When a friendship ends

I hinted at this in a recent post, but decided to write more about it in its own post. Throughout life, all of us gain friends, but once in awhile, one will drop off of the list for one reason or another. In my case, I'm a quiet type who doesn't have lots and lots of friends, but the ones that I do have are held in high regard, and I'm thankful for each and every one whether I express it often in a strong way or occasionally in a subtle way.

We don't always know what others are thinking or why. Just about everyone I know has lost a friend or two unexpectedly—one day you're talking and everything seems fine, then the next time you get together it seems as though your friend is...off. They don't seem to be glad to be with you, conversation is awkward in that they don't seem to have much to say to you. You ask if everything's OK and get, "I'm fine." (Note that awkward moments like these can be avoided if people were upfront with their friends when something is amiss. But I was wrong once...) In the case of the friend in question here, we've been through multiple jobs since working together in the early/mid-2000s, and have both struggled with repeated layoffs. The two of us have gone to job fairs together, gone to the library to use their computers for job searching. My friend had much better luck, having scored a few jobs, some of them lasting a few years. Me? Well, not so well. A couple of years ago, he found a technical writer position with a decent salary and is still working for them. As I've said here on the Planet, I've found little to nothing.

Just the other day I was looking at my profile on LinkedIn and noticed that this friend had deleted me as a contact. I mentioned it and he gave me the "Oh, really?" look as if he didn't know. Really? He did re-add me later on (I checked), but I looked again a few days later and saw that he'd pulled his name off of my list a second time. I won't bother asking him about this again. He must have known but is playing dumb. Or maybe not "playing."

Over the last few days, I've given thought to why I've held onto this "friendship" for so long. The guy has helped me out a few times, but in the long run he's in it for himself. It seems that he keeps his friends as long as they can do something for him when he needs it.

All I can do is to be the best friend that I can be, using the values that I was taught growing up and taught my daughter when she was growing up.

One step forward, and two steps back

Whenever we encounter a tough situation, we often describe it with the words I've chosen for the title of this post. It simply says that for the forward progress we want, we often get set back even further than we've advanced. Very frustrating indeed. I won't even touch on the corrodedvirus that's been wreaking havoc on the world for the last two years. That wreaks for itself. A real trainwreak. OK, I'm grounded for a...wreak. (Sorry about that—just had to get one last one in).

As you've guessed, since I've written a new blog post, then I must be at the library. There are about five people using the computers and it's very quiet—the perfect condition to do some writing. I almost didn't get here, as my set of wheels is slowly reaching its last legs. The car is running worse and worse. I'd get everything fixed except for the fact that this car is 17 years old and I can't justify putting a lot of money into it. Besides, I don't have $$$$ lying around. Both of you know that I've written about my luck with getting a job. It just might be time for me to throw in the towel and apply for early Social Security. A few friends have suggested doing that. That's not what I want, though. I can't do hard physical work anymore, but my brain works fine. With my background in engineering support, a job requiring the ability to solve problems, designing stuff, or something in between would be perfect.

Despite the struggles I'm going through, I keep seeing a light ahead. But this time I don't think it's a train coming toward me. Good things will come. Things will turn around and get better.

Blogging in the rain

For the record album, I'm not lying. Where I am, it's raining. Not hard, but water is falling. People are driving crazy, too. In fact, on my way to the library, some guy was riding my bumper in his Honda Mommyvan. In the rain. [heavy sigh] They never learn.

The library is crowded today. There are three people using the library's computers. The nearest one is about 15 feet from me, so I guess I'm safe. Hopefully Mr Mommyvan will stay down in the parking lot and tailgate the curb.

Anyway, on this wet day, what better thing to do than to go over to the library and do a little writing? If not for writing, I'd just be sitting at home and getting into the goodies—something I don't need to be doing.

There are a few things that I'd like to write about, but I need to do some thinking about those topics before I unleash anything on you. So for now, you get to read my rambling instead. Lucky you.

In other news, I've decided that while I spent 25 years with a beard, chinular hair just doesn't suit me anymore. Besides, back in the '70s when my beard was a rich auburn color and looked decent on me, my current COVID beard (as I've dubbed it) is all gray, hangs down my face and catches food (like soup, chili, etc.). It makes me look like some character out of the Old Testament. Methuselah happens to come to mind. So why do I have it. I'm sure I've explained it, but here goes one more time: last year about this time, I went through a rough time physically. I was sleeping eighteen hours at a time, felt miserable, fatigued. Some people suggested that maybe I'd caught COVID, but I never got it checked out. My sense of smell and taste never went away (that was a telltale sign of COVID), so I didn't get tested. Doesn't matter now, as I've received my vaccination and a booster. Getting rid of this wild patch of facial hair should take a good eight hundred years or so off of my age; then the crew at Jack in the Box might stop hightailing it out the back door when I stop in.

It's kind of funny (the strange kind of funny) how you can work with someone for years, become their friend, buddy, confidante, and earn a connection to them on LinkedIn. They could serve as a reference should a job come your way. I had such a person, but for reasons unexplained, they decided to cut ties with me on that platform. I decided to ask about it and was met with a shifty grin and sort of an "I didn't know" look. S/he said that s/he would add me again—and did—then gave it a couple of days and deleted me a second time. I won't ask about it again. If I no longer have any value to this person, so be it. There are other classier people out there.

So there you go. Rainy Saturday afternoon blogging. This will have to tide you over till next week when I can get back to the library because they're not open on Sundays until further notice.

Busy week for blogging

As the title of this post implies, there's been a lot of writeage on my planet as of late. That obviously means that I've taken a lot of trips to the library, since for the time being it's the only place where I have access to a computer. I want to change that soon.

