Fall...Darn it!

Today is November 11, 2011 and it’s a beautiful autumn afternoon, considering that the leaves are still falling and it’s getting colder in the morning. All in all I love days like today. Yes, I love the smell of falling leaves in the morning! If there is such a thing, I’d love it anyway.

I decided to go out yesterday and rake up the leaves. Did you know that I have almost 5,000 square feet of property and I have only one tree on it, but my front yard is filled with leaves? I was hoping, the other day, when it was really windy that the leaves would blow away, but that didn’t happen.

I had to get out and rake em up yesterday because, yesterday, my neighbor got out and mulched her leaves, from her tree, leaving a line where her yard and my yard meet. That just looked weird. So, I didn’t want to lie around the house and do nothing so I got up and started on those leaves.

At that point I became a Leaf Wrangler! It’s kind of funny that when ever I rake the leaves I think of me being a leaf wrangler. For those that don’t know a wrangler is…well if you ever watch a move where there are animals in it? Well, the person who Shepherds the animals around is called an animal wrangler.

Now if I had a sheep dog he would herd the sheep or in this case, the leaves. Anyway, I got my lawnmower out and put on the bag-thingy. I figured I would just mulch and bag the leaves. As I went down one side of the yard I noticed that all I was doing was pushing the leaves around in front of the lawnmower.

So, I figured that wasn’t going to work right. So, I pulled out my trusty leaf wrangler machine, I mean, the leaf blower and started to wrangle those leaves, I mean, blow those leaves into a big pile.

Of course this means that I would have to finish the old-fashioned way, with a rake and broom. I herded those leaves into a pile, a big pile, and then thought to myself, when I was a kid didn’t I jump into the pile, for what ever reason. Gasp, I am an old dude now, but I did it anyway. After a few seconds, and more thoughts, I thought I had better get out of the leaves because someone might think that I had a heart attack or something.

Anyway, as cool as it was, 44 degrees, I started to get hot. That’s hard work raking up leaves. I wanted to take my hoodie off but knowing me I probably would have gotten sick or something considering I don’t get sick, often. So I just took the heat.

 I did notice one thing; there were still bugs out there! When do those Mother…shut my mouth, die? All they did was try to fly into my eyes or up my nose, one of them finally did. I had to run inside and blow my nose. I guess it got out before I blew it in to that wet napkin. All that hard work was attracting them. I am glad I was covered from head to toe!

Well, it only took me 90 minutes to complete that task. But, I know I am going to have to get out there and do more because the trees on both sides of my house are only 25% emptied! Besides, I still have the back yard to do. I am so looking forward to that. I think I am going to take a nap, as soon as I finish this. Oh well…

            

            Today is October 17, 2011 and I guess autumn is here to stay, well, at least until December 21^st. It was 43 degrees this morning, and even though I had my window open all night I was as snug as a bug in a rug. I had taken my down blanket out and have been using it for the past week. I decided that I am not going to turn on the heat until it gets cold. Well, the heat is on, but it has been staying warm enough, in the house, so that the heat really doesn’t have a chance to come on.

            I kind of have been feeling under the weather for the last three weeks or so. I can down with, maybe, an URI. I went to Urgent Care two weeks ago got some meds and felt better after about a week. I went and played racquetball, but I couldn’t really catch my breath. I had a whole lot of energy, but no breath. Lost all my games that day, but I played hard.

            Now, my throat just hurt, more like scratchy. I got my cough syrup and cough drops and I am ready to go. Gotta play racquetball tomorrow, I just hope I can breathe. And to top it off I haven’t been to the gym in about four weeks. I want to go back and probably will this coming Wednesday. I just feel weird all around, because of not working out.

Anyway, speaking of weird, I have been meaning to write all the weird stuff I have seen or gone though, the past two week down but haven’t done so, for some mysterious reason. So, here it is as I have remembered.

            Anyway, I had to go to the supermarket and get some supplies; it looks to be a long winter for me. I decided to get some cereal and noticed that the store had a 2 for sale. I walked in the aisle and noticed three little kids and their father doing the cereal thing. They had on T-shirts and shorts.

            But that’s not the weird thing. In the aisle was a woman, looking at the cereal boxes. I had to stop and look at her for a moment because she had a winter coat on, a large, long and thick red scarf and a thick red wool cap on. The scarf was covering her mouth and nose and you could only see her eyes.

            I wanted to say something but I just looked at her. Besides she was in the spot where my favorite cereal was located. I saw something else, a little beyond her and went and got it. As I went back to my cart the lady pulled her scarf from her face and asked me if I could reach the only and last box of cereal, of her choice, on the shelf.

            I agreed and got it for her, but it was what I liked too. So, I told her, kidding of course, that I was taking it. She kind of laughed and I handed to her. But, I had to ask anyway…I said to her, “Is it that cold in the store?”

            She kind of giggled and said, “I can’t breathe the air outside.”

I responded, “Okay, then why are you outside?” She pulled her scarf back up over her face and walked away.

