Summer 2014 August 12 Tuesday (Costs and Prices)

64 degrees this morning.  When it is 64 degrees (or in the range), I always think it will be cool like it was last spring when 64 degrees was still cool enough to dress warm.  For some reason, 64 degrees in the summer isn’t that cold and I tend to overdress.    Walked 56:53 minutes this morning, also sit ups and barbells. 

My weight bench (which is on the patio and has been for the past 8 years), has mushrooms browning out of the sides and bottom.  I don’t know if this is dangerous or not, but I wouldn’t eat them!  It really is weird, but I don’t see how it compromises the integrity of the bench.  I really like the bench, except that I can’t use it with a barbell.  I am keeping my eye out for a bench I can also use the barbell (such as for bench presses etc.)

After Labor Day, we will start looking at a gym (probably the YMCA).  I plan not only to continue my swimming on a regular basis but also expanding my weight lifting program.  

I am enjoying my “extended walk” in the morning (almost double what I have walked for years).  It gives me the chance to listen more to my audiobooks, and I just feel like I am stretching my limits a little.  

Listening to “Capital in the 21st Century”.  I’m not sure why I found it so interesting, but the author made the point that while products such as electronics and even food are much cheaper in terms of “hours worked to purchase” the item, a haircut has basically remained the same price.  The reason is that it takes the same amount of time to give a haircut, and the income of a barber/hair stylist has basically remained the same, and even the technology hasn’t changed much.  So, on average, it costs the same amount of time to work to get a haircut as it did 100 years ago! 

An example he specifically mentioned of interest to me was the price of the early bicycles were six month’s salary, and this was just for a basic bicycle, with basic brakes and wheels .  In a few years an advance bicycle costs one months pay, and then soon an even more advanced bicycle costs a weeks pay etc. Of course, it depends on what you consider a days pay is also.  

Obviously an even better example is electronics, for the item itself, although the service costs have  remained high. 

I still remember when I bought an inexpensive tv that broke after several years.  I took it in for repair and was advised it was a “disposable tv” and if something went wrong, you just threw it away and bought another one.  Of course now there are numerous items that are essentially “disposable” since it costs more to fix them than it does to purchase a new, much improved, item!  

In fact, when it comes to items such as iPhones, iPads, iPods etc., perfectly good devices are abandoned, given away or used for other purposes just because of the improved features of the new ones.  I could name lot more areas where this is true.

Kali and Katherine (our youngest Granddaughters) are starting school next week (the school system they go to starts later than many schools.  Seeing time pass in the lives of children really emphasizes how fast time goes.  I have watched Aliene’s grandchildren grow just since we got married and it is just amazing the changes in their lives in 18 years.  Of course, Kali and Katherine are only 14 and 11 (Katherine is 12 next week), so the change have been even more dramatic for them.  

I have probably been much more aware of time passing since last  November (when my job status changed), almost like I am under some kind of deadline, but I”m really not.  

Like life, this journal goes in a direction I hadn’t planned.  While walking, I was going to go into another subject today.  I never even got the chance to bring up the subject! Maybe tomorrow.

That’s it for today, Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Spring 2014 June 3 Tuesday

75 degrees this morning.  Sitting on patio, it actually feels fairly cool.  (The temperature is now 73 degrees).  Still cloudy.

Thinking of Amazon.com again, I have to wonder about a company that will "punish" or inconvenience it's customers in a fight with a vendor.  That is bizarre.  I have always wondered about those creepy e-mails that pretend they know what I want to read/listen to/watch or even buy (they don't).  About my only dealing with Amazon now is through Audible and I'm trying to find another source for audio books.  I may find it is cheaper to just pay full price for the ones I really want.

I have really come to enjoy and appreciate audio books.  Actually, as I have mentioned, it is especially effective to read and listen to the same book in roughly the same time period.  I find I do miss some nuances (and actually some complete points, to my chagrin) on one that I pick up on the other.  I also find I read "e books" much faster and probably miss more of the information than if I read a physical book.  

