01.22.07
Taking the Long Way
I was just listening to the Dixie Chicks on my iPod and realized that we have some things in common. I also decided long ago to take the long way. Yes, most of my peers in high school married their high school sweethearts and chose to stay close to home. Sad but true. Thankfully for me, the long way took me away from the state of Oklahoma to the sunny state of California. The long way meant leaaving everything behind and starting life anew. A bold decision but one that I have never regretted. I sometimes wonder what my life would be like if I were back in the state where I went to high school. Attitudes. Lifestyle. All so different. Not evil, but different. I could not live in the same zip code where I grew up. I’m happy that I chose the long way.
12.26.06
What the……
It’s the day after Christmas and most people have chosen to frequent the malls. Me…….why not just start a blog and write about what others are doing.
09.03.06
A Sunday Ritual
They come in their big Buicks, Mercurys, their Continentals, and their Cadillacs. They come in their 4 door convertibles that they waited 40 years to attain. They come in their dress clothes that they wear faithfully to church every Sunday. They exit their vehicles, spit on the ground, and inch their way into the Western Sizzlin’ for their weekly “Sunday Dinner”. That’s Mid-American for lunch. It’s 11:00 A.M. and these are my observations on a Sunday morning as I sit in the car across the parking lot. By 11:30 the parking lot is at least half full. I can visualize the crowd inside slapping each other on the back saying “Good to see you again.” It’s time for me to go and find another place to eat. After all, it’s noon in Oklahoma!
08.19.06
Nothing
Nothing. That pretty much describes what I have done today. There are not many days like this. But wait! I was just thinking about what “nothing” really is. The concept of nothing has many interpretations. In fact, one could say that “nothing” is “something” that does not exist. You can’t visualize nothing because then, it would be something. You can’t touch it or feel it. That means that nothing is where “everything” isn’t. It could be that nothing is only a word which describes the relationship between different “somethings”. In fact, David Letterman at one time had a segment called “Is it anything?” The answer often was that it was nothing. I hope this clears up what I did today. It should be easy. There is nothing to it!
03.27.06
Trucks
Have you taken a road trip lately? It is almost impossible to get anywhere because of the trucks. We recently made a trip across the country – over 3,700 miles – and I couldn’t believe the number of trucks. It’s a Sunday morning and we are driving east somewhere in New Mexico. In a 5 minute period, there were 79 trucks traveling west. A few minutes later, 21 trucks in 1 minute. That is an average of 92 trucks every 5 minutes. That is 1,104 trucke per hour. That’s 13,248 trucks in a 12 hour period, and that counts only the ones traveling west! If trucks only traveled 12 hours a day, and we know they don’t, that would equal 397,440 trucks a year. Yes, that is only in one direction. If the average length is 60 feet, that is enough trucks to extend 4,516 miles if they were parked bumper to bumper.
Does that give you something to think about when it comes to security? Who knows what’s in all of those trucks. Besides that, it doesn’t make me feel secure when I have to share the road with them.
10.15.05
Air Fare Nonsense
OK, I have credit for a trip to New Orleans that I obviously didn’t take. Now, I have to book a flight to somewhere by October 31 or I will lose all of the money I have invested. In trying to find a destination that intrigues me (where the amount I have invested is somewhat equal to the cost of the new destination), I find that ticket prices make no sense. How can it cost twice as much to go from California to OKC as it does to go to Tampa? Why is it that to go to Houston and continue on to San Antonio a ticket costs $278, but to stop in Houston without continuing, the ticket costs $314? Why does less cost more? It costs less to go to Nassau, Bahamas from CA than it does to go to OKC. Sensible? I don’t think so! Why is it that if you want to go to Seattle on Continental – my money is already in their hands – you have to go to Houston first! Does that make sense?
(OKC is used as a reference since we have family there and need to go there anyway.)
10.14.05
World’s Best or World Famous
What makes something the World’s Best? How can people just attach those words to anything they want. For example, I just found a wonderful recipe for chili on the internet. It is called The World’s Best Chili. According to whom? How can someone have the right to call it that? It was delicious when I made it, but neither I nor anyone else will ever know if it is the World’s Best.
World Famous is a different story. If someone in Germany and someone else in China and someone else in some other part of the world try the World’s Best Chili, then it could be called World Famous, but maybe not the World’s Best.
06.27.05
Retirement
More and more I pick up the newspaper or turn on the TV and hear that people want to do something more stimulating, generous, or entrepreneurial after retirement. Supposedly no one wants to sit down and do nothing. I, however, have an absence of ambition to do such things. I spent 32 1/2 years of my life getting up early in the morning and spending my days, many of them in frustration, teaching elementary school students. All of that ended in February, 1999. It might have been a good idea to get a second job to supplement my income since I didn’t retire rich, but I didn’t want to. I still don’t. It is nice to be able to sleep late if I so desire. If I want to watch TV all day, that’s OK. I like being able to go out to lunch and have a glass of wine. If I feel drowsy, I can go home and take a nap. Really, do people want to retire then get up early and rush out to a new job that is sometimes more stressful than the one they retired from. Do retired people really want to get up at the crack of dawn and rush off to a class or to volunteer somewhere? I know two people, fortunately they are married to each other, who are content with getting up each day and taking it easy. They don’t apologize for not getting up early each day with a long list of things to do. They believe they worked hard and contributed to society. Now they just want to go out to eat, or shop for something to make at home to eat! I can’t believe there are people who want to get special permission from their bosses to work well into their seventies or eighties. Stop it already! I think. “Read a novel. Feed the birds. Have a mocha latte. Treat yourself to a matinee.” There is more to life than work. Whenever I tell friends that I am happy doing nothing, they look at me as if to say, “You must be kidding.” “Don’t you get bored,” they ask. Are they kidding? Bored? That’s not possible. This boredom thing is a myth started by the folks who created continuing-education programs! I’d like to make it clear that I’m someone of sound mind (and sound body). I don’t have a startlingly low IQ, and no, I don’t have a screw loose. I like the idea of retirement without a job or a game plan. If I do someday change my mind, I’ll get a job. Or take a course. Or volunteer my services somewhere. But, what if I continue to enjoy life at my pace and on my schedule? Then that’s what I will continue to do. Yes, retirement is just as good as I imagined would be.
05.23.05
Painting
If there is one thing I hate doing almost more than anything else, it’s painting. Either with a brush or a roller, it’s still bad. After finishing, the cleanup is almost as bad as the job itself. What to do with the brush or roller is always the question. I have about decided that the best thing to do is to buy cheap stuff and throw it away at the end of the day. That doesn’t make painting easier, but cleanup is a snap! There is only one easier way; hire someone else to do it. I can’t believe there are people that actually do this every day for a living.
05.11.05
Weight Maintenance
It is so difficult to be retired and at the same time, enjoy preparing and eating food. Maintaining my weight while I was working was not a problem; stress I guess! Now, even though I exercise regularly, it is a constant struggle. Maybe it comes with age, but at this point, I am beginning to wonder how I will make it through the next few years.
