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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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| Spring is in the air. That sounds good, but it's only the middle of February here in northeastern South Dakota, and it should not be spring like at all. For the last few weeks, the temperatures have been in the upper thirties to upper forties, and for this week, upper forties to near sixty! The snow and ice has almost all melted, things are getting muddy, and the last few times we had precipitation, it came as rain. Yes very springy, indeed. My wife has even started talking about starting some flowers, and she is not the only one. I'm not complaining, spring is my favorite season, and I'm as eager for winter to end as anyone. But, I wonder, will it last? Typically, February is a cold month with temperatures barely reaching thawing and times of it dropping below zero. March is more likely to bring us into the thirties and forties, but it can still hold in the twenties or even single digits. Also, March is our big snow month, with plenty of winter storms. For the time being, it seems we have skipped February and March and jumped from January to April. If it lasts, I will be able to take the kayaks out by next month; the ice on the lakes is dwindling quickly. By April, we may be able to get in some camping, if the weather continues, as well as getting flowers planted outside. Cripes, we may even have to start mowing the grass by then! But then again, the temperatures could drop back to normal and we could get buried in snow and be shoveling out instead of mowing and gardening. It's interesting, and I have plenty of doubt about the weather yet to come. But, there seems to be a multitude of people who are believing this is spring. At work, I see a lot of spring projects getting started; people are leaving with shingles, patio block, and decking materials. I wouldn't mind if the weather turned and winter returned, it makes it slow and easy at work. But, I wouldn't mind having an early and long spring, either. It seems like ages since we had a nice spring, a slow transition with enjoyable weather to enjoy as the world around us wakes from it's winter slumber. Our past springs have been very short and more like jumping from winter right into summer for some years now. Yes, a nice long spring would be very welcome, but I'll continue to be prepared for the violent return of winter, just in case. |
| Today has been a pretty good day in here. No work, so more time to spend catching up, which is always a good thing. I also read some old reviews I had gotten during my absence, and enjoyed most of them. I took time to reply to everyone, express my appreciation, and for a couple, my questions. Any negative feedback in a review is always difficult to accept, even when it's correct and given for help. But, I still appreciate them, I look at what they have pointed out, and often incorporate quite a bit of what they suggest. Then, there are those positive reviews that really make a person feel good about the item reviewed; they are always appreciated, and I try and let the writer/reviewer know that this is the best reward of writing, knowing someone enjoyed reading it I always get a few reviews that kind of rate things in the middle, point out a few mistakes or areas that need attention, but also describe improvements that would completely alter the item. As with the other's, I appreciate the time and energy they put into reading my work and providing feedback. I look at the comments they leave and check the item, fixing and changing some of the suggestions, and then just disregard the rest. I believe it comes more from their own personal writing style and would change the item to the way they would have written it. It may be disregarded, but it's still helpful in understanding the various ways of writing something. All these kinds of reviews are welcome and appreciated. They are all helpful, given with good intentions, and honest. Up until today, I would have to say these are the only types of reviews I have ever received. Sure, there have been a few over the years that didn't really say much about the writing, but even these stated they enjoyed the item, or pointed out something they related to. Even the few, and that's very few, negative reviews and low ratings I have received have stated why they didn't like something and offered a means of correcting it. Well until today, that is. Today I received a review that did not state anything about the item at all. Nothing indicating it was good, or it was bad, whether the reader enjoyed it or disliked it, nothing on what was right or what was wrong. Nothing at all as far as feedback on the item. it contained a few quotes from something the reviewer had written, but even this was not available to read in their portfolio, being either never put in, or not open to the public. The quotes barely held any significance to the item reviewed, stating only the readers own thoughts on the subject. Not only didn't they say anything about the item they were reviewing, they did not have any information at all in their portfolio or biography. The only community action was one review, the one they sent me. The only information I could get was that they have been a member here for a handful of years. I read the review and all I can say is, very confusing. |
