2019 Spring May 31 Friday

#Purple_Days_and_Golden_Nights

#My_Journey_19

#Spring_of_19

60 degrees this morning, 84% humidity

Excellent day yesterday, started off a little cool, quickly got better.

Exercise was walking (outside) for 34:48 minutes.  Didn’t swim, basically due to time restrictions.  Pace was 9 seconds slower than my goal.

Really nice to get back to walking outside again, regardless of the weather.  I was a little concerned about the temperature, but there were no problems.  

Today is supposed to be nice again, then rain start again for at least the next seven days, at least “scattered thunderstorms”.  

Part of the reason I got the Apple Watch was because it finally was waterproof for swimming as well as the “Independent” GPS etc. for walking and bicycling.

Of course I wouldn’t think of putting my beloved Apple watch in water, I use a cheap $5  watch to wear in the pool!  I also wear the cheap watch  when bicycling, the heck with taking a chance on wearing my Apply watch while I’m bicycling and taking a chance on breaking it in a fall!  

Eventually I’ll probably wear it while bicycling, it would be so convenient.  However, I can guarantee I’ll never wear it when swimming!

The plastic watches I get at Walmart for $5.00 (in this case it was on sale, usually it is around $11) are excellent for swimming and other exercises and they last for years.  One watch I got lasted literally for years, until I lost it in the 16’ water at the YMCA (I didn’t bother diving down for it!)

Really strong weird dream this morning,  I didn’t write it down, but still remember it.  

I was at”work”, basically doing what I do in the field.  

 I was waiting to see someone when I realized I was wearing an old (literally) torn shirt, a shirt I got over 23 years ago, about this time of year.  Aliene got one also and gave me hers, both of which are torn around the neck.  They are made of some kind of material that I love for using after I swim or take a shower.  For some reason I haven’t been able to find a shirt like it.

Anyway, I am waiting to see someone  (all of my “customers” are “important” in my job),  and I suddenly seem to realize I am wearing the torn shirt (with an American flag on the front), a pair of decrepit shoes and I thought about putting on this loud yellow jacket to cover up the torn shirt!

Fortunately I woke up before I had to make a decision!  It took me a while after I woke up to realize it was a dream!  I don’t remember the front part of the dream.  

Last day of May, means 2019 is already 50% gone.  

That’s it for now, Friday, May 31, 2019. 

#Resist

                                               

2019 Spring May 30 Thursday

#Purple_Days_and_Golden_Nights

#My_Journey_19

#Spring_of_2019

59 degrees this morning, 98% humidity 

Still cloudy yesterday, some rain, most light, although there were periods of heavy rain.  We do know it will eventually end.  At some point, we will be begging for rain again!  Looked at the long term forecast, after today, rain every day for the next week! 

Exercise yesterday:

Exercise:  Walk (outside):  34:35 minutes

Swim:  16:43 minutes

Pace was 4 seconds slower than my goal.  

This morning I started phase one of my exercise plan for the week, which is to walk outside in the morning, and then swim at the Fitness Center.  (Field days I will probably exercise less, since I get plenty of exercise on field days!) At some point I plan on introducing regular outdoor bicycle riding, I don’t know when.  

A person I normally see at the end of my swim saw me this morning (at the end of my swim but much earlier) and I told him I just can’t get used to indoor walking, which is true, so I am walking out of doors early and then swimming.  It saves about 40 minutes, in that I get home about 40 minutes earlier providing me more time during morning “hypertime” 

I started walking the full route I used to walk (increasing the walk to about 34 minutes rather than the  23 or so minutes of the indoor walk), but since I am walking before the fitness center opens,  it is like free time.  

As I grow older, I get some faint idea of what an “invisible person” feels like.  People look at you but don’t see you because your age makes you irrelevant. (Only a small percentage of people, but enough you notice it.)  

I can’t say that it bothers me that much, you develop your own way of dealing with it.

What is even more obvious is businesses.  I have signed up for surveys and put in my true age and am told “thanks but no thanks”.  I complete the same survey request and lie about my age and am immediately accepted.  (I don’t do the survey in that case.)

In a way I can understand that of course, demographics are important, and the businesses don’t really care what their older customers think since they feel they are thinking “long term”.   (Not really, most don’t think past the next quarter, or a way to juice their stock,  but that’s another story).

