Resolutions 2022

 

It’s January 1, 2022, and I guess it’s that time everyone, well, maybe not me, per se, sit down and write their resolutions for the year. Or the things they are really not going to do. Most people do and most people don’t.

I, on the other hand, don’t write resolutions; I just try to do whatever is needed for the year or forever. However… I am going to write something out and try to stick with it for the year and as long as needed. Meaning, finish my novel and the three others that I planned (in my head), fleshed out over the last two year. The sad thing, I never put any of it on paper (computer).

So, here they be… I started writing my novel, MAROONED, in 2018, well; I finished it then, too. But, I haven’t edited it as of today. The first thing I will do.

2. In the past two years I came up with part II of the Marooned story, Revenge. I started writing it in November of 2019 and had written 17,000+ words. I then kind, of gave up. I did manage to write a list of characters and story line. I will finish it this year; I know where, what direction the story goes.

3. Also, during this downtime, I came up with another story, or part III to my Marooned story. I have the title written down somewhere, maybe a thumb drive upstairs in my office… heck let me check. IBB in a sec… Geez, I have the story on a thumb drive and not my old office computer. I am going to have to put it on this computer. But wait, I am only going to write on my blog on this “new” computer and my novel on the computer in my office. Anyway, I digress…

The story, part III is called “Redemption”. I did manage to give a slight outline of the story, and it is fleshed out in my mind. I just have to get it out, this year.

So those are the three main things I will be working on in the year 2022. Of course, I will be trying to write on my blog again. The last time I wrote for my blog, was 2019, and only one piece, in January of 2019. Now, also, during that time I did manage to write pieces for my blog but never published them so I have quite few things to publish, if I so desire.

Moreover, I did think of a few more stories, of course they are still in my storage area, my mind, but they are clear as day. I just have to outline them and work on them.

4. I have over 400 books in storage. I was selling them on an off-shoot of EBay, until it closed down. And for some odd reason I cannot find the inventory list of the books. So, I am going to have to go down there and write down the names of the book, and type them into this computer so I can sell them, again, this time on EBay.

5. I can’t think of any more resolutions that would require my attention, at the moment. Well, maybe, just continue having the fun I had in 2019, you know, like, camping, hiking, biking, kayaking, backpacking, stuff like that. In 2021 I only did, most of the above, 600+ miles, down from 2300 in 2018.

Anyway, Happy New Year. Be Happy in 2022!

 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It starts all over again, January 1, 2022. I plan to make it a great day! 

All of that Newfangle Smart Stuff...

Alexa Dot second gen

I have concluded that some of these newfangled smart sh*t thingies, I own, kind of sucks! I have no problems with 98% of the electronic gear I own, but it’s that 2% percent that has me pulling my hair out. So far I have seven Alexa devices, one Spot, two Alexa Show’s, three, second gen Dot’s and one third gen Dot. What bugs me, they are, or so it would seem going deaf, or they just act like they are deaf.

It kind of bugs me that, when watching TV, and someone on a, particular, show will announce the “wake word”, and my Alexa, in the Kitchen will wake up. (I changed all but the Kitchen and upstairs bathroom to another wake word). That is over four meters away from the TV! I have to yell and tell it to shut the… 

On the other hand, I have a second gen Dot, several centimeters away, next to my couch, as I watch TV. I give it a command and, nothing! I have to repeat it twice, most times, and she will tell me, she has no idea or can’t help. I then have to ask Google for an answer. But, I digress…

I have no problems with the lights, the doors and the other 30 or so items I have installed throughout the house, but... I installed a light switch (relay, hub) in my kitchen 2 years ago. It's now DEAD! In fact, the bottom load died after 1 year, 1 month 10 days after I purchased it. 40 days past the warranty. I had to rewire the thing to get it to work, then. I called the company and they told me it was defective, but wouldn’t do anything about it.

On the other hand, I purchased a couple of light switches a few months back but couldn't figure out where to put them, considering, I purchased connected bulbs in 98% of my lights, just because they were on sale, 2 for $30, a steal as far as light switches go, it was an impulsive buy, kind of thing.

