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.

Final post of the year

We've reached the end of 2021—FINALLY!!! 2020 was bad, 2021 was worse, and let's hope that 2022 won't be WORSER! It's time that all of the nonsense from the past two years is over and done with and it's time to move on to better things.

2021 ends in two days, so this will likely be my last post of the year. For the time being, I need to visit our local library to write posts. At some point, I'll have access to my own computer and be able to write at home once again. The details about this and a bunch of other things is a really Long story and I don't even want to get into it here. Think of how comfortable you'd be in a small car driving through a parking lot hitting all of the speed bumps at 60 mph. That's where I am right now.

I've given this post the title of "Final post of the year," but with a little luck, I might squeeze in one more. That depends on a bunch of things. Best to consider it the last one, though. I have quite a pile of things that need to be addressed before I can play around on my planet.

Sometime next week, I may write a bit about the nonsense I'm dealing with. Never did I think I'd be in this deep. It's going to take a lot of prayer and work to get out of this hole. Stay tuned.

Maybe 2022 will be better?

Since everything was shut down around March 2020 thanks to good ol' COVID-19, life has been, well, less than fun. That's about as nice as I'm going to get because otherwise some not-so-pleasant words just might appear here—the kind you hear a lot in R-rated movies and biker bars.

Back in 2020, everyone hoped that by the time 2021 came around, things would get back to normal. As we've seen, no such luck. In fact, during this year, at least two new variants of COVID-19 have shown up. First there was delta, and now omicron. The makers of at least one of the vaccines used for the booster shots claim that their vaccine covers those. We'll see, as my nephew and his girlfriend have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Wonderful news, huh?

In a little over a week, we'll be heading into a new year. We said the same thing a year ago and many thought that 2021 would see an end to the pandumbic (I can't help calling it that, in part to the appearance of the new variants and the fact that too many people still don't take this whole thing seriously—they don't wear face coverings or keep their hands clean, and think that they're somehow above catching any form of the virus).

Will 2022 keep the fun and games going? Only time will tell.

What to do when life becomes overwhelming

Y'know, for a guy who isn't working, I sure have a lot of stuff going on. Trying to finish the taxes (I filed an extension, but the deadline is coming up—long story). I'm behind on some other things and trying to work through them. Despite health issues, I am able to work, though I would be best at doing what I've been doing for a long time, which is pretty much engineering support—drafting/design, technical writing and illustration. It's frustrating when people tell me to "go apply at a warehouse" (Amazon, Costco, etc.) or "get a fast food job" when they don't know my state of health. There are personal transportation issues, as in "needing reliable transportation." I'm still planning to rid myself of that tragic carpet on my face. And there's the never ending fight to try and keep myself healthy, vertical and breathing. These days, life is kind of like trying to fit a full-sized, five-course meal onto a dessert plate. If nothing else, at least I'm sleeping well and getting enough.

As I mentioned previously, I've connected with the local Baptist church. The last time I was there, I asked Pastor Glenn if I could arrange a time to sit down with him and just...talk. I have no doubt that he can point me in a better direction than the one I'm heading in. He's really busy this week, but he said that perhaps sometime next week could work, and that he would be glad to spend some time with me.

A couple of friends invited me to join them at Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) this week. I think I'll take them up on their invitation because I could use that. Fright Fest is going on out there and they'll be open late. SFMM is one of my happy places, and a visit out there always puts a smile on my face. Mom and family are going to visit this weekend to help me with some things at home.

Today's post was mostly written for me to vent a little. At some point, all of the crap will be over and everything will be all right once again.

A rambling visit to the Planet

It felt so good to be able to write a new post last week. So much so that I wanted to try it again. Like last time, I'm at the library. They got new computers with some funky keyboards, but I'm sure they'll grow on me over time.

Speaking of growing...