What I don’t like is when I am a paying customer, paying the same as everyone else and I lose out on opportunities or programs because of my age.

Another story, I filled out a “contest” entry for tickets to see music stars in a intimate environment at a music festival we are attending.  I fill out an entry with my normal age and was advised that “something was wrong”, they couldn’t process my entry.  I then sent in an entry with my age 40 years younger and it was processed immediately.  Of course, I expect if you watched the “winners” you will see few older people anyway.  Seems strange that they require your age in this case.

Hopefully just a fluke, but these are the same sponsors that quit putting chairs out for performances etc. in an apparent effort to discourage older people from attending.  

In any event, I may be stretching too much on that, but I can definitely feel the  “invisible person” concept getting stronger as I get older.  I guess you could say I don’t like it but I’m too old to care! 

That’s it for now, Thursday, May 30, 2019.

#Resist

2019 Spring May 29 Wednesday

#Purple_Days_and_Golden_Nights

#My_Journey_19

#Spring_of_19

69 degrees tis morning, 83% humidity 

Windy yesterday, continued muggy.  Last night, strong threat of severe storms (including tornados), fortunately missed us and, to my knowledge, didn’t cause any major damage elsewhere..

I will be so glad to see sunshine, no clouds and no wind!  

Exercise yesterday was outside walk, 34:23 minutes.  Didn’t go swimming due to open wound.  

Pace was 16:12 minutes, which is 12 seconds slower than my goal, but still good.  The time was my “old’ route I did for years.  

Yesterday was a field day and I was downtown and felt the wind through the tall buildings etc/1  I’m really glad it wasn’t Winter.  

Saw a recent quote “Happiness is wanting what you get”.  

I have thought about that a little, and I can see the point, but in a way I wonder that the point is.  It seems to me that the search for Happiness includes the search for what makes you Happy, including the option of “being happy with what you get”.  

I have known people who are “happy with what they get” because their expectations are low, so I’m not sure if I care for the insinuation of the quote.  If you “aren’t happy with what you get”, it very well may mean that you will never have a higher level of happiness because your expectations are so low!

Probably reading too much into this (but then whoever made the quote asked for it!), but I feel that the quote seems to mean there is some level of happiness that you can “achieve” happiness.

Frankly, I don’t even think about whether I am “happy” or not.  The more I think about it, “happiness” “is” and is not something we “achieve”, it kind of is there or not.  

Like the quote “life is what happens while you wait for life to happen”  (I may have mangled that a little), “happiness” is what happens  while you wait for happiness”.  Maybe when you live your life to your fullest potential, or “happiness” is what happens while you wait for something to make you happy!

Somehow, the  quote (Happiness is wanting what you get) took a different turn than I expected when I started writing about what I thought the quote meant.   I really thought I would say a sentence or two and go on, but the didn’t happen!  

One fo the things I love about writing a journal post each day, sometimes it takes on a life of it’s own 

I have seen a lot of people pass on lately (say since my parents, which has been 25 years for my Dad this year), and I think about what they were like when they were alive, what made them happy and if they were truly happy.

Obviously, I don’t know, I can’t even speak for myself, except I feel relatively “happy” at this stage of my life.  

I remember when I was a child, I heard a quote that I will always remember “if you have your health, you have everything”.  I think there is a lot of truth to that. 

Thats it for now, Wednesday, May 29, 2019. 

#Resist 

2019 Spring May 28 Tuesday

#Purple_Days_and_Golden_Nights

#My_Journey_19

#Spring_of_19

73  Degrees this morning, 79 degrees humidity

Overall excellent day yesterday, although still cloudy and muggy.

Exercise yesterday

-Walk:  27:00 minutes (outside) 

,-Stationary bike:  32 minutes 

-Bike ride (outside) 21 minutes 

As noted, I did everything except swim.  Due to my scraping my hand, I couldn’t swim because of my “open wound”.  

I had always heard you shouldn’t swim with an open wound”, and I looked on the internet and found out why!  Hopefully I can swim tomorrow.

Pace was only 3 seconds slower than my goal.  It is just a lot faster to walk outside than inside. 

I also looked on the internet to find  the best way to dig out a dead Rose bush.  I really worked at it, probably harder than any of my exercise routines!  Aliene helped a lot and we were successful in  getting the bush dug out!