| Ah, sweet wonderful Wednesday. Not that there is anything special about Wednesday, except I don't have to work today; I also have tomorrow off. That makes it my weekend and that's pretty sweet. Of course, That's this week, only because I worked yesterday for someone who really wanted to spend Valentine's Day with his lady-friend. My Valentine had to work yesterday afternoon and I had originally thought of making her a nice, romantic dinner. But since I filled in for the other person, we will celebrate our Valentine's Day today. Speaking of Valentines Day, have you ever wondered how February 14 came to be a day for lovers? I have wondered and did a bit of looking into St. Valentine. It was interesting to learn that it's actually a Catholic feast day for Mr. Valentine. But, in all my reading I never found anything to indicate why it turned into a Saint feast day into a romance day. Today, while looking at an app that gives the word of the day and some other interesting things for this date, like an article of the day, a quote of the day, this day in history, today's birthday, and today's holiday, I found the connection. I had already discovered that many religious days, Holy-days, were set to coincide with Pagan celebrations. The idea was to give them something Christian to celebrate instead of something Pagan. In reading today's holiday, I again see this practice resulting in our modern day celebration of St. Valentine. Of course, it's only my thoughts and opinion, but it makes sense to me. Also, in our modern day world, commercialism has added a great many changes to everything. But back to today's holiday; ancient Rome celebrated Lupercalia on this date. It included a sacrifice of dogs and goats, and many worshipers. Luperci, priests of the deity Lupercal, dressed in goat skins and smeared with the blood of the sacrificed animals would run around striking women with thongs of goat skin called februa, which eventually gave this month it's name. This was thought to assure them of fertility and easy delivery, then the festival, as with most festivals of the Phallic Cult, turned into an all out orgy Of course, when the church became established in Rome, it couldn't have people going around sacrificing goats and dogs, whipping women with goat skin thongs and then having an orgy, so they needed something to replace it with, and that was the feast of St. Valentine. I suppose over time, and with the fall of Rome, some parts of the old Pagan celebration merged with the newer feast of St. Valentine and it resulted in a day of celebration and romance that had nothing really to do with Mr. Valentine at all. Well except maybe the day he was martyred or something. |
| Another beautiful day, sunny and warm. Well, 37 degrees is warm for us in February. Hannah, my Labradinger (Lab and Springer mix), is pestering me to go outside and enjoy the nice day. She makes typing a bit difficult, but she is very entertaining. I wish I had time to go out and burn off some of her energy, but it's almost time for me to leave for work. Normally, I would have today off, and she knows that. Not much to write about again today, and not much time to write it, even if I did. But, I did get in here and post, I also added my 2 words for Two Word Tuesday, and I got through my mail. |
| I just set a goal for the week to provide me with a little extra motivation. I have been doing pretty good at getting in here everyday, except yesterday. Sundays are kind of tough for me to get much done since I not only have to work, but have to go in earlier than normal. I can handle that, as long as I get in here the rest of the week, and at least get an entry put in my blog. That's my goal, to log into WDC, and do something, either a review, an entry in my blog, or some other interaction besides skimming through my mail. |
| It's about time to get ready for work; actually, I should be doing that right now. But, I wanted to get in here and post before I go, since I won't get a chance to after work. Not a lot to log about since yesterday. I went to work and had an uneventful evening, spent some time with my wife and then off to bed. Today was spent doing a Bible study, doing some stuff for work, then lunch and looking online for some gifts. I do need to make more time to get in here and be more active, it's a goal I'm working on. |