 

Funny thing, I have electronic gear that, some of them are over 30 years old and, still work! I am beginning not to trust this new stuff...electronic smart stuff. Most are WAY too expensive and seem like they don't last long and most only have ninety day warranties, a few with one year warranties. Meaning, IMO the manufacturer doesn't trust their stuff.

For instance, I want to open my blinds via Alexa, open in the mornings and close at night. I have 6 blinds that I would like for this to happen to. It just happens that, now, the blind motors now cost $150 a piece! Heck, to buy a motor to open my door wall, that one motor cost $250! That would seem like, it’s not going to happen in the near future, maybe, and I just might have to buy them one at a time. I shall see…

Anyway, my Kitchen light works, now...let me test..."Alexa, turn on the Kitchen Lights." Lights on.  So far so good.

Entertaining Disney+

I had the chance to check out The Disney+ channel last night. There were no problems considering, the initial rollout caused problems earlier on in the east coast, but I digress. It just occurred to me that I have the expensive, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Comcast/Xfinity and a few other sites that I rent movies from, if I want.

I was not totally impressed with the new channel only because, I have Plex, hoping to get Plex plus later when my Comcast/Xfinity contract runs out, next year.

Why am I not impressed, as I mentioned, above, I have over 400 movies on my Plex and almost, but not all, are from the Marvel Universe, and I have all of the Star Wars movies. Science Fiction is a main stay for me. In addition, I have about a hundred movies on Vudu.com.

I usually purchase a movie, once a month on that site. I also buy a “free” movie, every other month on Google Play, (taking surveys on their site gets you a small amount of “cash”, usually as small as ten cents and as large as seventy cents.).

I would like to cut out a lot of these services, just to save money, if and when, I cut the cord to Comcast. I have figured out how to add movies to my Plex collection and that works for me. If anything, I wish I could add my VHS collection to Plex, also. I have approximately 300 VSH movies, all the oldies, but goodies!

Is Disney+ worth it, for me to watch just one show, The Mandalorian? The same with Netflix, there are only three shows I watch, weekly. In addition, now that I think about it, I subscribe to HBO and, there are only three shows, I watch, weekly. Are they all worth the price, of course not? However, sitting around, day after day, doing nothing but sipping coffee, by day, and beer, by night, I have to have an outlet and stay entertained.

Will I get Disney+? That remands to be seen. The future, of course, can never be promised.

Kayaking weekend, The Epic Fail...

The weekend. I had an epic day, kayaking on the Huron River, yesterday. A total first, of sorts, for me this year. For one thing, it was a beautiful, even though; it was predicted to thunderstorm early and late, Saturday. It didn’t happen. Yes, it was warm but it was cooler on the water. Just about blue skies for the rest of the day I was on the water.

On the other hand, the epic part…I flipped my kayak. That is the first time that has ever happened since I’ve owned a kayak and before. There were a series of cascades, if I remember correctly, five, cascades along the river, very fast moving. You just needed to lean back and put your paddle over your head and ride out the fast moving current.

What was kind of troubling, the waters, along the way, were filled with Tubers, especially kids in tubes and they really were in the way, most of the times and you hated to run in to one of them. So, you kind of had to go around a couple of time until they went down. And of course, other kayakers and folks in those tandem kayaks who thought they had the right of way, even if you were in the way.

On the very last cascade, some woman, I had to reckon, was inexperienced, decided to just rush past me, as I was a few meters from the mouth of the cascade. Of course, I couldn’t stop or I would have gone in sideways and probably flipped anyway. As she went over, and the last one was the steepest, she managed to turn right, I had no choice but to go left.

As I leaned, (bad move) to my left I hit a bunch of rocks and flipped. I came out of the kayak and was pushed a couple meters further out. The water was about a meter and a half deep and I was totally under my kayak. I opened my eyes, looking up through the greenish water and noticed that my gear was still in the kayak, considering it was upside down.

I managed to stand up…I heard someone calling my name and then saying, “Come to me”. But, I was in a mild panic, more kayaker were zooming past me as I pushed my way towards a rocky incline. I finally sat down and surveyed my circumstance. I have carried a Kayak pump with me, ever since I purchased my kayak, six years prior, and started to pump the water out. Five minutes later, 99% of the water was out.