I also started bowling about six ago. Anyway, this past Sunday, and I gotta figure out what the heck I am doing or my team mates are going to kick me off the team before I quit. I bowled a 139, first game, 168 the second game and a 161 the last game. I am getting frustrated to no means end. I gotta get focused. Now if I can remember what I did that week so I can bowl better this next Sunday. And to top it off, I still couldn’t catch my breath.

Other than that, only one other weird thing happened last week, well, not really weird. But it is becoming more common as it gets colder, as I sat on my bed, to put my socks on so I could go out and get my mail, I looked out the window at the lake across the street and I saw a bunch of deer.

They stopped, in the opening, and looked around for a few seconds…where is my camera when I needed it, or for that matter, my cell phone camera. They were gone a few seconds later. I gotta remember to keep that phone with me. When I first moved into my house I saw deer, maybe three of them, in my backyard. And in the last couple of months, as I run I have seen them along the lake. Maybe I should carry my camera with me when I run. Oh well…

Today is October 14, 2011 and I have had my Motorola Droid Bionic for a few days less than 30 days, now. After 18 months I replace my original Motorola Droid with the Bionic. I would have to say, I like it, but…

To be honest with you, there are only a few things that are different between the two. And those few things are what I like about the new Bionic. I like the fact that it’s a lot slimmer and has a larger screen, 4.3 inches qHD display versus 3.7 for the Droid, and The Bionics’ screen is a lot brighter and easier on the eyes, considering I still have to wear my glasses to see it.

Another thing I like about this phone, it’s on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. Don’t ask me what that mean, this is the 21^st century and that’s the way it is for now or until the next incarnation of speed for smartphones come into fruition. I mean this phone is fast. Unlike my old Droid, I downloaded most of my apps; I would have to say more than 25 in about 5 minutes. It would have taken all day at 3G speeds.

One of the killers, it seems, is battery life. I know my old Droid I could charge it up all night, unplug it at 7 a.m. and the charge would last until about 7 p.m. or about 12 hours. Now, that usually amounts to about one 10 minute phone call, a half-hour of games, maybe an hour on the internet, using Wi-Fi and the phone would have been drained. And if I had to go out on the road, let’s say the park, the battery would die by 1p.m.

In the month that I have had my New Bionic, I have taken note, the battery has lasted up to 17 hours and still had 10 percent or more of a charge left. Even out on the road I get a longer battery life. But, now that I think about it, I use my phone over Wi-Fi, because I am retired and five days out of the week I am usually at home. Well, besides going to the gym every day and the supermarket and stuff like that. All in all this is the best battery life I have had on any of the phones I have had in the last, well since I had my first cell phone.

One of the things that just burns my whistle, the camera. There is a noticeable shutter lag, meaning when you push the button you have about a second or two before it takes the picture. Even though it has an 8 megapixel camera versus 5 megapixels for the Droid, I think the pictures look about the same. The quality is very good, if I don’t say so myself. But the lag sometimes causes the pictures to blur, and I don’t think is takes macro photos. Not sure about that, I am going to have to read more about it in the manual. I know my old Droid did.

I read in a review, on Cnet.com, that they were hesitant in recommending the Droid Bionic because of the cost of the phone, which starts at $299.99 with a two-year contract with Verizon. But, I got a bunch of discounts and got my phone for $219.99, not bad. But what really attracted me to this phone, the accessories! I love the fact that it comes with a laptop dock, that’s what turned me on to this phone, but the laptop dock cost $299.99, which is far lower than the laptop dock that comes with ATT’s Atrix which cost $500!

One of the things that I hated about my old Droid, it only had 512MB of ROM and only 256MB of ram, but it did come with a 16GB memory card. The only problem with that, most apps couldn’t be put onto the memory card, so it was short on what apps you could add. I had to delete a lot of apps just to use a newer app. And its slide out keyboard was crappy, I couldn’t type on it to save my life, my fingers were just too big. But, you could use the virtual keyboard, which I liked anyway.

The Droid Bionic doesn’t come with a slide out keyboard, it has a virtual keyboard. What makes it handy it is loaded with Swype another app I love. You can type with one finger using Swype. The Bionic also comes with a 16GB memory card and 16GB of internal memory! I love it! I can add a 32GB card, if I have the money for one, also. But I am fine with what I have so far. I don’t think I have to add more apps. I like what I have now, but there is room, just in case.

So far a better phone, but it, as it seems, probably will change. Every year there is a newer phone on the market that will change everything that I expect in a phone. I have a two year contract so I will be happy with this one for a while. I would guess the only thing that will out do the Droid Bionic will be if they come out with a phone that you wear on your arm with a 3-D image. I can’t wait for that.

What is success?

Someone asked me this question the other day; it's an interesting subject. What is success and what does it means to me? Or as it was put to me, "How do YOU define success? NOT what do you think SOCIETY thinks success is, but deep down in your gut what does the word "success" mean to you?

In reality, I don't know what to tell you on this subject, success. Because I don't and have never been a success, in my eyes. I have lived a truly uneventful life, a linear life. No real big ups, no real big downs. Okay, a couple of ups and downs. Big up, the birth of my children. The big down, finding out I had cancer.