| Yes, it seems I'm on a roll; two days straight. Although, I have to admit, I don't have very much time today, since it's getting close to time for me to get ready and leave for work. Still, considering the time lapse before these past two days, it's something. I explained yesterday why there was such a long lapse of time, although I doubt there are very few, if any, who will believe my explanation. Yes, it was fictional. The idea came from back in my college days, when one of my instructors gave five points per day on attendance. It resulted in a drop in one's grade if you missed three days or more. The class was Business Communications, and the instructor was very demanding, very good, and very fair. Even so, this made it difficult to get high grades, so missing class was not an option if you wanted to keep up a good grade point average. She was understanding that sometimes things do come up that result in missing class, and being fair to her students, she provided a means to get extra credit if you did have to miss. It was quite simple, if you had a good imagination and the motivation to fulfill the conditions. First of all, you had to get any notes form another student and turn them in with any missed work. She would review the notes quickly and give them back. Any missed work had to be turned in within two days, which was the nest class date. Also, you had to provide her with an excuse when you returned to class. However, she did not want any plain excuse, even if it was true and legitimate. She wanted something out of the ordinary, something interesting, and of course, something made up. She gave extra credit for these fictitious excuses based on length, originality, and imagination. Now, the excuse didn't have to be real long, a paragraph or two would suffice. If it was well written and something new or different, it received full credit, but even if it was well written, but often used, she would deduct points. I seldom missed class, but on the rare occasions when I did, I enjoyed writing a good excuse, as you seen with my post from yesterday. She would have been very pleased with the originality, the imagination, and the enjoyable tale it provided. I suspect, she was writing her own book from these excuses that were turned in over the years. "Now," as Paul Harvey used to say, "you know the rest of the story." |
| My last entry in here was way back in July of last year, way too long of a time span. What happened? What indeed! Without going into a lot of boring detail I will try and summarize my bizzare experience that resulted in an almost seven month span of time. I had returned from a camping trip and was pondering various forms of clean energy. Solar power is limited and expensive, wind power is ineffective and unreliable, and fossil fuels create unwanted side effects, not to mention they are running out. As for the first two, they also create a lot of pollution in creating and disposing of them. I also find miles and miles of towering wind-turbines to be eye pollution; very unsightly. So, that leaves nuclear power. Again, there are some unwanted side effects, although I do believe with modern technology, many of these could be reduced. But wait, if the source of nuclear energy was from fusion instead of fission, there wouldn't be any unwanted side effects. So, that's the solution, hydrogen fusion. All that was needed was for someone to figure out a way to make it work. I had some free time, so I took a gallon of water, for the hydrogen, an old microwave for a reactor source, and set about creating some clean energy. I figured I could use electricity to separate the hydrogen and the oxygen, then with the microwave, I could start a fusion reaction in the hydrogen. It sounded good at the time. A car battery wired to a couple of electrodes served to separate the oxygen and hydrogen. But, the microwave just did not have enough power to start the reaction. I would need a much larger energy source, and Ben had the answer. Ben Franklin, that is. I waited for a good electrical storm and set my kite in flight, wired to the microwave. The car battery was forming bubbles in the water, so I knew I had hydrogen available. I set the timer on the microwave haphazardly to two hours, five minutes, and seventeen seconds. Yes, 02:05:17, then pushed the start button and watched as a bolt of lightning traveled down the kite cord and into the microwave. I thought I had it! There was a large, white, burning sphere of energy inside the microwave, but then, the door blew off and a white funnel of energy grew from the now molten appliance. It grew quickly into a huge funnel of energy, following the line up to the kite. I was pulled into it and began to feel tingly as I sped up the core of my energy tornado. Then, everything went black and I could feel myself falling, and falling, and then falling some more. Then... nothing. I woke up feeling kind of nauseous, and went into the house. I went to bed and slept for hours, then got up and realized that not just hours had passed since I had started my experiment, but months. Yes, I had traveled forward in time to February fifth. I spent a day trying to figure out a way to get back to my own time, but it was useless, the microwave was fried. Besides, I had no way of knowing if it would work to go back in time or not; I firmly believe it impossible to ever go back in time as times always passes forward. So, here I am. I failed at nuclear fusion, but I discovered it is possible to traveled forward in time. I ripped up my plans, however, and will not even consider building another time machine. See, I don't have enough time now, so why the hell would I want to build a device that makes it pass even faster? |
