I’m Still Here

Thu., January 29, 05:58 PM

I was aware that I hadn’t posted for a while, but I was astounded that I also had missed several of my buddies’ journal entries. Some people are ready to share all their concerns, whatever they may be. I’m just the opposite… Never mind, it’s time to get going.

So, this morning I decided I really had to post something, and I actually started formatting something before Bosslawyer turned up. And I continued to work on it in between phone calls. I was about halfway done when I decided to go to lunch.

I had no problem getting home, etc. I had some nice leftover hot and sour soup – just the ticket – and a cup of tea and it was time to head back. I put down the Elizabeth George novel I had just started, bundled up again and went out to the car…

…and backed into a pile of snow. Stuck! My usual tactics didn’t work, because the poor little car was hung up on some snow that kept the tires from connecting properly to the ground. This happens more often with short cars, I think. It wasn’t the end of the world – I knew I’d get out eventually – but it was certainly the end of the workday.

I phoned Bosslawyer and said as soon as I got free, I was going to drive right into the garage and stay there. It’s the end of the week for me, so I told him I’d adjust the hours I report. I started to tell him to turn off the computer, but then I realized that he doesn’t know how. Of course, it won’t hurt anything if it stays on all weekend (although my floppy is still in it). If Otherlawyer comes in, he can turn it off.

Otherlawyer, incidentally, is doing quite well after his coronary bypass. He has actually come into the office for short periods and, if he continues to improve, will be allowed to drive a little next week.

Anyhow, I got my shovel (kid-sized) and began working at the snow under the car. I pulled a lot of it out, wondered if I should call the auto club, and then I remembered that Son-in-Law might be available this afternoon. He was, and he got the car loose so I could garage it. And then he took the normal-sized shovel and cleared the end of the drive. If it hadn’t been for that last snowplow pass, it would have been fine – but if in the future is only fiction. I am grateful to Son-in-Law.

One of the things on my mind is Dr. Martin Luther King and his “I have a dream” speech. I’ve been chewing on this since his day, when the local radio station played the entire speech. I listened to all the words, and I wonder if we’ve lost the dream. A whole generation has passed, and have we all learned anything?

You can’t help but form an impression of someone the first time you see them. (Why did I always tell my kids, you never get a second chance to make a first impression?) What you see aligns itself with ideas you already have; black, white, fat, sloppy, overdressed, tattooed or pierced, for example, already means something to you. But how many of us make the conscious attempt to see past that first impression? How many of us withhold our comments until we find out what lies beneath the surface? What have we taught our children?

When I hear a young man of my daughter’s age comment that a black basketball player looks as if she belongs in the jungle, I want to smack him – not to mention the parents who didn’t teach him better.

(I didn’t say a word, incidentally, because U.D. lit into him. No reason to gang up on him. I did offer to make a few jokes about “dumb Polacks” – I never do that – and he said he’s Czechoslovakian, which I found comical and he didn’t.)

But how long are we going to have to wait before our country is truly one of equal opportunity? I found it very depressing.

Thanks to the snow, my doctor’s appointment of yesterday had to be rescheduled. So I have the eye doctor tomorrow and four appointments scheduled for February. I’m glad I have insurance to cover this, I’m glad I have a flexible schedule, I’m glad I have the ability to drive myself where I have to go, and so forth. But this is really stupid.

You can schedule a day at a spa, where you get steamed and massaged and manicured and facialed and whatever – nice, comforting, but not critical. Wouldn’t you think someone would get the idea of a diagnostic day, where they could draw blood (and then give you breakfast!), and then do all the tests they have to do – X-rays, and so forth – as a kind of one-stop checkup? I’ve done three and have five to go – not counting the eye doctor – even if everything turns out negative. No wonder I never bothered when I was younger; there weren’t enough sick days on the calendar!

Now this list, which I first saw at trinity63,who got it from bisa. Then I saw it on the purple chai. But this version is from golfwidow, whose answers are most likely to be in common with mine. I think.

Instructions:

  1. Copy this whole list into your journal.
  2. Bold the things that you have in common with me.
  3. Whatever you don't bold, replace with things about you. Take note, ALL of the following 100 are about me. The bold ones I have in common with golfwidow; you bold what you have in common with me, then make up new things about YOU for the rest.
  4. Please contact me if you do it so that I can come read it.