By now, most of you know that during the early months of this year, I have regrown my beard. Something's wrong with it because it's all gray—like it's old or something. A few days ago, I overheard a guy tell someone to "go ask that Methuselah-looking guy over there." That calls for me to rethink having such a monstrosity adorn my face. I never wanted to grow it in first place, but when the simple act of shaving becomes difficult, it's just easier to let the hair grow and the beard flow. While I'm still fighting the fatigue that caused me to grow it in the first place, there comes a time when it's gone far enough and must meet its doom. That time is soon. Perhaps I'll write a post with before and after photos—for shock value if for nothing else. The police can update their files with my new photos. I'm not easy to catch so they'll have their hands full.

Getting around the Planet has been difficult as of late. The three cars at our house are anywhere from 15 to 20 years old, and all are running poorly or not at all. Common sense says to "just get a new one." Easier said than done—especially now because even used cars are hard to come by. It's all related to COVID-19, so they say. Not having worked for awhile doesn't help, either, as it takes money to acquire a car.

Have I rambled enough yet in this post? I think so. I'd better not say any more about the things that are bugging me at the moment or I'll end up getting into things that need to be kept quiet for the time being.

I'm thankful for being able to get back into my blog and do some writing, whether it makes sense or not, and whether it's a long or short post. Any way I can do it, it's good for me.

Looks like I'm back

Didn't think you'd see me again, did you? Honestly, neither did I. When you don't have a computer, you use your tablet if you have one. Mine worked enough for me to write while the library was closed, but it ran out of memory then went all josoco and stopped working altogether. I thought I was sunk.

I don't recall if I've written about having started to attend church where I live. Like most things, I'm slow to jump in with both feet, so I haven't officially joined this church as of yet. But I do enjoy going and there are some wonderful people there. They just got a new pastor last spring, and in my opinion, he's a keeper. Pastor Glenn Bezerra is young and brings a whole new dimension to a conservative Southern Baptist church. From what I've seen, he's really given the church a good kickstart. Reaching out to the community is high on Pastor Glenn's agenda, and the church has planned or will plan events that involve the community. With five acres of property, there's a ton of room. A recent event was a block party. Everyone at church was invited and encouraged to bring family, friends and neighbors. They had a ton of food—American, Brazilian, Filipino and Mexican. (I had a little of each.) There were games, music and a raffle. I even won a new tablet. (I was surprised because I usually never win anything.) I invited my mom, my sister and my nephew. All of them had a good time, got to take a tour of the church, and they got to meet Pastor Glenn.

It's been about a month since the picnic and I haven't yet set up the tablet. But I'm behind on most things these days. Overall, I'm not feeling well. Even though I'm fully vaccinationated with one of the COVID-19 vaccines, I'm still struggling. After my poor Honda quit running last December, I've been driving Diana's old Corolla, and now it needs a ton of work. Per my last post, I still haven't been out to take a much-needed coaster ride. Taxes. Issues with my home. *SIGH* 2021 may go down as a worse year than 2020.

This wasn't a world record-breaking post in terms of length. But it's enough for me to reconnect with both of my readers. Despite the challenges, I think I'll be OK when all is said and done.

Will I return to our local theme parks in 2021?

It's very strange for me to not take trips to theme parks. For most of my life, those trips were always a lot of fun. As we all know, the events of 2020 kept parks closed for most of the year. I only visited Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) twice, which is unusual for me. One visit was in January to attend the media day event for the park's newest coaster, West Coast Racers. The other visit was in November for their first ever Holiday in the Park drive-through experience. I never got out of my car during that event, so of course I got no rides on anything.

Now with so many people receiving their COVID-19 vaccinations, parks are reopening, though with restrictions on number of guests and how close they can be to one another. In fact, as I write this, Diana and Lori are getting set to head to the recently-reopened Disneyland Resort tomorrow to celebrate their birthdays.

SFMM reopened last month and reservations are being taken for guests to visit. As with Disneyland, there will be restrictions in place. Ditto for Knott's Berry Farm, Legoland California, and SeaWorld San Diego. Things are slowly getting back to normal.

But the pandumbic is only part of the problem—for me at least. My own health issues don't help. I need to work with my doctor to get those things under control, resolved, amputated, cured...something. It'll take some time and work, but I'll get there.