| My wife and I are back after taking a three day camping trip to get away from everything and spend some quiet time relaxing and reflecting on ten years of marriage. Camping for our anniversary has become a tradition for us, something we look forward to every year. This year we both were looking forward to having a nice, quiet, and relaxing time away from work, from home, and from all the everyday hassles life brings. I was especially wanting to get a break from work; there have been numerous problems and I have had to put a lot of extra time into things lately. The plan was simple enough, Rhonda would pack things up while I was at work on Monday, then pick me up and we would drive to the campground. We had picked on a few hours from home, since it would be late afternoon by the time I got off work. Things went well at first and we were soon heading out. Once at the campground, we jumped right into getting things set up. We had grabbed a pizza for supper so we could eat on the way, since there would be little time to cook anything once we arrived and got set up. After setting up, it was getting dark, so I started a fire and Rhonda fixed us a couple of drinks. We set up chairs by the fire pit, staked out our dog, Hannah, and settled in to relax for the evening. Hannah is a bit high strung, but well behaved, so after a short time I took her off her lead and let her stretch out by my feet. That's when things began to deteriorate. A skunk decided to come check out the campsite, looking for easy loot. Hannah spotted, or at least smelled the little critter before we realized we had a visitor. Before I could react, she was up and on top of the skunk with a death-hold on it's neck, shaking the last few wisps of life from it. Of course, she wasn't being bad, she was doing what instinct told her, to defend her pack. She did a great job and had the skunk killed before we could even get up and go after her. With the dirty deed done, she returned looking for praise as we backed away from her. The smell was not as bad as we had expected, but she had gotten enough spray on her to make it difficult to be close to her. She also had the watering eyes and was salivating heavy from the stench, rubbing her face in the grass to try and remove the foul odor. it was late and there was little we could do about the situation, so we tolerated the smell and made the most of the fire. Then, when we retired, things got a bit more intense. With Hannah in the tent with us, she would not have understood being put outside, not to mention another of Stinky's friends may come around, the smell became more intense. I have to mention again, she did not get a direct spray from the critter, but must have caught a bit of the mist as she shook the animal. The area the skunk was in did not smell very bad, and it was even less noticeable after I had moved the corpse away from the camp site. But inside the confines of the tent, the smell was stronger. On top of that, Hannah is a snuggler and loves to cuddle with us. Of course, with her new cologne, snuggling with her was impossible. We survived the night, but got little sleep. The next day we had her down to the lake and gave her a very good bath, lathering her up twice and then using conditioner on her. It did the trick, she still had just the slightest hint of skunk stink on her, but it was no possible to snuggle and cuddle, as well as to sleep in the same tent. Tuesday evening, things were going well again. We had just enjoyed a wonderful meal cooked outdoors and were going to again relax by a fire. My phone went off, it was the Director of Operations from work. I had a guard who was threatening to walk off and leave the guardhouse empty. We just got a new Director, and he has his hands full with a lot of things besides training in for his new position, but after explaining that Rhonda and I were out camping, he said he would handle the situation until today. Understand, please, that our home office is in Sioux City, Iowa, and the job site I supervise is in Watertown, South Dakota, so this was no small feat for him. But he took care of things for me so we could stay out and enjoy the entire three days before having to return and deal with the situation. Oh, and that night, shortly after turning in, looking forward to a sound, restful nights sleep, our air mattress decided to go flat. But, within a few minutes we had it fully deflated and shoved aside. We spent the rest of that night, and the remainder sleeping on the hard floor of the tent, but with the bedding and sleeping bags, it wasn't all that uncomfortable. I actually slept pretty well. We packed it in yesterday and left the site at three in the afternoon to return home. The heat had climbed Wednesday and Thursday, hitting just below 100 degrees on Wednesday and over 100 on Thursday. We did get a little hiking in, but stuck to the most shaded areas. Mostly, though we just relaxed and enjoyed the time together. I even managed to keep the problems at work pushed to the back burner until today. |