In fact I could even say I am a big scaredy cat. Not in the sense that I run from big bad scary things, that's not me. I will defend myself, help others, if need be and at least try and stand in the face of adversity.

I guess what I mean by me being a scaredy cat, when it comes to starting something, let's says a business, or, a new venture or a job; I get scared and may back down. I say this because every time I start on that road to success I ask myself, why? And take another road so that I don't get burnt along the way.

Now, don't get me wrong, I have lived an exemplary life! I have enjoyed it; I wouldn't change anything I have done. Maybe perfect a few things, a tweak, a tweak there, maybe save a little more, have one more child, a girl; I guess I can forget that now, having another child. I have loved me and my life.

But success for me, fleeting? I wanted to go to medical school, but quit because I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to write but kept saying to myself, I have a job. So, I lost many, many years. Now, at 58 and retired, I can only look to the future and hope I can succeed. Can I be a success? At this point in my life, only God knows.

Looking "deep" into my gut, I can never define "success" because I have never come within reach of it. Have I succeeded in life, well, is that's a different question. To that I can say, still being alive, I have succeeded in life.

I have seen success but it comes with different results. My brother, for instance was head of security for Air Force One, under President Clinton. To me that is a success. My Sister is a surgeon, but it took all of her life to get there, I guess she could be considered a success in her field. But, I know her and she is a mess with everything else in her life. As are quite a few other doctors I know.

Of course there are a lot of people, in the world, who are successes. Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey comes to mind. But, how hard was it for them to obtain that success? Can anyone do what they did to get to where those two are now? There are over 300 million people in this country, but there are only 10% of those who I could consider success (rich?? Wealthy?!). Which doesn't necessary go hand in hand. You don't have to be rich or wealthy to be successful. Or at least in my opinion.

I guess I could go on and on, but I have the feeling that if you asked a target number of people, which is about one percent, you'll probably get a different answer, every time, on what's one persons take on, "what is success and how do they define it".

I have the feeling that success is something that you will have to achieve by yourself. At that point in time you will know. And all that information you have gathered from others may be meaningless because your success will be yours, so different from everyone else.

I am still looking though. I have written a book, had it published and have been trying to sell it for the last year. Book two, another book of poems, is finished and now I have to edit and input it into my computer again. But, those are books of poems. My “success” I hope will come with the books of fiction which are sitting here on my desk and have been for quite some time.

Is success fleeting? If you don’t grab hold of its coat-tails you might make it, if you miss, well…

Valentine's Day

My birthday is coming up in 3 days and I’ll be 58 whole years old, and today is Valentine’s Day. I have been meaning to write about this for a while, so I guess today is just as good as any other day. I have been trying to find things to write about but I didn’t know my life was this boring. Well, actually it isn’t but I do have dry spells every now and then.

I probably will have another boring Valentine’s Day, but it is an overpriced commercially created day. And since I have been divorced for the 20 years, 2 months, 2 days, 4 hours, 53 minutes and a few odd seconds ago, I really haven’t participated.

I was in a doomed relationship from 2002 to 2004. And if I didn’t buy her something I probably would have gotten my head ripped off or have green pea soup spit on me as her head spun around…and in another failed relationship, from 2009 to 2010, I did manage to make it through two Valentine Days.

There was once a question going around and I got asked every so often; the question revolved around as to why I was single. I have quite a few answers and I am going to stick with every one of them, but there are two that really stuck out. The first one is relatively resent. I had a single traumatic episode that occurred in my life in December of 2005. That’s when I found out I had Prostate Cancer.

I had the surgery, the last day of June, 2006, to remove my prostate. I was told that I could have a “normal” sex life after about a year. So, I waited. But, late into 2006 I questioned my Urologist and he told me that a “normal” sex life could only happen if I got an implant or used those blue pill are something like them. But, as it was, nothing worked. Not the blue pills, green pills, yellow or orange pills

This is because; those pills are effective and only work for those who have had other circulatory problems, like diabetes or heart disease. They don’t work if you had your prostate removed. I even got into an argument with a couple of MySpace “friends” because they said that those remedies worked for their friends.

What bothered me was the fact that when I told women that I wanted to get to know them better and the conversation led to sex, I told them my problem and I never heard from them again. I still tell potential suitors and still get the same reaction. So, there is my reason for me still being single.

But, in 2009 I met someone from one of those local online dating services; she was a fantastic person, a very good person. I told her my problem and she accepted it, considering that I found out about those toys I never knew about and were expensive, but my insurance paid for them. But, as with everybody I’ve been with, (I am not perfect by any means), she had a couple of fatal flaws. Besides being a very high maintenance woman, she wanted to be like her daughter and wanted someone to take care of her, which I didn’t mind, but that is a two way street, and it was only going one way, her way. I can say that I had two wonderful Valentine days, though.

I really don’t think I am asking for too much, but I know I was trying too hard to maintain a relationship. I think that started in about 2001 when I met that crazed woman. I didn’t know she was that crazed at the time, but truly found out later. Anyway, I really bent over backward to make her happy and all I did was break my back bending backward. Needless to say, that was a relationship that was doomed from the beginning.