End of a three day weekend, overall a very enjoyable 3 day weekend, except for some of the disastrous weather in the area.  

Walking outside again has really made a big difference and I hope the weather will allow me to continue.

Also have been spending some time on the patio, which I really enjoy.  I especially enjoy the patio in the early morning, hearing the world wake up.  I can tell almost exactly when the birds will start  chirping.  

Netflix messed me up by starting  “Blacklist” at the beginning again, so I started watching “Bosch” (the fifth season) on Prime.  It is just as good or better than the first four seasons!  

We currently have  T-Mobile phones and are going to have to switch due to extremely poor coverage.  They have great Customer Service, but coverage in this area is poor. 

It means we will lose our  “free” Netflex service, but the lack of a good signal has almost become dangerous. 

My new procedure of walking outside and then going to the gym to swim hopefully will work better than walking “indoors” all of the time.  At least walking indoors now is an alternative in the event of extreme weather etc.  There is something about walking outdoors that is just a lot better than walking indoors. 

That’s it for now, Tuesday, May 28, 2019. 

#Resist 

2019 Spring May 27 Monday

#Purple_Days_and_Golden_Nights

#My_Journey_19

#Spring_of_19

73 degrees this morning, 80% humidity 

Warm and muggy yesterday, no rain.  

Exercise yesterday

-Walk:  23:42 minutes (outside) 

-Stationary bike:  22 minutes

-Swim:  13 minutes 

Pace was 6 seconds slower than my goal.  Walking outside is so much faster than waling on an indoor track for some reason.  It’s not other people, because my pace is about the same when walking on an empty indoor track as a crowded one although the indoor track is never really that crowded.

It does feel good to walk outside again.  While there are some drawbacks, it is just a completely different (and much better) experience. 

Memorial Day, always a special day for a number of reasons.  I remember it as the day we went to the family cemetery at Solider, Kansas, a very unique little town that still has an active community puts on a community lunch on Memorial Day, as well as  lunch for funeral services etc. 

The trip up there also has one of the most terrifying steep hills (if you don’t know it is coming) I have ever experienced, you literally lost sight of the road, the drop is so steep.  Since I know it is coming, I get a thrill ride from it!

One of my memories (may or may not be true!) is my Dad getting stuck on that hill (going the other way, “up” it) and having to have a tractor come out to get him out.  

Summer weather has apparently started, and it is about time.  Of course, it was still 64 degrees yesterday morning, but if I checked, I expect that is somewhat “normal”.  I know that July 4 and then Labor Day will be here before I know it!  

Recently had a rather weird experience with “nextdoor.com".  When we moved several times, I had a hard time changing my “neighborhood” to the current “neighborhood”, so I just set up a new account.  

Eventually I guess the past Neighborhoods caught up with my current Neighborhood.

Anyway, I get an e-mail from “nextdoor.com Support”, that someone “reported” me for having too many e-mail addresses (more than one, I guess).  I have to wonder about someone who really takes the time (or has the time) to “report” someone for something like that!  

At first I thought it was a scam, but I checked and found they really do things like that!  In fact “nextdoor.Com" has somewhat of a notorious reputation for (in some cases, hardly the norm)  the local “Lead” (or something like that) who becomes somewhat like a noisy, vindictive prison guard who censors opinions they don’t like.

I never make any political comments on nextdoor.com anyway, but apparently there is a regular censor running around, depending on the local situation.  Actually I have no problem with that as long as it is equally enforced, but in some “Neighborhoods”, it isn’t equally enforced by any means. 

 As far as I know, it isn’t a problem in this neighborhood.  (It was apparently a problem in a community I used to live in that I follow on Facebook and hear about the “nextdoor.com" censorship of anything the “lead” disagrees with.)

Actually I have no problem with the “nextdoor.com" for my area, it is a good service if you have time to read it.  I just wonder who would worry about someone having 3 e-mail addresses!  

That’s it for now, Monday, May 27, 2019.

#Resist

2019 Spring May 26 Sunday

64 degrees this morning, 97% humidity 

Humid day again yesterday, cool morning but warmed up well to 80’s.

Exercise:

Walk (outside) 23:52 minutes 

Swim:  19:11 minutes 

Pace was 35 seconds slower than goal time

Heavy rain, thunderstorms last night.  I wonder when it is going to stop!  Invariability we will be in for a long stage of no rain this summer!  