| It's nine in the morning and I'm waiting to start work. So, what better way to spend my time than getting an entry done. With summer here, I'm working weekends again, Friday through Monday day. Monday and Fridays aren't too bad, itself not as busy and Rhonda and I both work the same hours. But, Saturday and Sunday our hours differ. Our shirts overlap, but there is a three hour layover on Saturday for either her or me, depending who opens. We switch each week. On Sunday, we each have a three hour wait. This is a result of only having one vehicle running and the fifth mile round trip to work and home. It just isn't practical to run back home to wait. She often utilises her wait time to shop, I get some of my office work done and,like today, try and spend some in here. It's kind of difficult viewing and writing from my Kindle Fire (six inch screen). Makes me wish I had gotten a larger one. I'm hoping to get a regular, and larger, tablet this summer, but know very little about them. Also, price will be an issue; I will need to get one pretty cheap. For now, this will have to do. Now, off to look around the site. |
| I say semi because I did get quite a bit accomplished, but at the same time, did not get much done in WDC. I worked the holiday weekend as well as filling in on Tuesday, but did get Wednesday and today off. Yesterday was a sluggish day, just tired out from work. Even so, I did get a few projects done. Today was better; I had more energy and more motivation. Again, I put most of my energy into outdoor tasks, but was hoping to get in here and spen a little time, too. But, things took longer than anticipated; no time to much else. I still have my item to write and will get more time in here, but not until after the weekend, since my work week starts tomorrow and runs through Monday. I'm hopeful to get a little time to spend in WDC, but doubt I will have much more until Tuesday. |
| This weekend starts our summer schedule, which means working through the weekend as well as some longer days. The result, not much time for anything else the last few days. I wanted to at least get a brief entry in this morning before work, since it will be pushing nine o'clock before I get home tonight. I still am working on getting something written, but have not had time to develop my idea. Even so, I have been putting some thought into it and hope to get going on it. I know I won't have much time until after the weekend, having to work Monday as well as it being a very busy weekend. |
| Not much time to write in here tonight, it got later than I intended. I was in WDC earlier and went through my mail, but needed to get back out and finish mowing the grass. Once that was done, it was time to get supper going and eat. I also needed to trim up my whiskers and squeeze a hair cut in, and that about took care of the rest of the day. But, the grass is all mowed, my face is mowed, and my head is mowed. The latter two went well, and I guess the grass went pretty well, too. The only thing with the grass is, it was very tall and I had to go especially slow while cutting it. I had grass flying everywhere, and with the wind, was covered in it by the time I finished. So, into the shower I went, then got supper started, and while it cooked, got a shave and a hair cut from my favorite barber, my wife. After, I had to do another rinse in the shower to get the hair rinsed off, then dry off and get ready to eat. One would think, with all that showering, I would be over the hay fever effects of mowing the lawn, but no, I'm still suffering with itchy eyes and lots of sneezing. I also got a slight sunburn on my arms, face, and lower legs from being out in the sun so long. Kind of a rough day, but a productive day. Oh, and I have also come up with some ideas for something to write about. I had a subject, and while mowing, developed it a bit more. I don't know if I will get much time to write anything over the weekend, I have to work through till Monday, possibly Tuesday. It will be some long hours, but I'm hopeful I can at least get some notes done for my writing project. |