Everyone after that I tried being super, way too nice with. I think that was my downfall because I had to keep a clamp on my lips, sit on my hands anything I could from not blowing up at the things women did to “please” their man. The last relationship was the killer. I just couldn’t do it anymore, be with someone who had their own best interest in mind.

I guess being retired and having a fixed income didn’t help either. But the more I looked into myself I could see that it also didn’t help that I remembered what had happened to my parents. I didn’t want to go through what they did, “for the sake of the children”, per se.

Since I retired I have seen the light, stopped to smell the roses, calmed down, enjoyed life and found peace of mind, I am at peace with myself. I will not let someone come into my life and destroy what took me 53 years to finally figure out and the last five years enjoying it.

My mother was a strong woman; she stood up for herself and her children. During those turbulent times my parents argued day in and day out and I think that took something out of me. I refused to argue with that crazed woman; she told me that all people “need” to argue, her shrink mentioned that to her, I wasn’t going to do that.

In my younger years I was a strong man, kind of arrogant, stubborn, hard-headed, big-headed, and superior, or at least in my own mind I was. I guess it took marriage and two sons to slow me down, but my marriage lasted only 10 years. I took in all that I was doing wrong and tried to make myself into a new person.

That’s when all the “stuff” hit the fan and I had to find out what I was doing wrong. I had come to the conclusion that I was doing nothing wrong or right for that matter, I was just picking the wrong women.

So now I sit here writing about Valentine’s Day, or lack thereof, for me, on this sanctimonious day.

I enjoy my life now, and the people I associate with and my friends and everything about it. There is a lot more to me; I’m like an onion, many layers and have figured out that it’s hard to open up and peel some of those layers away. I would like to say I blame my parents for that, but…I know me, I know what I need to do…And to be honest, I really don’t think I can do it again because everyone is different and want different things in their lives.

I’ve realized one thing, as of late, it’s better to be single than to be in a wrong relationship. And I now see that I am happier for it. **Smile!**

Movie Night

Today is February 3, 2011 and there are 13 more days until my birthday. But that isn’t why I am writing today, I am also a movie buff. I love quite a few different genres of movies. Well, not in the sense of those I have seen who have thousands and thousands of movies in their collection or have memorized every word or scene of a movie. No, that’s not me, close but no cigar.

But I do have a bunch of movies; I am guessing about 200 DVDs and 400 or so Video tapes, and now, 10 Blu-Ray discs. I love Dramas, Adventure and my Favorite, Science Fiction! I have quite a few based in science fiction. But I welcome all movies. And with my new 55 inch HDTV and new Blu-Ray player watching movies are a dream. Not going get a 3D TV any time soon, though, even though the Blu-Ray player is 3D ready.

Today was one of those days where I felt I didn’t want to do much of anything. It was either take a long nap or watch a movie. I did end up taking a nap earlier, but that was during the news. I wanted to be awake to watch Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, later tonight. Thanks goodness the Pistons or the Red Wings are not playing tonight, or for that matter Michigan State or Michigan. Heck, the Pistons lost last night anyway.

Anyway, I decided to pop in The Green Mile. I hadn’t watched in a long time, even though I have on tape, I recently brought in on DVD. So, I am talking about quite a few years, since I saw the movie. I think it is one of my all time great movies to watch. I have a bunch of great movies, in fact all of those I have are great, and that’s why I brought them.

But, the Green Mile is special. It is one of the only movies that I get tears in my eyes. I feel for the character, played by Michael Clark Duncan. It gets me every time. One of the things I think of when I watch that movie, “Why can’t I write like that?”

I guess I gotta stop taking days off from my writing and get to stepping! Cuz, I will never write like Stephen King, (I don’t want to be like him or write like him, I want my own words to stand up for themselves) if I don’t write. I won’t forget that tomorrow, and I have a bunch to write before I go to bed tonight. Write on!

A Friend in need...?

Whoever says Friendship is easy has obviously never had a true friend!"

- Bronwyn Polson

I take my friendships seriously, and always will. A few of my friends have been friends since high school. In fact, I was browsing through some photos that I found in a box in the basement. I noticed a particular photo of a friend that I hadn’t seen since that photo was taken in 1975; he disappeared, as far as I knew.

When I saw that photo of him and his mother, I did a search on the good old Internet and found his name online. I sent him an email and about a month later I got an answer. He had left for New York to join a singing group, The Platters, and has been with them ever since. We have been talking ever since, reminiscing all of the things we did with our small group of friends way back in the late 60s and early 70s.

With the inception of the Internet and social media like MySpace, Facebook and the first network I joined, Black Planet, friends are a dime a dozen. Back when I joined MySpace, at its height, with me, I got up to a little over 1,000 friends, internet friends. Of course I didn’t know any of those folks. I came to the conclusion that people were just looking for other people to be friends just to boost their numbers.

Years later, I decided to drive across the country, I was going to two bowling tournament on both ends of the country. I put in a note, on MySpace, the direction I was going and where I would be during my drive so I could meet those who wanted to meet me. And those I met are now good friends.

