The 24 Hours of Dante!

Okay, it’s only funny if I tell it, right?

Here’s to the last, nearly, 24 hours.  I think I might have made Dante turn over in his grave while writing the description of an 8th circle of hell.

Anyway, went to visit Dad at the nursing home.  It is cold here; I mean cold.  Warmer then, but still cold.  As I sat with him and played some chess, I sneezed a few times.

When I got home around 11:45pm, I was still sneezing and my nose was running a bit.  I went in planning to wash the dishes and clean up from the baked spaghetti meal I made for a dinner that previous Saturday.  At that dinner, when all was done, I was almost the last one to leave.  I went down their steps and thought I was on the last one when it was second to last.  As I fell, things slowed down, I managed to push forward making it more of a slide and, though it shook my spine top to bottom and hurt shoulder and hip, I didn’t bruise and didn’t end up at the chiro.  I just was very sore.

Still sore last night, I still wanted to do the dishes.  I went to put the leftover spaghetti into the trash (I am vegan, remember?), saw that it was full, and looked at the garbage disposal.  “It will be alright,” my stroke-induced brain told me as I shoveled it into the grinder.  About 1 minute later, the drain began backing up and I worked hard at fixing that, with no good result.

So, at 12:10am, I took off into the night to Walmart.  There I managed to find about $28 in stuff for the kitchen I would “need” including some Drain Cleaner (80 oz) and a plastic strip to shove down the drain and loosen it.

Arriving home, I tried the strip first.  Nothing.  Then I poured in 1/2 the bottle (instructions for heavy clog) slowly through the sink full of greasy muck and set the timer for 30 minutes while I checked on the computer.  The timer went off and I went back in to check the sink – nothing, except now a heavy acid smell to the air.

I followed the directions and poured in the rest of the bottle and waited another 30 minutes – still nothing.

Now, angry and frustrated, I realized that I would not only have to find a plumber on Wednesday or Thursday to fix the drain so I could get to my conference on Friday, but I would not be able to take Mom to dialysis to see Dad.  We also would eat breakfast and visit at Cracker Barrel and she would shop a bit somewhere.

I headed to bed, realizing that the heavy smell of acid cleaner was in the air and I could not do away with it until, at least, tomorrow.  I got in bed and realized the sneezing had now developed into a nasty sinus stoppage with some chills added.  At this point, having stretched myself too thin over the past week, I said a prayer to God about the illness, the plumber, and the conference (it was a learning conference for fun out-of-state, kinda vacation), then went to sleep a very short fitful sleep.

Mom woke me at 8:45am to tell me it had snowed and we wouldn’t be going to Dad’s dialysis.  Secretly relieved, I told her about the night.  She gave me her plumber’s number which I called and left a message on the phone.  She told me not to go see Dad at all and I agreed (can’t have him getting sick, too).  I decided to call a good friend who does odd jobs and have him fix the drain.  I decided whoever I actually talked to first got the job.  He got on the phone and said he could be over in a short while.  When I hung up and tried to rest, the other plumber called.  I took care of that situation, letting him know I would keep his number for another time.

I decided to just get up and eat.  Sugar was 85, the lowest it has been in a bit.  I had to maneuver everything around the kitchen drains and the smell to fix breakfast and take my meds.  After a bit, I noticed my nose and head were much better and I felt it might just be an allergy attack from something recent.

Friend came around 11 and took about 1 1/2 – 2 hours.  I paid him and then decided to wash the dishes…it is 5:29pm now and they have not been washed yet and my sneezing is back in spades!

So, at present, if the sneezing doesn’t get worse, I will go to the conference (weather willing).  I plan on visiting Dad tomorrow night, and I will do the dishes after posting this.

So, there, Dante…get writing!

Namaste,

Scott

Cleaning up My Act

source: Google Images (licensed for reuse)

This has been a rather tense time at my home.  As of Sunday, I had not heard from my house cleaner in two weeks.  She lives close and she was supposed to call if she couldn’t make it on either Thursday or Friday.  I decided that I needed a change, so I sent her a text.  The text let her know that while I was not angry, I needed to find someone else to clean my home.  I told her that I knew how busy she had become and this should allow her to concentrate on everything else going on.  It is now early Tuesday morning and she has not responded to that text.  I think she has become very busy and I made the correct decision.  This, however, brings about another situation I hate:  hiring another cleaning person.  I was used to her and her ways and she understood me.  Now, this whole thing starts over.

I had several places from which to draw:  an ad at the library, Craigslist, the local paper, word of mouth.

I decided against the library and the paper because I did not want to have to deal with a couple of previous cleaners whom I did not want back right now.  Word of mouth was not particularly working this time as I had been thinking about a new cleaning person for about two months and no one had recommended anyone to me.  So, that left Craigslist.

For those of you who have not dealt with Craigslist, it is an online collection of ads for nearly anything.  It is similar to a garage sale, but in online form and it includes everything from a screwdriver to an automobile to a, well, cleaning person, and, as you shall see, … more.

On Craigslist, you can select a category, price range, and a specific item if you choose to.  There are times when my mind just doesn’t think well, anymore.  I chose the category “personal” and entered “cleaning”.  An example or two should suffice to show my obvious error.