| Crazy title, I know. However, even though it's composed of created words, it fits the entry today, I should have, and I could have. But I didn't. "Didn't what?" you ask. "Write anything." is my honest answer. I've been doing good at getting in here and checking my email, looking around a little, and jotting down a short entry for my journal. I still need to be more active, reading and reviewing as well as writing a bit for my own portfolio. But time seems to be making things more difficult. Actually it's not all times fault, I still get the standard twenty-four hours in my day. Sure, some days twenty-six would help out immensely, but only if they are used wisely That right there, that's the problem, using my time wisely. There was a song some time ago by Carly Simon titled, Anticipation. The chorus to the song states: "Anticipation, Anticipation Is making me late Is keeping me waiting" Now, nothing against Carly Simon or her song, both of which are terrific. But in my personal case I think it should have been titled Procrastination, for that really is what's making me late and keeping me waiting. I reckon you could say, I've always been a bit of a procrastinator and I know it's not a good thing. I also know I should change this, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. That's where "Shoulda-Coulda" come in. I should have already managed my time so that I could do a bit of reading and reviewing, and I could have set aside some time to write a bit. Instead, I find excuses for not getting to things instead of changing things so that I can do those things I really need to do. Now, instead of droning on and on, I'm going to end this entry, post it, and then work on some notes for the writing I want to do. I have a subject, but not sure yet what it will develop into. I'm thinking along the lines of a poem, but it may come out in a short prose instead. |
| I'll be writing another short entry today, once again time has sped by faster than it should. But, today it was all good, restful, and enjoyable. I celebrated another birthday today. Well, am still celebrating, it's time for cake and ice cream as soon as I finish this entry. The whole day has been wonderful, and thanks go out to my wonderful wife for making the day so great. Also, for the birthday wishes I received here, from all of you. I actually began celebrating a bit last night. Rhonda and I relaxed with some brandy while we listened, and sang along with, many of our favorite songs. Then it was off to bed; Rhonda was up before me and made sure I would get to sleep in. We had a wonderful morning together, starting with a wonderful gift she had ready for me. Nothing expensive or extravagant, but very wonderful gift, perhaps the best I have ever gotten. She knows I have a difficult time finding a comfortable robe that fits well. She also knows I tend to get too warm in the heavy, snugly robes that are most common. Some years back, she had found a light, well fitting robe for me, and I wore it to shreds until there was no choice except to discard it. She wanted to replace it, but could not find another like it. But, she wasn't about to let that stop her, she purchased the items she needed and hand made a very comfortable, beautiful, and light robe for me. We had steak cooked out on the new grill we picked up together a few days ago, after I assembled it. We have a big grill that has served us well for years, but it's just too big for the two of us. So we looked at a small table top style grill, just a simple charcoal type and found one for twelve dollars. It's the perfect size for us, and I was surprised at how well it cooked the steaks; much better than any I have ever cooked on our old one. It's just been a wonderful day. |
| Back to work today, but it was a slow day. That's alright, it gave me the opportunity to get caught up on some paperwork. It's nice not going in so blasted early, but it has it's one draw back, I get home much later. Even so, I'm making time to make an entry while dinner cooks; short but still, an entry. Next on my list of things to do, is get some writing done other than just an entry here. I have a lot of stories that need to be revised and some that also need to have more content added. In fact, some of these are right proper material for a novel or two. That much writing may have to wait for a bit, I don't think my shoulder will handle that much typing. But, that still leaves a lot of revisions and adding on. Of course, I also want to get more active in the Power Reviewers Group again, too. Slow and easy as I get back into things, but soon enough I hope to be back to reading and righting reviews as well as working on my own items. For right now, I may just focus on trying to write a poem or two, just to get my imagination and inspiration back into gear. One last thought... It sure feels good to be back! |
| Spring is the season of new beginnings, but this particular spring brings another new beginning... My last journal entry was back in November, six months ago, but wait, it gets worse. My activity in here also began to diminish shortly after. Part of the reason I wasn't writing in my journal was because of all the writing I was doing for a contest. It was supposed to run a year, but things happen and it ended with the start of the new year, five months into the contest. Because I was writing a story a week for the contest, I was focusing most of my attention in that direction and let my journal fall by the wayside for a bit. When the contest ended early, I was resolved to continue writing the new story each week, just to be able to complete the contest I had started. Vary good intentions, but unfortunately, some unpredictable incidents developed and my good intentions fell alongside