I had placed my camera on the deck of my kayak, because it was pressed between my body and my lifejacket, but it was still soaked. When I finished pumping, I couldn’t find my camera. About 20 centimeters under the water was my camera. I knew it was dead! I had taken some 45 pictures on it and the pictures were stored on a card. I knew they would be okay, but the camera was another thing.

Someone gave me that 3^rd generation camera, a couple of years ago, right after I had dropped my first generation camera in to a bucket of water. I still have that shell of a camera, but it has never worked again.  Anyway, I also noticed that the plastic, Zip-loc bag, was slightly opened. In the bag was my old cell phone, which I only use to take pictures and a brand new 10,000 mAh battery. They too were soaked.

What made that so bad, the old camera, cell phone, which was a rugged camera and waterproof, was missing the tabs that kept the water out. It too was dead. It too had the remaining, “action” pictures on it, plus, hundreds of other pictures, (of course backed-up). But, these pictures couldn’t be backed-up because, I would need a Wi-Fi source, to which none was available at the time. Lost pictures? 

When I got home, I put all three of my devices in a large plastic bag filled with rice. I hope that works. I read that takes about 24 to 36 hours to find out. Eight more hours to go.

Anyway, I wasn’t the worse for wear. I did manage to scrape my shin; I now have a two centimeter scar. My only fear, though, Flesh-eating bacteria! Everything in the world, (from what I hear on the news and from FB) scares me…a lot! So far, nothing is eating me from the outside, though, I have a strange red spot on my hand. And, I did get a mouthful of water and my sinuses are still feeling funny, not laughable funny, but strange funny.  I guess I gotta wait and see.

Other then all of that, I still had a great and wonderful day on the river. I'm going out next week with another group to a local river that I heard has finally been cleaned up!

I did manage to put a small, outdoors, waterproof camera in my wish list on Amazon. It really isn’t in my budget right now…I have to get some new biking gloves and a couple tires from my bike, first.

 As for me, I’ve figured out that if round is a shape, I am in shape! Tell that to my back, as it stiffened up as I got out of bed this morning! The Motrin has helped a little, though…and this coffee did wonders too!

I am writing, really...

Oh well, I did it again. As I was sitting here writing, earlier, I got up to get a glass of water. I noticed that the cat’s did a big stinky, so I decided to clean out the cat’s litter box. Since the box, where I throw the used litter was full, I took the bag out and after I was finished and put it into a trash can, out in the garage.

I opened the garage door to get a breath of fresh air and decided to go and get the mail. Back inside, I decided to vacuum the carpet and move a couple of runners around to a newer spot. By that time, I decided that it was time to take a nap.

Now that I think about it, I forgot my water, which is still on the kitchen counter. I am going to have to learn how to focus, again. Why you ask? Because I am writing this and I just realized, the baseball game is on. I might as well grab a beer and some peanuts and relax.

The Cat Logic of Tom and Jerry

Jerry

Cat Logic: Every morning I give my cats,Tom and Jerry, a half can of cat food. Jerry wolfs his down in minutes. Tom, on the other hand, nibbles and comes back later. Later, Jerry eats the rest of Tom's food.

Tom

Sometimes I give them both an entire can of cat food. Again Jerry gobbles most of it, quickly. 5:00 pm...there is still half a can of food in their bowls. I just throw it out and give them Kibbles and bits... Tom will then scream at me for several minutes. Cats, what are they...

Today I am going to...

Goals for today:

·        Edit at least 30 pages of my, soon to be finished and published, novel, “Marooned”.

·        Start reading this novel, “Liar, Liar”, by James Patterson, I picked up at the Library yesterday. I want to see if I can at least read 100 pages today.

·        Start writing “Revenge”, part 2, a continuation of “Marooned”. Yesterday, I stared at a blank page for a couple of hours trying to figure out how to start. There are three stories within the novel. Last night I couldn’t sleep, so I started dreaming on an opening. I will see how that goes when I start later today.

In Actuality:

·        I have to vacuum all the carpets today. I usually vacuum every Sunday. And with the cats starting to shed and since I have been using Kitty litter that the cats have been tracking all through the house, it’s getting messy faster, as of late.

·        I have to wash another load of clothes today, and fold up the clothes I washed yesterday. Knowing me, those clothes would stay in the closet until I need some clean PJs, or something.

