I got a text from my sister a few days ago concerning my mother. It was two alert me about two different incidents regarding normal daily activities that my mother can no longer manage by herself. Since I have limited contact with my mother, I am often unaware of how bad things have gotten. Plus,…
A Trip Down GenX Memory Lane
After dinner, I often surf Reddit looking for something interesting to read or watch. Recently, I’ve been visiting the GenX subreddit and it’s been a blast. There are always a few “remember when” posts that have pictures, videos, music or text of things from my youth. Last night someone posted a video of jumping his…
Groundhog’s Day
In late December, after running out of anything the least bit interesting to stream on Amazon, I gave in and resubscribed to Netflix. Since I hadn’t been on Netflix for a while, I discovered a few series to watch. I watched the best ones first. Then, as I moved to the mediocre ones, I found…
Use It Or Lose It
Yesterday, I completed round 6 of my purging binge. I can’t believe that every few days, I keep finding something else to get rid of. The latest drop-off at the thrift store included: 3 belts, a set of good kitchen knives, a bluetooth speaker, a colander, a set of colored pencils and 2 spatulas. I…
Co-signing Bullshit
Twenty years ago when I went to AA meetings, people who were talking about having issues with their family members (or other AA members) would sometimes say “I’m not going to co-sign their bullshit.” It’s a saying that has stuck with me for all these years because it intuitively makes so much sense to me….
No More Special Occasions
In my early 40s, I was introduced to the concepts of simple living, minimalism and financial independence. Prior to that, I was constantly running uphill trying to support a lifestyle I couldn’t afford, working in high stress sales positions and living under an immense burden of debt. Back then, I desperately looked forward to weekends,…
You Make Me Sick
The last time I was seriously ill was in early 2019. I was emotionally and physically run down from caring for my wife until she passed away from lung cancer. Unfortunately, the flu was making its rounds through my area at the time and I caught it – undoubtedly from someone in the AA meetings…
The Mundanity of Excellence
I listened to a podcast this week with professor and author Daniel Chambliss who wrote the book Champions: The Making Of Olympic Swimmers. Chambliss was a competitive swimmer in high school, though not world class. In addition to his academic career, he coached swim teams. As part of a research project, he studied why only…
Kid In The Candy Store
When I was a little kid in Tamaqua, I loved going to the little markets that had a penny candy counter. My friends and I would scoop up whatever spare change we could scrounge, hop on our bikes and then stare at the smorgasbord of candy selections behind the glass center until the owner had…
Frail
I have written before about the US gerontocracy and my opinions of politicians in general previously, so I won’t regurgitate what I’ve already said in today’s post. Instead, I want to talk about my gut reaction to seeing a news clip from Joe Biden’s visit to Raleigh last week. I’m not going to offer my…