* * * * *

  1. My favorite carbonated beverages have to be sugarless. Diet Coke® and plain sparkling water are among the best.
  2. I think the best sound in the world is babies’ laughter.
  3. I like to read.
  4. I am almost content with my life for the time being.
  5. I love all vegetables except peas.
  6. My daughter and I have had a great relationship my whole life and continue to have a great relationship.
  7. I have some regrets, but I know I can't change the past.
  8. I wear glasses for some things but never cared about contacts.
  9. I used to like to cook, but that was when I could still eat everything I made. Not much fun any more.
  10. I like cats.
  11. I love dogs, especially big lovable ones.
  12. I'm married, and have never been divorced.
  13. I’ve never been to Bermuda, but I’ve been to St. Thomas.
  14. My favorite colors are blue, green, and yellow.
  15. I have a degree, but my business certificate did me a lot more good.
  16. I enjoy a variety of musical styles.
  17. I like to spend a lot of time by myself.
  18. I have no opinion about CMT, never having had any contact with it.
  19. I want to travel (some of) the world.
  20. I don’t love getting out of bed in the morning, but once I’m up, that’s when I do most of my best stuff.
  21. I’ve seen occasional sunrises, especially in winter when I get up in the dark. But I have to be looking for them.
  22. I'm not a very picky eater at all; I love lots of different foods and I love trying new foods.
  23. I love tea.
  24. I have never been employed in the field in which I hold a degree. But I constantly use all the things I’ve learned.
  25. I don’t have any really big vices any more, if I ever did. Vanity, maybe.
  26. I’ve never thought of myself as intuitive, but I do think I’m observant.
  27. I’m not a creative person, but I work very well with people who are.
  28. I do not see much of my extended family.
  29. I am not a perfectionist.
  30. If a book is really badly written, I can't bring myself to waste time on it. If it's just that it's not interesting to me, I'll sometimes force myself through it.
  31. I don’t get nutty about pillows. My mother used throw pillows all over; that affects my thinking.
  32. I enjoy animals, but I like people better.
  33. I have no use for pretentious people.
  34. I like the present time better than any in the past.
  35. I dislike bigotry, racism, and general meanness, and I speak out against it as I encounter it, but I also recognize it — and despise it — in myself occasionally, which I think I was just talking about.
  36. I am not as wealthy as I'd like to be.
  37. I'm a registered Democrat partly out of habit and partly because it’s better to be Democrat in this town. But I vote all over the map.
  38. I am more shy than otherwise, but I’ve learned to deal with it. Most people are surprised if I mention it.
  39. My parents were married only once, to each other, and that lasted thirty-nine years, when my dad died.
  40. I’m neither a follower nor a leader. I thought I was a follower until I found occasions when I had to lead.
  41. I really enjoy thoughtful gifts, even if they cost nothing.
  42. I like to make people laugh and smile.
  43. I have two daughters and a son, all of whom are older than thirty. (Good grief!)
  44. I bit my nails when I was a child. but stopped consciously when I was in high school. I have always done my own nails.
  45. I am fairly patient with others, unless they’re really stupid, and then I try to be polite (and snigger into my sleeve).
  46. I love coleslaw, potato salad, macaroni salad — basically, anything with mayonnaise that gets served with picnic foods is good eats.
  47. I’m fatter than I’d like to be, but I’m more interested in being comfortable than I am in being hungry.
  48. I don’t need the first two seasons of Monty Python's Flying Circus on VHS because I can get them from golfwidow.
  49. I obsess when my computer isn't working right.
  50. I drive a twelve-year-old Honda Civic, which will probably last until I’m too old to drive.
  51. I like silence at times.
  52. I’ve modified my personal religion a lot, but I’m still more Jewish than anything else.
  53. I possess a high IQ.
  54. Procrastination is something I used to do, but it stops being procrastination when no one cares when or whether you do it.
  55. I almost always carry a purse because there’s stuff I need, but I seldom change purses because there’s always something I forgot to include.
  56. I don’t mind bugs or spiders, etc., as long as they’re not crawling on me.
  57. I liked coloring with crayons – when I could get them – but I’ve long since found other outlets for my “artistic” talents.
  58. I have so much on my plate I often become overwhelmed. Don’t we all?
  59. I am not a member of the mile high club.
  60. Cleaning my desk has always caused more trouble than if I left it alone.
  61. I’ve always worked for the Establishment, but it has stopped working for me.
  62. I have always striven to do what's right, but it doesn't always happen that way.
  63. I overreact about things sometimes.
  64. I surround myself with really great people. (Even if that means I'm alone sometimes.)
  65. I assume I dream as much as everyone else, but I seldom remember what I dreamt.
  66. I like to people-watch.
  67. I enjoy silly people.
  68. I love warm climates.
  69. I have never camped out overnight in line for concert tickets.
  70. I have never smoked pot or used any similar substance. My experience with alcohol taught me that I do better unaltered.
  71. I used to love costume jewelry, but have become happier with fewer pieces of real gold and good stones.
  72. Candles are nice on occasion, but far too dangerous if you have a cat.
  73. I love my online friends.
  74. I have learned to say no.
  75. I hate hurting others.
  76. I don’t discuss intimate matters like orgasms. They’re none of anyone else’s business.
  77. Other people’s opinion of me used to be important, but if you don’t like yourself, nothing else is relevant.
  78. On any given day, chances are my bra and panties won't be a matched set.
  79. I like men to be smart and have a sense of humor. Looking good is a bonus, not to be expected. A rather plain-looking man may father beautiful children.
  80. I love children, but I’ve done that and I’m too old to do it again.
  81. I do not own a vibrator.
  82. My boobs are natural.
  83. I'm a good swimmer and wouldn't mind having a pool, but am not pining away without one.
  84. I don't mind the smell of fingernail polish, but I wouldn't go so far as to say I "like" it.
  85. I don’t mind flying, but I enjoy trains more.
  86. Either I’m daydreaming, or I’m writing something to be put on paper later. You’ll seldom know which.
  87. I’ve never had a real panic attack, which is not to say I’ve never been scared.
  88. I have never been spanked by a lover. I can’t imagine why you would, or why you would talk about it if you did.
  89. I don’t mind spiders. They’re interesting in their weird way.
  90. I am easily annoyed.
  91. I am easily amused.
  92. I'm ready for this list thing to be over.
  93. I think Michael Jackson is guilty.
  94. I have a lot of people I'm friendly with, but few that I consider true friends.
  95. Secrets? No, just some things I don’t discuss.
  96. I don't always appreciate honesty. Some people use it as an excuse to be nasty. A white lie may be kinder.
  97. I like to help people.
  98. I miss a lot of people and wish they were still with me. I’m fortunate to have a good memory.
  99. I buy things for people without a special occasion.
  100. I'm glad this is done!

It strikes me that my answers are not always what were expected. If I’ve given you a giggle, I’m glad!



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