As you've seen buried in my bloggery, I'm hoping that 2022 brings a lot of other positive changes to my life and overall well being. No need to go over everything again; should I hit some kind of milestone—or millstone—I'll be sure and write about it here.

For the record, if you're not sure what a millstone is, feel free to look it up. They're not used much anymore, but they come in handy to create archaic sayings in blogs or magazine articles. I'm always happy to put them to good use here. Where there's a mill, there is a way...

Today's blogging thus far is more like a flogging of your time and patience since I haven't really said anything worthwhile. Perhaps this post is the equivalent of holding open the screen door while sweeping all of the dust out of the house. Writing for the sake of writing. And that's OK. I can always use the practice.

Maybe my reference to sweeping out the dust in the previous paragraph was a subconscious reminder that my trash cans need to go out tonight for collection tomorrow. You watch: I'll be outside rolling the barrels to the front of the house at 1am before hopping into bed. And by the time I get up tomorrow, it'll all be collected and I'll be rolling the barrels back to their hiding place alongside the house.

Without a doubt, I'll be back at the library later this week. Who knows? It may even be tomorrow...

2022—off to a slow start

Here we are only halfway through January of a new year, and things around my house are already about as deep as they can get. Not the good kind like relaxing in a nice, warm bath. It's the other kind—think "financial woes," "legal stuff," "health issues" and "need a new car." That's all I will say for the time being. If you are the type who will say a prayer, please say one for me. It doesn't have to be long and detailed. God already knows my troubles and will take it from there. Thank you in advance.

Far be it from me to write what could be taken as a distasteful or nasty blog post. I'm not trying to irritate anyone or start any trouble. Some of these problems I brought on myself. Others were the result of things beyond my control.

A few times I've given thought to sending this blog to the great beyond and finding something else to do. Then I thought, "No, I really need an outlet for all the stuff flying around in my head." Despite the name, you can't get that kind of outlet at the outlet mall, either. It comes from within and only requires a means of getting the thoughts from my head to a published format that can be read by whomever chooses to do so.

While our new year has started off less than wonderful—for me, anyway—it doesn't mean that the rest of the year will be on a downhill trend. We're told over and over that we need to step out of our comfort zone in order to grow. For me, it's not a matter of needing to grow so much as that I need to restore some sense of normalcy to my life. I am more than happy to talk to anyone who is willing to take the time to spend with me. I'm easy to talk to and I don't usually bite.

Wil I return to a theme park this year?

As I've said at least a hundredteen thousand, sixty-twelve times, I'm a huge fan of theme parks—roller coasters in particular. Last year, I actually made it out to Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) exactly...once. That park has been one of my happy places since it opened in 1971 as simply "Magic Mountain." (The Six Flags Corp. bought the park in 1979 and slapped its corporate moniker on the place.) I have the distinction of having visited the park at least once during each and every year it's been open. Because of COVID, I only made it out to there for that one visit in 2021, as SFMM celebrated its 50th anniversary. I got a special deal from park management for a 2022 season pass, so I took them up on it and plan to visit at least once.

Regardless of how I feel, I will likely get out there for the opening of their 20th coaster, Wonder Woman—Flight of Courage, an RMC single-rail coaster. (Single-rail coaster? Think of it as sort of a gravity-powered monorail. For more information, watch this.) In the video, a smaller version of that type of coaster (RailBlazer at California's Great America) was featured. I got to ride it in 2019 during a trip with a friend. However, I was feeling a lot better then and the trip went well. These days...eh. I'm not so sure.

My last trip to Knott's Berry Farm was in 2018 when they opened their Hangtime coaster. I'd like to get back there again sometime soon to see the updated version of Knott's Beary Tales, but the health problems still apply. Ditto for Sea World—last trip in 2018 for the opening of Electric Eel, and they're opening a new coaster this year (Emperor). I'm hoping that I'm up to going for the media day event if ACE members are needed. As for Disneyland, the crazy crowds have returned, and I'm just not up to dealing with all of that. Their once-free FastPass system—which was the right way to let guests skip long lines—has gone to a paid system. In my opinion, Disneyland has gotten too expensive for what you get. They will always have their fans, but as time goes on, I'm not really one of them so much anymore.

We'll see what happens this year.

First post in a year of twos

So it's a new year. 2022. A bunch of twos. Evenly divisible by two (or three, actually). There will likely be some rambling in this post as I tend to do sometimes. But it comes with the territory.

Will we see changes this year? If so, let's hope that those changes will be for the better because the last two years have been cuckoopants crazy. And we're talking about a pair of big, fat, oversized cuckoopants. (Think Levi's 5001s.) This year features the new omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. I was told that my nephew (and I think his girlfriend, but not sure about her) have contracted COVID, but don't know which of the variants he/they've picked up. The last I heard, he/they were weathering it OK. As for me, I've received my two initial shots and the booster, which is said to cover the latest variants, so I should be good to go. But you never know. I say that because a few people have contracted the virus despite being fully vaccinated.

Sometime this year, I need to return to work, get a reliable car, successfully deal with a serious issue that I won't discuss here yet, get well, lose weight, rid my face of that nasty hair and a laundry list of other things. Oh, and do my laundry...

I have so much that I can write about—so much so that my brain is about to pop. Without my tablet set up at home (I won one at the church block party last summer, but haven't set it up as of yet, which is my own fault), I have to rely on the computers at our public library. During the pandumbic, the library's hours have been reduced along with the amount of time that users can use the computers. Thankfully, it's been kind of slow here at the library, so there's never a wait to get on. There are about 35 computers to use; currently there are about five people here and it's nice and quiet.

Time will only tell what will get done and what will happen. I'm just going to take it day by day.