·        The college basketball game starts at 3:30 today, The University of Michigan Vs. Michigan State! A must watch for me. I went to U of M, and usually root for the Wolverines. But, State has beaten “M”; twice this year…I am divided on who will win. Heck, I will take the…

·        Oh yeah, gotta wash the dishes from last night and breakfast, this morning. Plus, the lunch dishes, to which, I haven’t eaten as of 11 am today.

·        I gotta, really, really, take a nap today. I know I probably will sleep through the game. I know me, only because, I was awake at 1 am, trying to think of a way to start my story, this morning and I didn’t work out or do my daily walk, today. Issues, issues, issues.

I can’t think of anything else that needs to done or worked on today. I am going to try and do everything mentioned, above, somehow. I have to stay busy or else…longer naps!

Working on editing my 2nd draft, I noticed I needed some coffee and a snack. No snacks, so I went to the store got some donuts and chips to help me edit. While I was out, I stopped at the Library and got a couple of movies and a book, Stephen King's "From a Buick 8". When I got back, made the coffee and noticed that the cats tracked litter from their box onto the carpet. So, now I have to vacuum. It's now 3:25 pm. I don't need any more distractions, got ta get off of FB too!

Tom and Jerry...

I'm starting to hate my cats(not really, but...) At 7am I give them a half a can of food. Jerry gobbles it down in minutes. Tom nibbles at it. But, Jerry sneaks back and finishes both bowls. At 9am I went to get a second cup of coffee(each cup is 3 cups, it's a large cup), and Tom followed me into the kitchen and started screaming at me as he sat next to his bowl. I noticed that both bowl were empty. So, I got another can out and gave him two thirds of a can. 11am, Toms bowl is still full. Why do I listen to him in the first place. Funny thing though, they both will never finish what is left in their bowls, and I probably will, as I usually do, throw the rest out and fill it will kibble, (dry food). Of course the bowls will be empty by the time I go to bed tonight...Cats...geez?!

Okay, I'm back...let's see if I can keep it going.

Yes, I know, it's been a while since I posted something on Blogging page. I have been writing but not posting. So, I got a lot of stuff and probably will post most of what I have written over the last year.

I have been writing, I mean editing my novel, during the 2018 time frame. Sadly, doing a lot less editing, though. Also, I have outlined and fleshed out two new stories that I have to get started this year. I just don't know to start them... sort of, I will once I sit here in front of this computer with the sole intent of putting ink to paper, (I mean, fingers to keyboard, words to computer).

One story, is part 2 to my first story, "Marooned", to which I managed to finish in March of last year. I am ready to start, I just have to get a couple bottles of scotch, it usually helps a little, with the writing.

My Birthday was 2 weeks ago and my son got me four pounds of coffee, so that shouldn't be a problem. I usually have either coffee or scotch when I am writing, but not both at the same time.

Anyway, let's get this started...and away we go!

I haven't been feeling well for the last 3 weeks. It started with me catching a cold. This the second cold I have had in the 15 or more years. The first cold was in January of last year.

Today I feel 100% better than I did that past Thursday. My hip, on the other hand, well, it too feels a tiny bit better. I can lay on my back and sides now, and I don't have to bend slightly to my left side to walk, I can stand up straight...yaaaaaa... 

I guess I should get off of this computer and wash my long awaited, soiled dishes and make something to eat, considering, I have lost my appetite. My body and mind keep telling me, I'm not hungry. 

This past weekend all I had was 3 bananas and a few apples for B'fast, lunch and dinner and I wasn't hungry, at all. Yesterday I had to force myself to eat B'fast, as I did today. Now, for lunch, today, Pancakes or a Burrito? Still not really hungry, though.

Working hard or hardly working...and kittens!

I went out, today, to get my cats, Tom and Jerry, some treats. While in the store the youngster, at the cash register, mentioned I could come at work at the store, if I wanted to work. I had mentioned that I do not work anymore.

I thought about that for a hot second. She also mentioned that I did work for the pet store I could get a free kitten, considering, I already have two cats. What am I going to do with another cat? Even though my cats will be 13 years old this coming…I’m guessing September or October.

But, no. No work and no more cats, for now. It’s bad enough that the two I have now act like they want to kill each other. Feeding time, friends. Being in the same room, death to the…but, I digress.