This brings me to my story of friends. I have a friend; I sometimes think he is a friend, sometimes it’s too close to call. He and I have known each other since the 80s, because we worked together, in the same building, but different shifts. But, since there was only the two of us we worked overtime, on Saturdays, together. We did that for a good 10 years or so.

I like a lot about this friend of mine, easy going kind of guy. A short, stout, fireplug type of guy. He was fast to give out money to women he met, even though he was married, then brag to me about it. What stood out about him was that, as he would tell it, he stopped going to school when he was about 8 years old, living in Mississippi and moved in with an aunt, up north. During his life he learned to make money collecting junk and turning it in to cash.

Knowing him now, I would have to say, on paper, he might be worth three quarters of a million dollars, on paper. He complains about all the money he doesn’t have, but will go out and buy something, expensive, and tell me what he just purchased. I know he has five houses, here in Michigan and a couple in Mississippi, all of which he paid cash for. He has about 13 or more cars, quite a few new and a lot older classic models, including, which I would love to buy from him and restore myself, a 1931 Ford.

Anyway, on one of my trips to California, for a cancer seminar, and on my return I stopped at his place. I miscalculated the amount of money I had, because gasoline was over $4 a gallon, and was running out. I had about 1,000 miles left to go and figured I wasn’t going to make it home. So, I asked him and borrowed $100 to get home.

At that point in my life I knew I was going to run out of money sooner or later, as I had retired, a couple of years before, and I knew I would have to find a job or write and sell a book or something to get by. Consider, my 401 had crashed, lost my stocks and the cash I had helped save my house, leaving with no more reserves.

Things got worse for me in the year or so that followed and I had a hard time finding some extra to pay him back. Prior to that time, the loan, we had talked just about every day, just talked and I mean for at least an hour or so. He retired the year before I did and we kept in touch. After the loan he stopped calling and when I called he was busy or had something to do or whatever. The calls got shorter and then non-existent. For a whole year I hear nothing from him, not even a Christmas card, which was the first time I didn’t get one from him.

This past December I got a bonus from my former company, (a total surprise to me). So, I sent him a Christmas card with a C-note inside. I called him and told him to look for the letter I sent. Well, he got the card about Christmas time and he called to tell me he received it. Now, since he got the cash back he has called me at least 6 times. In fact, he called today and we talked for a good hour, general stuff. Go figure.

Never in my life have I ever wanted to take advantage of anyone, ever. That’s just not my way. Some friendships are hard and trust is even harder to get. I work hard to get both, sometimes I work way to hard and I have to say it can backfire, sometimes, especially if I am trying to make something work with a, let’s say, a girlfriend. But, that’s another story I’m about to write about.

I am glad we are chatting again. I guess the lesson I learned is; the richest man in the world is not the one who still has the first dollar he ever earned. It's the man who still has his best friend. Even better; it is better in times of need to have a friend rather than money.

...and the horse says I am a pain in the ass?

I know this sounds like I am beating dead horse to death, but, I still have a pain in my butt. The same pain I have had for a couple of weeks, and I just figured out why it still hurts and what I have to do to make it go away.

A couple of weeks ago I was exploring my new Blu-ray player and noticed a lot of junk they added to it so people can peruse the extensive junk for a greater viewing pleasure. So, I decided to check out their junk, for my viewing pleasure.

One of the things there is, How to do…things. One of those, how to do things, was exercise, specifically, running up and down the stairs. Well, since it has been snowing out, lately, I have been trying to figure out something to do to keep my figure in shape, (if round is a shape, then I am in perfect shape!). So, I watched it and got the idea, which is what I need to do on cold winter days.

I guessed I could have done this in my sleep, so I set my timer for 20 minutes and preceded to run up the stairs and

At a quick pace and walk back down, just like in the video. Eight minutes in, I was huffing and puffing and had to stop. I sat down and could not get back up. Well, that ended my running up and down the stairs for that week.

Anyway, I tried running the stairs again this weekend, this time I was going to only do 10 minutes and go a little slower. That is when I figured out where the pain in my butt came from. And it’s been hurting ever since, but really only when I sit down and remain seated for over, two minutes. But, the more I think about it that pain is more about what happened a few years ago.

Yes, I am in all kinds of pain, literally and figuratively. This pain, in my butt, kind of got started a little after June 2, 2009. That's the day, when I was playing softball and I was doing well. I had just gotten a single and was standing on first base, (who’s on first?). The person behind me hit a ground ball to the second baseman. I ran to second but the second baseman was standing in my path.

What I did was plant my foot, so I could spin out of his way, but, my foot stayed planted and as I turned I heard pop and felt the most excruciating pain in my hamstring muscle. I went down and grabbed my leg, and when I straightened it the pain kicked in. What made the whole scene, in my mind, as I rolled on the ground in pain, so funny, the guy came to me and tagged me out. He looked at me and said, “You’re out!” If I could have stood up I would have...