my journal, by the wayside. I was a bit frustrated when the contest ended, but I could understand the circumstances behind it and maintained a positive attitude and outlook. Shortly after, a very dear old friend took ill. To many, he may be thought of as just a pet, but to us, he was family, as close as any child. He was, as was his mate, one of my few best friends, and now his health was deteriorating and we knew that soon he would once again be joined with his mate who had left us two years before. He had all my attention, and we did what we could for him. There was no cure, age had caught up with him. He also developed a tumor in his digestive system, which shortened his time even more. With medication he was able to stay with us one final week, then passed quickly to join his mate. Both my wife and I were filled with grief and we took some needed time to mourn his passing. For me, there would be an even longer adjustment to make. To sit at the writing table and write, as I do now, was more than I could do, for whenever I sat at the desk or the writing table, my friend would be right there, at my feet, under the structure. Hyko had always been very close to me, warning me in advance of asthma attacks, comforting me when sick or injured, and in constant contact with at least one of my feet when I would write or do anything at the desk or the writing table. He had become a part of much that I did from day to day, and an even bigger part to my writing. I would often stop typing to reach down and give him a pat on the head or pet him, and when things didn't seem to flow correctly, I would read what I had written to him. He would look at me and lift his ears a bit as I read, but never offered any comments. Even so, it became a way for me to think things out and make corrections and changes. I knew that it would be hard, as well as sorrowful to adjust to him not being there, but I also understood that I needed to keep on writing and stay focused. Of course, some time would need to pass for me to grieve and adjust. Again, unseen circumstance arose, and I found myself with first a painful shoulder, then a pretty useless one. It started out like a pulled muscle or a sprain, but soon the pain was so bad that I could not do much of anything with my left arm. I knew I had to keep it moving and keep using it, or it would become even more stiff and sore, but despite my best efforts, I found I was losing more and more range of motion and use of the arm. As much as I dislike to, I had to see a doctor. My doctor had me describe my symptoms, looked at my limited range of motion, and referred me to a specialist. He also had to know all the details of what had taken place, had me go through my limited range of motion, and prescribed some medication for inflammation and pain, referred me to physical therapy, and injected the shoulder joint and surrounding tissue with a steroid. The condition is called frozen shoulder syndrome and who knows how or why it comes on, it just does. I was lucky to still have some strength and limited motion left, even though it was very painful. Therapy is also very painful, but like the doc said, in this case, there is no gain without pain. The muscles in the shoulder froze up and tightened to the point of not being able to do much of anything. They just do not give much, and what little I do coax out of them is excruciating. I have gained back a lot of my range of motion, and am continuing to gain a bit more with continued therapy. I've reached a point now I can actually type without being in pain, although with the writing I have done so far in this entry, I am feeling more and more discomfort. It will be a while before I can type away without any, but I've reached a point now that I can type and by so doing, gain more, as I am doing for my range of motion. There have been other setbacks as well. Finances are in a mess and the wolves are howling at the door. It seems like we will lose medical insurance, and we are tightening our belts and cutting back in any way we can. I don't know if I will be able to keep my current membership or not, it's due in another month and a half. Yes, it's been a long and brutal winter, but spring is here, and with it, a new beginning emerges... perhaps there is a light at the end of the tunnel. |