That got me thinking. I had realized that including working as a paperboy for about three year, working as a fry cook at a local burger joint, working in a mattress factory for the summer, working at Chrysler for a summer, and of course, working at Ford for 3 decades, I have worked for 50 (not exact) of my 65 years! That’s not including working around the house; I had a ton of chores to do and the work I did for the neighbors.

Now, why in the world would I want to work for anyone ever again? Well, maybe for some extra gas money or to travel out of the country, like I use to when I was working.

But, no. I don’t think that will ever happen. I worked hard over those five decades and now it is time for me to take it easy, as I have for the last 12 years, coming up as of July first. Even though retirement is okay, I still have time to relax when I want to. To be honest, heck, every day! (Every day is Saturday, except Sundays and holidays and of course my birthday). 

What I have been doing on the last 12 years, I work as hard as I want to or I should say as hard as it takes to write a novel! That is as hard as I ever want to work again. Considering, writing a novel is hard, very hard work. I did finish my last novel this past March. I am now in the process of writing the second draft and that is time consuming and blowing my mind. It is hard work, to say the least, and I really enjoy writing, always have and always will.

But, no. I will not be working at the pet store, I wouldn’t mind bartending, I enjoyed that when I did, way back in the distant past. Nevertheless, I’m fine and I will survive. I just hope my fingers don’t give out in the meantime, because I have 30 or so books I want to write.

As for getting another cat…I’m thinking about it!

...and we all fall down.

I guess I am going to be out of action for a while. When I fell off of my bike, onto my right side, yesterday. It hurt so bad my left leg got jealous and decided to hurt twice as bad. To make things even worse, I just ran over my bike. Now I gotta get that fixed...geez.

I've been thinking, what's left for me to participate in? My left arm still hurts, I hurt it playing racquetball. My left hamstring still hurts from when I my son decided to wrestle me and yank my leg out of the socket. And of course, now, my right arm hurts, I cannot lift a glass of water to my mouth.

Let me see, while hiking, with newer shoes, I now have planters fasciitis. Last year, the pain was at 100 out of ten. Now, it's at a nice, 1 out of ten. Getting better, slowly. Also while hiking, I've lost at least 6 toenails! I have four more toes to go.

Two years ago, while Kayaking, I went on a 42 mile kayak trip. A first for me. Now my shoulders still hurt, especially when I walk or hike over 5 miles.

What else is left? Bowling is out, I'm left handed and the racquetball pain is still in effect. I would have to guess, camping, car camping. I do need a new tent though. Last year I left some blueberry muffins in my tent and and went to the the potluck about a mile away. When I got back a racoon ripped the side of my tent open, got the muffins and had two muffins in it's tiny thieving hands. But, camping is the only other safe thing left, for me, to do...soooooo.

Golf? Softball? My equipment is getting  dusty and rusty. My back still hurts. Gotta get back into to doing planks, crunches or any abdominal exercises! Heck walking seems to be out of the question, now. I wanted to run a 5k this year and have gotten my time to 42 minutes, this year, and that was yesterday morning. My fastest, last year 31 minutes. But, as of late, just walking, it took me one hour and twenty-minutes today, my average is 52 minutes.

Yes, I am not a spring chicken anymore, is age catching up with me? As my neighbor always says, "age is nothing but how old you think you feel." Actually, that's my saying, but we go back and forth on the age thing and the things we love to do, sports related. Ain't retirement grand?

Anyway, I just got back from CVS and I really wish this Motrin kicks in sooner than later!!!

Apples, apples, apples. Spring has sprung!

Here's something you don't see every day: While on my daily walk, on an obscure street, I saw a strange vehicle coming towards me. Tons of weird protrusions on the top. As it passed I read, APPLE MAPS on the sides. So, in the near future you may see me walking by. I should have taken a picture, it looped me at least three times. Oh well...

Finished!

Finished! After 2 years, 4 months, 8 days, I have finally finished my novel, 60,927 words, my first novel in 28 years. (I wrote 3 novels in the late 80s, and early 90s, but two of my manuscripts are still unpublished. In addition, I wrote and published 2 short stories and 2 books of poems.)

