will before for another week or so after it straightens back up. Just sore muscles from the spasms, but nothing debilitating. |
| Today is Wednesday, often referred to as hump day. This is because it's the middle of the week for most folk, and it's kind of similar to a hump in the week, down hill from here till the weekend. For me it's a bit different, as I currently have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off, it's the hump before work starts. Today, however, also marks my passing a hump in writing. I think I can call it a hump, instead of writers block. After all, I had to overcome the hump to write something. And, like a hump, I would get a start on writing, then lose momentum and not finish, or get over the hump. Today, however, I did get over it. I was struggling for a while and thought I wasn't going to make it, I had a poem almost finished but could not find the last stanza to finish it. I must have written a half dozen different endings, but none I was satisfied with and began thinking I should just let it sit and stew for a bit, maybe finish it tomorrow. Sometimes that helps, but more often it just provides me with another unfinished item piling up in my "need to finish" folder. I did take a small break from it and gave my wife a hand. Then it was back to the laptop to try and finish it. It worked and the ending started to form, then flow out to the keyboard, and the poem was finished, the hump that has hung me up behind me. I know there will be more humps ahead, as well as some ruts and bumps. But, each time I overcome one, I build more confidence in facing those ahead. If you want to read the item, it's here: "Summer Storm" Please let me know what you think, even if you don't do a review. Thank you. |
| Another unproductive day for me, but not by choice; my back is still out. I may have figured out why it's not getting better, I think I need a new bed. I base my thinking along this line on the fact that I was doing worse when I got up this morning then when I retired last night. Also, I woke numerous times throughout the night with back spasms. I noticed this same thing yesterday morning when I took a nap after taking some pain medication and a muscle relaxer. Tonight, my wife is going to set up the twin bed for me to try out. It has a nice firm mattress that I know is good for my back. She wants to set it up next to our bed, so even if we aren't sleeping together, we are next to one another. If this works, I should be doing better tomorrow, and over this bout with my back in short order. It will also let us know it's time to replace our old mattress and possibly prevent my back form going out for no reason, again. Wish me luck. |
| I didn't get as much done in here as I had hoped, still suffering from back pain and muscle spasms. It seems to be doing a bit better now, but most of the day I wasn't able to sit up well enough to even type. I woke with severe muscle spasms in my lower back and managed to get down stairs to the bathroom before they tightened up so much I could barely move. After sitting up for a bit and after the pain medication and muscle relaxers kicked in, decided to lie back down for a while. I slept for a couple hours only to awaken to even more intense muscle spasms, so more medication and and try and stay comfortable. Even if I had been able to sit up enough to type, I probably wouldn't have been very productive, to doped up. Hoping tomorrow is better and I can do a review or two in here as well as working on an idea for a poem. |
| Yes, I have been doing good at making a daily entry again, until yesterday. But, I'm back again today. Yesterday should have been a work day, but something I ate tore me up pretty bad and I was very ill all day yesterday. I am feeling better, although still some mild stomach discomfort left over. The good news is, I believe I have identified the culprit and won't be eating any more of it. Of course, there's usually bad news with the good, and today's no different. Earlier this morning I managed to throw my back out and am now partially laid up with it. I don't have a clue what I did to provoke this onslaught of pain and muscle spasms, but then, I seldom do. But, with the aid of some medications, I am doing well enough to sit up and type a bit in here, and am hoping to take advantage of the fact that since I can't do much else, I can spend a bit more time in here. Always look for the rainbow in the rain... |
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