My bicycle is still making funny noises and I have a feeling I will be taking it in for a major checkup.  The "pedal freezing" was was the result of he chain jumping off and getting into the main gears around the pedal (I'm  not sure what it is called).  I hope it won't happen again, but I know my bike and it is making some noises which don't bode well for the future (at least for the bike).  I like my bike, but would really like to go back to a mountain bike.  Once things settle down for me (as far as a job and location), I probably will buy another bike anyway, although I was thinking of a "electric assist" bike (one you pedal most of the time, but can get some "assistance" on hills.  Dream on, I expect.

i hope to learn to ride in "a group setting", so I am safe to ride with!  i ride by myself almost all the time, and am definitely not used to riding in a group.  I really am aiming at doing some longer bike rides, such as the Ride Across Tennessee/Kansas, Free Wheel Oklahoma etc.  and then do my "ride with the Summer".  

I really wonder where time goes.  I easily worked 80 hours per week on my previous job and then literally went cold turkey to none, and I still don't have time to do a lot of things I would like to do.  I may start keeping track of how I use my time and see if I am wasting any.  I don't sleep more, I get up at the same time, do the same amount of exercise etc.  (I may fudge a little on this and take some extra time.).  Of course, sending our resumes, job hunting, dealing with unemployment, social security issues etc. takes a lot of time and mental effort, but still, I don't have the time to do the "leisure" reading I expected to do.  I have learned a lot about computer programs (especially Evernote, iPhoto, and my MacBook innards) which will help me in the future.  But I still speed read through the morning newspapers, magazines, and novels rather than take the time to enjoy reading them.  I do read too many newspapers, but that is a vice I am going to keep, like coffee.

I think my sleeping habits are finally back to normal.  I got a reply to a "thank you" note I sent to someone in China who was especially nice and helpful and I felt a twinge of "something"  (not sure what), and I thought again about the wonderful time we had in China.  It seems like such a distant memory now and I really don't want to let the memory lapse, even if I never return.  

(Real time now):  They are finally mowing the yard, so I probably will need to go in off of the patio.  Grass and computers don't mix well, even a tough MacBook.  Also, I don't care for grass and dust with my coffee!  

(Now inside);  Sometimes I wonder how the patio affects my thinking versus being inside.  Along with that, in Lakeland I never see the sunrise or sunsets like we did in Kansas or Oklahoma (unless we get near the Mississippi River or away from the hills and trees).  One thing I miss about Oklahoma and Kansas are the sunsets.  Actually, I don't "miss" them, until I am in Oklahoma or Kansas and see one of the beautiful sunsets, then I realize how much I miss them.  Kind of like the wind, when I get out of the car in Oklahoma and feel the wind, I remember something I DON"T miss about Oklahoma or Kansas, the persistent, continuous wind!  

Fairly busy day today, some "busy" items this morning, lunch with a friend, Apple Store appointment.  Working on iPhoto. It may be an endless task.  I do a little everyday, right now I'm just trying to "weed" out duplicates, and pictures that just aren't that good, which is a lot of them!  

That's it for today, Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Fall 2013 December 18 Wednesday

37 degrees this morning.  Felt warmer than that, maybe just used to the cold weather.

Another quote from "And the Mountain Echoed":  "That is what aging is, she thinks as she follows Isabelle into the store, those random unkind moments when you least expect them"  (This is a point when she looks into a store windows and realizes how old she looks).  Kind of like when I look in a mirror and wonder what my father is doing here. 

Another favorite quote of mine is also from a fiction book, I believe by Jeff Deaver (I'll have to check on that).  It is a point when a older woman who is a spy is caught.  She thinks to herself that this is the point that her life, which she enjoyed, will never be the same again.  I can think of several recent points like that.  (Including the "spy" angle, bur from the other side!).  Probably "moment" that you realize everything is changed and its will never be the same  hit Aliene worse then it did me.

I guess life is composed of moments like that, when a momental change is occurring and you may  or may not be aware of the gravity of it.  On the other hand, maybe life doesn't have enough of those moments, maybe that is why time passes and we suddenly realized the journey is going faster than we want or realize.  

Apple Store today.  Trying to get control of my e-mail, calendar and contacts (also reminders) while I can take a breath and do something with it.  When I look at my e-mail and see 29,000 e-mails I need to do something to get organized!  

Looks like it will be another beautiful day today, will be in the mid-fifities and sunny.  About as good as it gets this time of year.

Fall 2013 December 17 Tuesday

45 degrees this morning.  Lengthened my bicycle ride a little.

Reading "And the Mountains Echoed", as noted in the last post. 