| It's been a while. Not much for time and a lot going on using up what little I seem to get. It seems at times, life kind of spins right out of control and all a person can do is hold on tight and try not to fall off. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost my grip and fallen. I thought I had about hit bottom, but then yet another unpleasant surprise comes along and I find I landed on a sink-hole, not rock bottom. As of yet, I have no idea just how much of a setback this is going to be, or much of anything else. That seems to be the worst, not knowing. Hopefully today will provide some answers---and some good news. I just got a call to explain things and it's not quite as bad as it could have been, but it's still a good kick in the gut when a guys already down. I suspect there will be other repercussions as well, but I should be able to contact everyone and manage through the worst of it. Without going too far into it, I'll provide a short explanation. We live from payday to payday, and with the new health insurance laws, aren't even managing that at times. Because of some medical problems, we ended up short on wages for half the summer and most of the fall, which has put us even further behind. Even so, we tried to stand fast and work our way through this, hoping that in time we could clear up our credit again and get back on our feet. But, for the time being, there is no credit; we get paid every two weeks and we have to make do, no matter how difficult. Even if we could find credit, we are strapped and would have no means to make another payment. So, what happens? We end up owing the IRS for taxes, not enough was withheld. On top of that, a fine for not having medical insurance for the first three months of the year, which they conveniently tacked on to our amount due. We arranged to make payments; while still fighting the fine, we figured it better to get things started and prevent further penalties. We were found to be exempt from the fine, but so far nothing from the IRS indicating any change in what we need to pay them. Hopefully soon. With this added payment, we find ourselves in a situation where it's difficult to afford to eat and keep gas in our one running vehicle, but we have managed. We stretch each dollar as far as we can and keep as much money in our bank account as possible to last up to the next payday, just in case we need milk, bread, or gas. Monday, we had two-hundred bucks left to last the week, with only one payment set to come out, automatically. Yesterday, I tried to use my debit card and it would not authorize. I knew there was still more than enough money in the account, but the bank was closed, so no way to find out what was wrong. Once I got home, I logged in to see the balance. -$17.00! There was a transfer amount out that I had not made. My wife and I have a dual account; joint checking. So, not only did someone withdraw all available funds, they did it before a couple pending weekend transactions went through. If it had been done through one of our cards, we would have been able to recover the funds and everything would be fine. But, it was an electronic withdrawal and no way to recover anything until we find out who made it. The bank was great in helping to get us information and is tracking the money to see who took it. For now, the account is locked, but with a negative amount, there will be overdraft fees unless we can get the balance over $0.00 by four this afternoon. Our direct deposit comes on Friday, but with the account locked, we won't be able to access it except taking funds in person with our ID's. It's a mess and it's not over yet. |
| It's been a few days so I reckon I better do just that. In fact, it's been three days, I haven't updated since Sunday. Part of it is on account of work, I haven't been getting out of there on time. But, that does not justify no entries all week. I've been working on another story for the last few days, and that does tend to interfere with my intent on writing in here. Today, it was a bunch of paperwork, forms needing filled and faxed, and memo's in need of writing that kept me busy, even though I am off work today. Once I completed my work, I was set to get back to my story, but the phone rang and interrupted me. All my caller ID indicated was "Washington DC" and then the answering machine picked up. Yes, I screen my calls, just for such bogus calls as this one. The call was a robocall and informed me the IRS was filing a lawsuit against me and I needed to call a number for more information. There was no case or ID number, no reference number, and no contact information as to who I should be calling. I didn't answer, but listened until it was done. I had already opened my web browser and was typing in a search for just such a scam. I found one listed on numerous pages, including one that had the exact same recording as the one on my phone answering machine. I also found it listed on the IRS's website, so I did not report it there. I did, however, report it, along with all available information, to the Federal Trade Commission in hopes that they can track and arrest these scammers. Even though it's a scam, it really upset me. I mean, at first I just heard IRS and lawsuit. That was enough to get my blood pressure up and my anxieties activated. Of course, that's the purpose. After I realized it was all bogus, it just got me riled. How many people actually fall for this? Too many. Why? Because they hear IRS, lawsuit, and they become frightened and panic. The nature of the message prevents them from thinking their way through this. Now, isn't that, by it's very nature, a form of terrorism as well as a scam? Now, with that off my mind, I'm going to try and get some work done in my story. |
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