I remember three years ago, this time of year it was hot and hadn’t rained.  We were having problems with our sprinkler system (due to an incompetent inspection by the house inspector who missed the problems).  

We had a horrible time finding someone to fix the sprinkler system since all of the repair people were so busy.  Fortunately we ended up finding a good local company that did an excellent job.  

Our problem was that everyone was so busy they wouldn’t answer the phone or just would say they were too busy.  Probably not a problem this year, but it will be a while before we turn on our sprinkler system!

I actually feel like watering a lawn that needs watering since it isn’t indigenous to the area is a waste of money and water, but we do it anyway!   If I were younger I would look at “waterless’ lawns, but I’ll just go with the flow, so to speak, and keep the lawn green.

Researched “Derecho” storms some more.  Rather interesting.  As I noted yesterday, I assume they are more common than I expected, but uncommon enough it isn’t much of a list, probably an average of one per year in the US.

A Derecho is a “sudden” storm, with straight winds up to 130 mph. It can be dry even, although normally it is with heavy rain.  However some have caused significant damage with winds as little as 65 mph.

The Memphis “Hurricane Elvis”  (I’m not sure why it got that nickname) was one of the more powerful ones although I didn’t look for a specific list.

A very powerful Derecho in Brazil destroyed an estimated 540 MILLION trees in the Amazon rainforest.  

Looking to buy another air compressor for my bicycle tires.  I have found one of the biggest barriers to riding the bike is keeping the tires inflated properly!  As I mentioned, I had a good basic air compressor I used for years that somehow got “lost” or stolen when we moved and I have never been able to find a good one.  

I am embarrassed to admit sometimes I haven’t ridden the bike because I don’t want to mess with airing up the tires!  Also, I have written the bike when the tires weren’t property inflated, which isn’t any fun.

I have been using an old tire pump (the pump isn’t old, the concept is), which works sometimes, sometimes doesn’t.

I’ve done some research, hopefully found a good one.  I am committed to using it as soon as I get it and sending it back if it doesn’t work!

That’s it for now, Sunday, May 26, 2019.

2019 Spring May 25 Saturday

64 degrees this morning, 96% humidity 

Walked outside yesterday morning, I had gotten to the point I couldn’t stand the thought of walking inside when it was so nice outside!  (I stopped walking outside due to allergies causing some respiratory problems).

As I noted in the addendum yesterday, I walked faster yesterday outside than I ever did on the inside track!  

I also noted that it is much more difficult (and so probably better) to walk outside than it is inside!  There are things like hills, etc. that make your work harder!

For the record, I walked 24:03 minutes and my pace was only 13 seconds slower than my “goal”!  I walked a shortened route and will probably continue to do so.  Hopefully I can walk and bike outside and then go up and swim most days. 

Heavy rain and thunderstorm again late last night.  

Woke up early this morning to an unnatural stillness and realized the electricity was out.  

I laid there very aware of the importance of electricity and wondering when we will be able to power our houses etc. with a “battery pack” and can get away from our dependence on electricity relays etc. I know if we are truly aware of our dependence on so many little parts and procedures in the regional delivery of electricity, it would speed up development of a “house battery”.

Anytime the electricity goes off, I always wonder if this is “the big one” that lasts for days without electricity.   Hopefully we will never have to experience it!

Actually the longest time we went without electricity (7 days), we tended to develop our own response and routines  to it and it wasn’t that bad.  Of course, that wasn’t (the depth of winter or the height of summer.  

Actually, while we went to AAA baseball games before that, I always think of that time as when we came to really enjoy AAA baseball games in Memphis.  For some odd reason, although electricity was out near it, the baseball park had electricity.  It was so nice to go to the games and have electricity and feel somewhat “normal”.

The city we lived in had about half the city (where we lived) out of electricity and the other side of town (where I worked) had electricity!   A weird storm.  

I checked the internet (Hurricane Elvis as it is popularly known) and it was on July 22, 2003, so it actually was the height of Summer.   We spent a lot of time outside!  

Technically is was a “Derecho” and there have been two notable Derechos, one in Kansas City on June 7, 1982 and in Memphis in 2003.  (Probably a lot more, but these are two notable ones.)