I rarely have a quote leap out at me as if it was intended for me to read.  That one, really hit home.  Actually the entire book (except for the first part, which I still don't understand), is really speaking to me.

In one chapter, the narrator reviews (from an old age) his life.  What struck me was how the years can pass without any  real realization, even when major events come and go, the time still passes.  In the case of the narrator, he was an assistant (perhaps a servant?).  The years passed and he started as a young man and was old (self described) when the man he worked for died.  Even their relationship was fascinating to read about.

The quote described his feelings after the person he worked for died and he was (i guess you would say) "retired".  He inherited everything , so it appears he was not required to work.

It got me thinking, six years ago, I noted that "in ten years I will be 70".  Obvious, but there is still the journey, which is going to happen regardless of what I do.  I have been here for 12 years, my last job for 13 years (I left to take this job). That is 25 years that has passed in  a flash, yet, my Dad and Mom both passed away during that time, my 11 year old daughter became an adult, married and now has two granddaughters (the oldest of whom is now a teenager), I met and married Aliene, Aliene's mother, who was a lively alert person when I met Aliene, gradually failed and passed on,  Aliene's grandchildren grew from the small children at our wedding to adults etc.  

I'm not sure where this is all going, except this is a pivotable time of my life when any decision I make will reverberate for literally the rest of our lives.  So many times, the entire structure of our lives are based on chance, which I guess is obvious, but when it is happening it is not so obvious.

It will be very difficult to leave Lakeland if it comes to that.  Not the City itself, I expect the changes will destroy the true Lakeland that I love, but still it will be difficult to leave friends and routines we have grown accustomed to.

Christmas Eve is a week away.  Hopefully the weather has reverted to the "regular" weather type.  So far, the weather looks like it should be good.

Summer 2013 July 29

Relatively cool weather this morning (70 degrees), it is turning out to be a cool summer.  I really noticed a lot of difference in the heat between here and Topeka, Kansas (it seemed a lot more muggy in Topeka, not sure why, maybe the altitude).

Speaking of time, one reason I don't watch many videos on the computer or watch hardly any live tv is that they seem to have no concept that my time is valuable!  I can't pick and choose, like I can a newspaper, written story on the computer etc.  I also rarely to to movies for the same reason.  I guess I don't like ceding control of myself to someone else.  I especially hate wasting my time on hearing/seeing sports news, "celebrities" I know nothing about (or could care less about) etc., or crimes that I don't need to know about.  I have always been that way, not a matter of "getting older" or whatever". 

School will be starting next month, meaning summer is almost over.  I will miss going to the Redbird baseball games, we really have enjoyed it, even when they lose it is fun to sit outside. the Redbirds are a class organization.  For some reason, baseball is the only sport I really enjoy seeing "personally and live".  Maybe because it is outside and has a relatively even pace (the length of the games is one thing I don't like).  Anyway, I will miss them.  The Redbirds are a class organization and I enjoy dealing them them and seeing the games, even if it does take up an entire evening.

Speaking of time, I try to not schedule early morning (8:00 a.m. or before) appointments, if possible, so I won't intrude on my precious morning "hyper time".  I scheduled one this morning for some reason.  

The Lakeland Election campaign will be in full swing soon.  Campaign signs will be allowed starting today and I'm sure the informational mailings will start.  I will be glad when it is over.

Summer 2013 July 28

Relatively cool this morning (73 degrees).  

Saturday and Sunday I am frequently the only person at ATC, although there are other "regulars" at that time, they are primarily weight lifters.  (This is in the 4 a.m. to 5 a.m. time frame.  During the week (primarily Monday through Thursday), I expect our little community is about 30 people, and can vary from 10 to 50.  There are about 20 "regulars" that I recognize as regulars.  I don't talk with any of them (unless I drive and shower there), except for an occasional "hi".  It is a part of my life where I don't really interact with anyone else, kind of like driving.  I do wave to the Walgreens truck driver as I ride through the Walgreens parking lot.  Apparently this is the time they trade drivers.  Other than the truck driver, I always wonder who leaves their car in the Walgreens parking lot all night.  (This isn't every day.)

Enjoying the weekend, as normal, not enough time.  I usually add a book or two to my list of "books to read" from the Wall Street Journal or New York Times and look in dismay at what I haven't read.  I am also far behind on magazines. But it is nice to be busy.