Notice to my readers

This is a quick heads-up to anyone who follows me by e-mail. Apparently, the folks at Blogger have decided to discontinue the "Follow by Email" service, come July 2021. If any of you are getting my posts by e-mail, you will no longer receive them in your e-mail as of July. The best thing for you to do is to make sure that you add my blog's website (http://erics-planet.blogspot.com) to your bookmarks if you haven't already.

Also, I will still post links to my blog posts on Facebook, so if you are connected with me there, watch for status updates, as they will contain the link to the latest post. Keeping an eye peeled for a link on Facebook and bookmarking my blog's website will assure that you won't miss anything.

Yell for Yellow! Making pandumbical progress

What in the world does that mean?!?!? Yell at a yellow light to stay yellow till you get through it? Yell at the yellow stuff you dripped on your clothes while eating a hot dog? Or the worst—yelling at that yellow stain spreading across your lap after you've laughed too hard at something...

But Yellow is a good thing in this case. It's the final tier and least restrictive of the COVID-19 color tier system. It may be a thing in other states, but it's definitely a thing here in California. 

It is estimated that our county (and certainly others) should be moving to the Yellow tier in the next week or two. With the number of COVID-19 cases dropping statewide, Gavinor Newsance claims that the color tier system could be gone, extinct, kaput by June 15. My guess is that once that happens, it means that we'll no longer be under restrictions as to how many people can be in a restaurant, sports facility, theater, theme park, etc. Call it "almost" back to pre-pandemic levels. This doesn't/shouldn't mean that we can let down our guard. Continuing to social distance, wash our hands, and wear face coverings will be a good idea for at least awhile. With more people receiving one of the COVID-19 vaccines now available, we should reach herd immunity, which is a major turning point.

And things should improve significantly from that point on.

Orange you glad we're making progress?

Danger! I'm being punny again. Our county just moved to the Orange tier of the state's COVID risk factor system the middle of last week. Only one more tier left to go: Yellow. Maybe I'm just jump-up-and-down, golly gee, giddy glad that we've taken yet another step toward the end of the colored tiers here in California. Even Gavinor Newsance says that they can throw out the COVID color tier system by as early as June 15. What a relief that will be! Imagine going to a building dedicated to one purpose—putting food on a table in front of us so we can chow down. And filling my own cup at the Freestyle machine! Haven't done those things in ages!

That may not mean the end of needing to wear face coverings, though. While the end of the color tier system may mean fewer restrictions on us, continuing to wear our face coverings may be a wise thing to do. There will still be a risk of catching the dreaded coronavirus, though not as much. It would be wise for certain individuals [points at self] with a chronic illness (in my case, two) to continue wearing their face coverings despite being fully vaccinated (which I will be soon). Better safe than sorry.

Interestingly, I recently got a text message from my sister about arranging a visit to Six Flags Magic Mountain sometime soon now that the park has reopened. Other parks in the state will reopen within the next month or two. SFMM is requiring would-be guests to make a reservation to visit in order to comply with a state-imposed limitation of the number of guests in the parks. (Imagine if parks limited the number of guests in the parks all the time! No more packed-to-the-gills theme parks! That would be a theme park fan's fantasy come true!)

Strange as it sounds, there have been a few benefits to having limitations on travel and activities. Fewer people crowded together, less traffic for faster commutes among them. But getting our normal lives back will be a blessing. I'm looking forward to that!

Are we finally heading back to normal?

After 175 years of the COVID-19 pandumbic (well, it seems like it's been that long), our county has finally moved from the Purple tier (the most restrictive) to the Red tier, meaning that there are fewer restrictions on us. More opportunities for dining inside restaurants, and more people allowed into businesses are among the benefits in the Red tier.

A thought about these tiers: I don't know how or why they were given the colors they got. Purple, Red, Orange, Yellow. It seems more logical to have the most restrictive tier be red, then move to orange, then yellow, then green—think traffic lights. Why? Because that's an easy, familiar way to remember the color levels. When I hear "Red," I think "Stop." Then with Yellow or Orange, I think "Caution." With Green, I think, "You're good to go!" That makes sense to me, anyway. But I didn't make it up. Learn more here.