A few days later, my life of pain flashed before me. Being retired it kind of gave me pause to reflect on my, well, not really a painful life, considering...I was a rough and tumble kid. My brothers and I had the reputation of jumping from tall building, able to leap around playgrounds and look, up in the sky, sitting on rooftops, it’s the Green boys.

Yes, I remember doing a lot of crazy kid things, falling off of things, jumping from second story houses onto mattress’s, climbing flag poles and jumping from garage roof-tops to the next garage roof-top. Luckily I never broke anything. We did things like, having firecracker fights, pouring gasoline into sewers and ROTFLMAO at the results. Walking on the tops of fences, I fell once but bounced back up with no problem.

As a kid I don't remember ever getting hurt, not once, really bad. Oh I had scrapes and scratches and stuff like that, but never where there was the amount of pain I had on June 2, 2009! I do remember, as I grew older things started to fall off and I had to have surgery to repair or remove those body parts. But, the pain was not as intense, any of those times.

I do remember when I had my tonsils taken out; I think I was about 24 years old, at the time. Anyway, when I got home from the hospital, and no, I wasn't given any ice cream, and like an idiot I went out jogging the next day. I was in pain for a few days after that. Again, not a painful as that warm, and mild day in June of 2009.

Throughout my life, I have had seven, elective, surgeries. Well, one of them wasn't and that was the day I had my prostate out. I remember the pain of those days, but it still wasn't as bad as, well, you know, that day in June.

Pain is relative, absolutely. As I sit here typing I have a slight ping in my left butt cheek, my neck, my ear...I have had three ear infections January of 2010. This one is going away without antibiotics, this time, I am doing well, and it’s getting better, abet the pain, in the butt…

I just realized that I can't always be in pain. I did the pain thing, way back when, to get attention from women. And it worked. I can't do that now. That's because I used to and still do play a lot of sports. Still playing racquetball, softball, bowling, jogging, weight-lifting, and skiing. So, my muscles still twinge every now and then. My girlfriend, on the other hand has no sympathies for me at all, none what so ever. When I go over to her apartment, on Tuesday after racquetball, I am usually humped over, racked with pain, well, just a little. I usually take a Motrin and I am fine in the morning. And that usually last, the pain, until I get home. But, no sympathies from her. Now, she says I am just whining no matter how much pain I may be in. Geez!

I just decided that I would never be in pain, around her again. And, as I remember, when I was way younger, I use to meditate and got good at it to the point I was never in pain or for that matter, never sick. I would also think positive thoughts and “Voila” no pain.

I bet you didn't know, but I hadn't caught a cold in about 10 years until about 1993 or so, when I was talking to a youngster, about 5 or 6, and he sneezed right into my face! Buggers and all! The next week, on a ski trip to Vail I was sick as a guy with a cold! I was really bad for the first few days, but hey, lift tickets are expensive and I still got three days of skiing in.

Now that I think about it, I have had three colds since 1993 and two of them were in 2010. I have to get back into positive thoughts, especially for pain!

Ouch, I just felt a twinge of pain in my shoulder when I reached for my glass of water. Oh well, somebody is telling me something. I'd better listen! No pain is all gain!

Writing life

Sometimes I can’t believe some of the things I have done with my writing life over the years and never falling through on them. Case in point, 20 or so years ago I was a prolific writer, but as a reporter. This is where my degree is in, journalism. But, back in the day, I use to have these strange dreams; mostly all of it was science fiction.

In those dreams, this was, to me, it was like watching a movie. The next day I would write it down and then, later would outline it on a 3x5 card.

Since the first of last year I have been writing screenplays, mostly science fiction. And I have finished two and have started on my third, to which I am into 14 pages so far.

Yesterday I was taking my daily nap and I had a dream. I really didn’t think much about it. But today, as my nap started, that dream started again. This time I ran with it and tried to see what could become of it. After I woke up I tried to flesh out and see how much more I could move it along.

So, I got up and went to the computer and typed a two page synopsis of a possible script. I like it, so now I am, after I finish the current one, going to start on it, my forth.

Now, what does this have to do with the 3x5 index cards? Well, I remember that I had an index card box down in the basement, languishing somewhere collecting dust. So, I went into my spare office and found that box. Inside were quite a bit of ideas, children stories, when my children were younger and many, many other stories. And about 40 ideas for science fiction stories.

I went through them and see that I had some good story ideas but never did anything with them. I mean, I did have four finished short stories, and one finished novel, which had the dates of each finished chapter, starting at February 2, 1987. Then it was at 30,000 words. I finished it with about 60,000 words. I would love to add 40 more thousand word to it.

So now I have plenty of ideas to go on. As I had made a resolution, to write and get those stories published, this year, I now have plenty of work on. The main thing is to write! You can’t be a writer if you don’t write. And as I have written I have noticed that those dream movies have started again, just like way back in the 60s, 70s, and the 80s!

As I looked through my collection of idea cards I came across one card that I couldn’t believe I outlined. On it were several sentences. I had written; a man works for a government agency and is a spy. Then; a woman works for the government and is a spy. Both agencies want to kill them both. Interesting to say the least. I guess had I finished the entire story, I might have written a book and called it MR AND MRS SMITH.