1)  May 12 Erotic Cleaning Lady-This Week Only!! – w4m 

2)  May 11 clean topless – m4w  oh, and here’s those details:

clean topless – m4w – 38 (Carmel)

age : 38

Looking to fulfil a fantasy… a sexy lady clean topless. Just some light cleaning…put ur favorite cleaning supply in the subject line

______________________________

That was enough to let me know I was in the wrong area.  That’s also about the time the word “personal” resonated with me!  I did finally find the actual “job” area and called 3 people to try to schedule an interview.  I ended up choosing a husband/wife team who will be cleaning my house on Friday if no problems arise.  It will be a scheduled time every other week.  She will call if she cannot make it, but she says that, usually, once she schedules a time, then that’s it.

I can’t wait!

_______________________________

Namaste,

Scott

Changing Things is just a Part of Life.

Everyone should take a break now and then.

Well, I have been paying attention; I have been reading; I have been listening.  I have come to the conclusion that I need to start a break of some sort.  It came about a lot because I was 1/2 way to Noblesville today (about 15 miles into the trip) when I realized that I was tired enough I didn’t know that the lunch meeting was tomorrow!  I made use of being out there, but still…

So, here is what I am going to do.

1)  I will post on Wed / Thu / Fri as those are my writing prompts (Friday Fictioneers, Five Sentence Fiction, and Flash Friday).

2)  I will post on Tuesday.  That will be a normal, hopefully, well thought out post.

3)  I may pop a post in now and then off-schedule when something exciting happens.

That will give me 3 days off.  I will try to use those 3 days to get my head on straight, do some writing for profit, and enjoy getting out more before the weather gets bad.

So, I just thought I would tell you all this before I started.  You probably won’t hear from me Sat-Mon this week.  Don’t worry.  It’s my new schedule.  I was worried about my stats.  Then I realized that they are not important.  What is important is for me to keep my wits and all so that we can maintain the wonderful relationship we all have put together in this last year and a half or so.

Enjoy.  Namaste,

Scott

Monday, Monday…Can’t Take that Day….(music)

It’s Monday and, it used to be, that Mondays were hated by me in that I had, like most others, to get up to work and start that nasty work week. I remember always thinking “what a way to spend 1/7 of your life”.

Now, I realize that, on Tuesdays, I complained about being tired from Monday.
Wednesday, the week was only 1/2 done.
Thursday, everyone was tired and worn out with only 1 day left,
and Friday/Saturday were too short to get it all done.

What an attitude (however, I did learn it from a lot of people around me).
Since my stroke, I usually wake up thinking “Wow, I am awake! I get to start another day alive.”  It makes me a bit more happy to do whatever is in store for me.

I still try to apply a general work week to my schedule. Monday-Friday I try to get up about 9, eat and get things going by 10, work til 1, lunch and relax until 2, then work from 2-5 or 6, eat, then have the evening to myself.

The difference is that I enjoy each day and if something messes up the work schedule, I try to simply flow with it. I put down cleaning as work, groceries as work, writing as work, even this blog as work. That way, I can change my day around a lot.

You can do the same, no matter what you do for a living. Even in a factory where you do the same thing over and over, you can group it into sets of 10,20, 50, 100, whatever. Each time you finish a group, at least, give yourself a pat on the back if you can’t take 1 minute to relax. Use your breaks, they are time for you. Don’t do your usual work during breaks, don’t make yourself do anything but enjoy them; otherwise, you come back to the job even more tired than you were.

The one that seems to stick a lot of people is the “I hate my job.” Well, there’s two trains of thought:

First, I got to where I didn’t like my job (my life) or enough of it to cause me to quit (not stroke).   Not my teaching, this would have been back when I was in computers.  When you reach the point of giving up, find something else; I know this is a rough economy, but look, and with enthusiasm. The PC makes looking a whole different ballgame. My! I realized not too long ago that, if I chose, I am disabled, not hooked to a job and could move ANYWHERE. I doubt that I do, but it’s a perk of being disabled.

Second, if changing/moving are really not options, then change what you do or, at least, how you do or approach what you do.  Change your work center a bit: a little color or humor.  Change your attitude.  Make yourself smile and say something nice or humorous when you don’t feel like it.  You might be surprised at how differently you will feel over time.  Changing even the order of a couple of things can make your whole day different.

Finally, at least, or should I say always, take 10 minutes when you get home, even if you are still in the car, to breathe easy, relax, and put the day behind you.  Coming home at full steam is seldom good.

Read “Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow” – excellent book. At least, take the concept to heart. Enjoy your Monday; couldn’t hurt.

Namaste
Scott

Today!

You know, every single morning when you get up, you have the choice to say either “Good Morning!” or “I don’t want to get up today.”

The problem, the way I understand and have lived it is, that your body will help with either way. If you don’t want to get up and say so, your body will, most likely, keep you dragging all day and wanting to go back to bed. Enthusiasm is contagious, even to yourself.

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I try, really hard, to get out of bed at a decent hour every morning. Monday thru Friday I try to make it the same time, just like going to work. My day is then the same amount of time, I can get into my routine, and I know, pretty much, what I can get done. Saturday and Sunday, I sleep in a bit. I try to still make those my rest days. The result? Well, this has been my first week without actually going to work. I have managed to write and submit 4 short stories. It makes me feel good. Total was about 5400 words. Really that  is about 15-16 pages of writing. At that rate, I could write a novel in 5-6 months or about 2 a year. That seems to me to be a pretty good rate. I enjoy the short stories and have some other reasons to not write a novel at the moment, but just knowing I am going at that pace feels really good.

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Make yourself enjoy the mornings, especially getting up…
Scott