Playing Fair and Being Kind

This is going to be short. I’m in over my head in many areas of my present existence. To list a few:
1. Working with Maine State Prison to restart a stalled volunteer program-
2. Adjusting to these new eyes after muscle surgery (my old glasses don’t work now so I need new ones but I’m developing strategies to be able to read up-close and drive without said glasses. Tricky.)
3. I have a broken tooth. It was an anchor to the partial plate I wear. I’ve been negotiating with my dentist in the meantime to do the implants thing. This morning I met with him to discuss a way to put in a crown to hold the partial and then continue the implant negotiations.
4. I’ve decided to spend more time in Maine this winter. I have four cords of firewood to stack. Two cords of seasoned and two cords of green. The green can sit where it is through the winter but the seasoned needs to be stacked before the snow arrives. I have nearly all of the seasoned stacked and ready to cover and I’m keeping one of my new eyes on the weather. Each day looks like snow is going to arrive. Tense.
5. I just finished obtaining a refinance of my house. I did this to get funds to do the home improvement thing. The contractor and I have a plan to enlarge and renew parts of the house. I’ve got to relocate my bed to the living room like I normally do in winter. But first I have to stack the firewood.
6. Yesterday I started a subscription to cable T.V. I am half heartedly tuning in to see what is available to watch. I’m not a T.V. person but the last few rain storms caused such poor reception that I couldn’t watch a football game on Sunday. It was frustrating. So the Direct T.V. is my answer to that situation.
7. On top of these minor cuts I am feeling distressed that I have been inventing some interesting story lines and poetry in my head but have not been able to make notes due to 1. through 6. above. Not to worry. Those will return some other forms but still…

I am snowed by the printed media that accompanies the Direct T.V. subscription. It’s all Greek to me. I begin to read directions and after the second or third word my brain goes into survival mode and decides to play “Mickey the Dunce”. It happens all the time. I’ve discovered this is my way to get through life. I lose interest because I cannot follow a line of print on a page. Anything to do with instruction or a new way of thinking slams the old brain behind a steel door. I just put down the book/pamphlet/directive and sigh a sigh. I don’t know what to do but not do that thing.

I recall getting my first real computer. The PC. It had a “tower”, a keyboard, and a monitor. Lately I have a laptop. I also have a tablet and a smart phone. I find the phrase “smart phone” ironic. Please don’t ask why. You should know by now. The first PC I had was a beaut. I didn’t use it for anything technological. I stored pictures and joined chat rooms (remember those?) and I played the board games. It was a toy that cost me hundreds of dollars. I can’t do a spread sheet. I can’t do photo shop. I can’t do tweets and other cool things. My mind does not accept those activities. But I do look at tweets and photo shops and memes. I can do memes.

Soon I’ll be 79 years old. I am both healthy and decrepit. A phase of life I believe. Old enough to die any day and young enough to still exhibit sass.

O.K. I’v run out of things to say today. I will be on here less frequently because I have to stack firewood, fix my teeth, and get my eyes back in commission. I will post as often as I can and things will improve.

Peace out,
G. M. Goodwin
28 November 2017