Not saying that would have been the name of it, but my premise is the basis of that movie that came out in 2006 by that name. Of course anyone can have an idea and ideas are free.

Another thing that has helped is this blog that I have writing for on Mr. Fred Said and MySpace. I had another blog in 2005, but I think I only posted one blog there. Now, I kind of don’t know what to say here, but I will just kind of write about what has happened that day or week or anything special that I feel can or should write about... My life is truly dull so I can’t write about that.

But, as long as I am writing every day that will work for me in the long run. As a retiree I must do something. I have volunteered some time to the Prostate Cancer Coalition of Michigan. And I have been, the past few years, writing PSAs, public service ads and designing their flyers and brochures. This is part of that business that I started and also have to get moving on it.

As my business gets going, I am also planning to buy into a franchise. This is franchise is based in publishing. They help with the advertising, I just have to change the mast and they provide those Visa and MasterCard readers. Plus advice on getting my web site up and running, which I will get going...soon.

I guess the only thing I really have to work on, is the fact that I am still lazy when it come to proofreading. I have gone over a few of my blogs and noticed that I have passed over words, for instance, red for read. Simple stuff. Or I’m just way too lazy! I figure the more I write and the more I pay attention I will not have to worry about proofreading as much. But I still have to proofread everything just go get it right!

Aches and pains...

In a little less than a month from now I will be 58 years old! My son told me a couple of years ago that, when I was going to hit 55, he answered; “Awesome!” That kind of surprised me, to say the least. And the more I thought about it, it sounded right to me. I am wondering, now, if it’s as awesome as it was 3 years ago.

And the more I think about it, I don’t feel 58. I remember when I was younger I noticed that a lot of older people just looked and acted old. My father was one of those people. Now, I am not saying that old people are old just because they have a certain amount of age on them. Age is just a number (I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard this.)

I do remember that my father complained of so many aches and pains, this hurt, and that hurt. But I have done ten times the amount of things in, let’s say, the last four years than my father did in his life time! Of course I don’t know what he did as a youngster, or his early manhood. But, in my lifetime I have done a lot.

And yes, I do have those occasional aches and pains and I attribute those to all the things that I have done in my life and they are catching up with me, today. Early on, I played football, pitched in high school, even played racquetball in my early years, thanks to the YMCA being next door to my house. And of course, you have to participate in gym class, early on. Though, I played more Chess in my early years, I was still athletic.

And throughout my life I still played softball, and ran quite a bit. I would have to say, then, I was running about five miles a day. And I ran two half-marathons. I don’t run as often as I would like. I still love running, but the “old” body doesn’t like it. I am in the process of re-training myself to run again. As of about a month or so ago I could do a half a mile before I conked out. Not really from getting tired, winded, but since 2006, after retirement, (AR), I have been getting shin splints, not all the time but enough to know the pain.

But as of today and most of last week, it has been cold and slippery. It was about nine degrees this morning and I think it’s about 15 now. And my street is a sheet of ice! And I fell a couple of months ago on a sheet of ice! I will wait until some sort of thaw comes, during this global warming thing. Heck it’s supposed to rain tomorrow, then the temp will drop into the single digits on Wednesday.

And I mean painful shin splints! Hopefully by the spring and a new pair of running shoes, I will be running again, I will be walking until then. But, really, all my life I have played through the pain. That was just me. I can’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t let things get me down! I remember, some time ago, in my mid-twenties I had my tonsils removed. When I got home, the very next day I went out and ran. Of course, later I was so sick I was forced to bed rest. And that has happened to me often, during my life.

And, I guess, the worst was in 2006. That year I had my prostate removed. I was laid up for several weeks. I couldn’t really do anything, considering I had a catheter inserted for 10 days. After it was removed I did get up and around, but I also laid around more often than not. In August of that same year I had to have my knee repaired, because of one of those gym things I shouldn’t have done.

At the beginning of September, in 2006, bowling started and in October racquetball started. And I was as sure as heck I wasn't going to be left out. I remember feeling spent, but I participated anyway. By December, my elbow was hurting so bad I had to quit both bowling and racquetball and started therapy in January.

Aches and pains. They are a matter of life, I would have to say. I hear my oldest son complain more often than not about what is hurting him. More than my father did! And he’ll be 31 this year. To top it off, I have been hearing a lot of my generation complain of aches and pains. But I ain’t mad at em. Some pains are genetics and other are because of accidents. Hey, S*it happens.

Aches and pains. You know, as I sit here and type, I have a pain in my butt! Really, I do. The one thing I hated about my job, before I retired, was that I sat a lot, way too much and that hour to work and that two hour commute home didn’t help much at all. Now, my butt hurts when I sit, so I either have to stand or lay down when I watch TV.

But, I really can’t say that as fact. Think about it…what am I doing right now? I mean, though, I have been washing cloths, so I have to get up every now and then. But I have to do that or my butt talks to me!