Even though I feel ecstatic, right now, today, I still feel like I haven’t accomplished anything, I feel unfinished. I say this because, in those past 28 years, I have outlined over 40 stories. And in that time frame I kept saying to myself, I have a job, I’m working so hard that I didn’t have time to write. I was enjoying life, also considering that I was married during the 80s and had children who bothered me every minute I wrote something.

I retired from a major auto company in 2006 and decided I had to follow my dream of being a writer. In those past 20 or 35, some odd years, I went to college and studied journalism, and I took a ton of classes in creative writing. It was time for me to start writing.

I never realized that I am a lazy writer. I enjoyed life more than I was enjoying writing. My mother had passed away in 2000 and I then decided that I would write a book of poetry, dedicated to her, “My Mother’s Garden”. But, it took me 10 years to have it published. Now that I think about it, I put it together and passed it out to my family and close friends.

The one thing I noticed, while writing this novel, that at the beginning of January of this year, the feeling came back.  Way back when, I was a prolific writer, but mostly in journalism. However, the dreams of writing a novel flowed through my mind every second. I wrote because I liked writing, I loved it and found a passion for writing. That was then…

Even though I wrote 25,000 words starting that first day in November of 2016, for the start of NaNoWriMo – The National November Write Month, I just couldn’t put any more words together I had writer’s block. I couldn’t think of a word to put down on paper, I mean on computer. It just wasn’t flowing. Then something bit me at the end of January of this year.

On February 1^st, I said to myself, “Let’s do this” and started writing again. At the time, I was at 33,000 words, I did write a little bit in January. I decided to write at least 1,000 words a day, my goal. The passion returned and I was feeling great about it, about my writing, again. With 25 writing days, and a few days of writing over 2,000 words, I finished yesterday, March 7^th. I even wrote over 6,000 words those last 3 days.

I am going to write more this year and I really hope to start another novel, one that I outlined a couple of years ago. But first, I really do need to reread my story, edit the story, find someone to read the story and then find an inexpensive editor to edit the story.

In the meantime, I plan to start, next month, on another book of poems, my third, and a new short book, a compilation of 50 word stories, most of them written over the past 2 years. I just hope that passion stays with me; I have so much more to write…

For now, I have to cut that darn television OFF, and sit down and write more. I’m going to miss baseball. But, for the rest of this month I am going to read at least 6 book, that too is a goal for me, to read at least 25 books this year, 2 books a month, or, now that I think about it, just to nap everyday for the rest of the March. One way or another I am going to make something out of my writing life.

My new tradition...

I am going to start a new, for me, tradition. I am 54,000 words into my novel. I hope to finish it by Wednesday. There was a movie, I loved, way back in the 90s about a writer and his celebratory finishing of his novel. A bottle of Champagne, a single match and a single cigarette. (Can you name the movie?) Me, I am going to substitute the cigarette with a cigar, though.

Soon the Number 1 best selling book in America!

My next door neighbor, who is also a writer, self-published his second book and just got a batch of books today. He gave me a signed copy. Check out his book at: https://tinyurl.com/y8hn6fc6

A writer's gotta write...

I am going to sit here and write for the rest of the day, today. Just as soon as I get off of Blogger, Twitter, and Facebook, wash my b'fast and lunch dishes, take the clothes out of the dryer and fold them, then I will will write until I decide to stop. Or, until the music stop, about 5 hours worth. A writer's gotta write!

Coming soon!

I have finished 50,244 words, so far. I figure I have, about, 10,000 more words to write...give or take a thousand! 

Hopefully, I will finish, writing, by the end of this month. At the time I will put my pen down (figuratively) and set my story aside for a couple of week.  Then all the good stuff starts.

A camping I will go...?

Talk about a waste of my time. I went to Birch Run to an RV and Camper show, just to find out that my car, which is supposed to tow 3500 lbs. Can't tow 3500 lbs. Which means I have to get a pop-up or smaller, something around 12-1500 lbs. I have a 2017 Ford Escape with a 2.0 EcoBoost engine. Geez..

To top it off the little girl who took money, at the door, short changed me by $5. I gave her a $20 and she gave me $9, the cost to get in was only $6.
I didn't notice until I got to the grocery store, 45 miles away. I know I am getting old, but I guess I put too 
much trust in humans.