I still remember that morning, it got very still and then suddenly literally the strongest wind and rain I have ever experienced.  I understand “straight winds” were as strong as 105 mph.  We had a big picture window on the west (where the wind and some came from the Mississippi River) and I am amazed it didn’t shatter.  Uprooted trees caused most of the damage.

I walked out of the house after the storm and saw shingles all over the yard, and then realized with relief it wasn’t from our house!  We were blocked by fallen trees for a while, but our house didn’t have any permanent damage.

Start of a 3 day Memorial weekend, it is a good feeling to look forward to 3 days off! 

That’s it for now, Saturday, May 25, 2019.

5-24-19 Addendum

5-24-19  Addendum

A rare addendum to my journal.  

I think this is one, if not the only time, I have added an addendum.  That is what I sign off with “that’s it for now” instead of “that’s it for today!”.  

This morning I decided I just had to start walking outside again and sitting on the patio on the early morning, so I did.

Took an outside walk, which went fine (with some allergic reactions, I must admit).

I could really tell the difference between walking inside and outside.  Outside the grade and elevation is a lot more noticeable and my pace was 13 seconds below my goal, which is faster than I have EVER done on the inside track.

I obviously need to talk and bicycle outside and then go to the gym to swim!  Indoor walking just isn’t going to do it for me unless it is my only choice due to the weather!

Sitting out on the patio, this morning, a little cool, but very pleasant..  Still cloudy and muggy, but not that bad for the morning.  

So nice to walk outside and be out on my patio in the morning again!

That’s it for now,  Friday, May 24, 2019.

2019 Spring May 24 Friday

#Purple_Days_and_Golden_Nights

#My_Journey_19

#SpringI_of_19

74 Degrees this morning, 88% humidity

Friday before a 3 day weekend!  Always a good feeling!  Actually we don’t have a lot planned, but I know we will enjoy it!

It is also the “unoffiical” start of Summer.  Actually, I am old enough to remember when we got out of school on Memorial Day (or right before) and didn’t start back until after Labor Day, so it really was the “Summer”.  

Weather yesterday was hot (in high 80’s), but so muggy it really wasn’t that enjoyable.  Still better than cold weather.

Every time I think the lying coward lunatic reaches a new low, he manages to ever go to a lower sub-animal low.  What a joke (a very bad oneI) for the country for this  horrible liar, racist sexist clown to be destroying the country with his insane tariffs and “economic policy”  while he literally spends billions in “aid” to farmers solely for hie political ambitions and then the lies and says is paid “by the Chinese”.  

The lying coward can’t even admit he is using tax dollars to buy votes!  What about all the other people whose livelihood is being destroyed by this incompetent clown?  

I have to wonder how this clown has the right to waste this money on a problem he bought on and now all taxpayers are paying for it. The farmers would be a lot happier growing crops instead of seeing this incompetent moron destroying their long term markets with this insane idea that he is “tariff man”, whatever that is supposed to mean.

I get a newsletter monthly that is sent to me, and while I disagree more often than I agree with the writer, I have to say he is right on some things. If nothing else, I enjoy reading his opinions, they make me think!  

For example, he writes  “As in Rome, US politicians and bureaucrats are not gods. They are ordinary, imperfect, highly fallible humans. As long as they wield so much power, no one’s life, liberty or property are safe”!  

Especially true with the lunatic in office now, who thinks he is a “stable genius”, which indicates he definitely isn’t stable or a genius!  What a moron!  

The dangers of a nut like the lying coward lunatic is primarily the reason there are “3 branches” of government.  Unfortunately the legislative branch are a bunch of greedy boot licking cowards, and the judicial branch is being “purchased” by  individuals spending literally billions of dollars to rush though unqualified touts who are jokes, many who don’t even have any qualifying experience.  

The rains have apparently been bringing out a lot of snakes etc. Stories \ of snakes hanging onto the sides of peoples houses (literally, with pictures to prove it) and stories of snakes in strange places abound! 

I literally have been having dreams about snakes, although I think just brief dreams about snakes in the road etc.  

I realize (intellectuallyI) snakes, in general, are not really dangerous, but emotional reactions are a different matter!  

I can remember as a child going a long way around snakes lying in the road and my reaction is still fear, in spite of “knowing” better!  

That’s it for now, Friday, May 24, 2019

#Resist