Aches and pains…gosh, I remember, I was in the gym, as of 2006, for at least 4 hours a day. And to offset those pains I was taking about 800 milligrams of Motrin a day! But those were good pains. Pains that were telling me that I was doing something right with my body. Because it wasn’t like that every day. Some days I just felt downright great! Other days…ouch.

I have never really been out of touch with my body. Well, I guess that’s not really true. I have had my ups and downs. I remember when I got married, the second time, I was weighing about 155 pounds and bench pressing 300 pounds! By the end of that marriage I weighted in at 280!

Then, it was easy to take the weight off. Besides I was fasting four times a year for at least one week per fast. And during those fasts I was still running at least 2 miles a day! Now, my fasts have taken a turn. Not for the worst, but I can forget it if I want to work out. Heck, I get tired just going up the stairs when I am fasting. I usually feel good after the fast though. I just have to keep up as I did when I was younger.

Oh yeah…aches and pains. The list goes on. But, I play through them. I have to. I really don’t want moss to grow on my butt from lack of movement and I don’t mean bowel movement!

OUCH! I just got up to go to the bathroom and now my back is hurting! Too much sitting? Maybe…but I have to go on. No complaints here, kind of.

Yeah, 58 years old. Heck, it’s just a number. You are only as old as you think, etc… life has to go on…blab, blab, blab. I am guessing that there will be more aches and pains as I get older, I will have to learn to live with em, I guess though, and you can’t live without em! Go figure.

Racquetball anyone? I’ll race ya! Okay, how about a nice quiet game of chess, poker, anyone up to it, pains and all?

My book, my book, to finish or not to finish...

Today was one of those days, heck, a really beautiful kind of day. I figure that any day I wake up is a beautiful day. Funny thing about this day, though, this past weekend it rained and rained a lot, and got up to about 50 degrees. Now, today, it was something different, it snowed early this morning. I wanted to get out and do my two mile walk at 10 a.m. I knew I had to get out because I was getting edgy; I hadn’t been out since December 11 because it snowed and the snow stuck around until...this weekend rain.

The snow was fresh, meaning no one walked on it yet. But, when I got to the end of the block, it looked like a parade of footprints. Anyway, I did my walk and as I was a half a mile away, the sun came out. So, I figured that I would shovel the snow when I got back. To which I did. A couple of hours later, it snowed again.

Oh well, thank goodness I put salt down in a few places. Then, out of the blue, the sun came out again and the snow melted. That was about 6 hours ago, I haven’t looked out so I don’t really care right now, tomorrow is another day and I need the exercise.

A few of my, so-called resolutions was to eat right again, keep up the exercise and write and keep writing. Today is day ONE, of the eating right part. Okay so I am late, better late than never. It really helped when I was watching the news and they mentioned an app that you can record your dietary intake and exercise. I downloaded it, yesterday, and started using it today. It said I only need 2100 calories per day to lose one pound per week. I only ate about 1500 calories today, and that was fine. I still feel hungry, I mean really, really hungry, but I plan to get over that. I guess, when you write things down it really works. And there is an app for that.

The third “resolution”, I have been working on a screenplay for the last 6 months, but it was sitting there collecting dust. When I finished it I came to the conclusion that it’s too short. Only 79 pages, so I have been stuck on it for all of this time, I have to have more than 90 pages, 90 being the minimum. One of the things I am going to do is finish this screenplay and then, of course, start on my second. What popped into my head, yesterday, got me thinking. I had given my script to a couple of friends, one in California and he gave it to a couple of producers. He said they liked it, but that was over four years ago.

So, I am going to have to do something drastic and that is what got me thinking…Why don’t I finish it and put it up for auction on eBay? Starting price; $10,000. Then I can see what happens. Hey it’s a start, and I gotta start somewhere. If, and I mean, IF, that works out, I have finished another screenplay, short also, that one will be the next on up for auction.

In any case, I need to do some research and find an agent or a studio that can use my kind of script, Science fiction. I have a bunch of stories to finish, either as novels or scripts and the short stories are just sitting there, before me, ready to go.

This, this part of my blog, will help me transition into the story's. So, I am going to see how much of this blog I can write and keep it up.

I don’t make resolutions, notwithstanding, but I did, nonetheless. I decided I needed to get up off my butt and get my business up and moving this year. Last year I went out and got a lot of equipment, paper and some ink and was ready to go. This year I am going to get a web page and hopefully, my friend’s sister will help me with marketing. But, she has been giving me the run-around.

I also plan on buying into a franchise. A publishing franchise, it’s relatively inexpensive, but it’s an end to my means. And they help with the advertising, which is helpful! Of course that means the end of watching TV all day long and of course most of the night, too, sports notwithstanding! It’s been four days and I have stayed on course, kind of, with those silly resolutions. (Heck, I just say, do it? Hmmmmm, where have I heard that before??)

Anyway, nothing much is happening in my part of the world. My son called me today and told me he was going out to sea again, next week, this time for 60 days. Hitting all of the fun spots, south of the border and parts in-between. Gosh, sometimes I wish I had joined the Navy, way back when. But, then I would have missed out working like a slave, decking transmissions on the assembly line.