Being able to go inside a nice, cool and clean restaurant, pour our own drinks, and have some elbow room sounds really good right now. We'll still need to wear our face coverings, but getting to sit and eat inside will be like a luxury. Also, by the end of April, most—if not all—of California's long-shuttered theme parks should be open. Of course there will be limitations of the number of guests; face coverings will be required, social distancing will be in place, and ride vehicles and tables will be frequently sanitized. Fewer people will be able to ride due to social distancing, so waiting will take longer.

I'm guessing that movie theaters will reopen with limited capacity, as will bowling alleys, gyms, etc. Maybe Jim Kula and I can resume seeing the foreign films on Monday nights.

Aside from the increase in activities permitted, more important is the fact that this disease is slowly but surely receding. We won't be losing so many of our loved ones. Sadly, some of my friends have lost one or a few family members and/or friends.

People are receiving their vaccinations—if they can get an appointment to do so. I've been trying, but no appointments have been available. At this time, people with certain conditions are getting priority to receive the vaccine. (I qualify because I'm diabetic.) Strangely, there are vaccination sites in every city of our county, except for the city I live in. Kinda figures, huh? But I can keep trying, right? At the rate I'm going, I'll plan on being fully vaccinated by the turn of the next century.

I've called this COVID-19 situation a "nightmare" and a "pandumbic." What I'd like to call it is "over." 

Is it OK to be angry with someone who's sick?

At some point in our lives, we've had to care for or deal with someone who is fighting some sort of bug, condition, disease, virus—whatever. For many of us, it's our children or spouse, but could also be a friend. Taking care of someone who is ill can be frustrating, especially when that person becomes dependent on you for simple things that they normally do on their own. But is getting angry, raising your voice or even striking them (I've heard stories) ever the right thing to do?

So why am I writing about this? As of late, I've been dealing with something that's been causing me to sleep a lot. I've written about it here on the Planet, and know that I need to see the doctor. That's old news. Until the COVID-19 pandumbic goes away, that could be tricky. However, with the new vaccines now available, maybe that'll speed things up. Our county just moved up a color level (to Red), so some of the restrictions have eased. I've had various people actually get angry with me that I'm not well and can't (they think "choose not to") do what they feel I should do. (Remember: many of these folks are armchair physicians and know it all. Upon request, I'll bet they'll proudly show you their medical duhgree.)

Regardless of the nightmare we've been dealing with for a year, there are going to be sick people from now till the end of time. Those who choose to deal with their ailing family and friends by following the advice given in Caring for the Infirmed by Iyell Atyou are doing the world a tremendous disservice.

Inflicting anger onto someone who got sick because of a virus going around or from a treatable condition allowed to get out of hand will not make them better, nor will it fix the problem. Depending on the affliction, taking care of someone can be exhausting. But as hard as it may be, try to show some compassion and kindness to those who could use it. In reality, that means everyone all the time, but when people are under the weather, an extra serving is not only a nice touch, but may have some benefits.

Things seem to be coming together

After what seems like an eternity of unericsplanetary debacles (try saying that fast three times), mishaps, bad tastes in my mouth and gum in my hair, it looks like there is a light at the end of the tunnel—and this time it's not a train.

Some things aren't changing (like my bizarre sleep habits as of late. I told you about that last time). But some things...maybe. Just today, in fact, I woke up at the crack of late afternoon—3pm to be exact, a mere 13 hours after hitting the hay. Getting up at almost dinnertime is not a good thing, especially when you're a diabetic. Going too much time without eating can be dangerous. Fortunately, my blood sugar reading was good at 111. But later on, what made my day was a visit from someone who may help in ridding our place of one of the two old, decrepid cars that live here. The best of the bunch will be returned all fixed...my CR-V. Done at no cost to me, too! I'll asplain when it happens.

Whenever things start to go right, it's a boost to my feelings of self worth. And I've badly needed that for such a long time. I've spent too much time worrying about what's to come. What I've learned is something I've actually known all along: that patience and prayers pay off. Many family members and friends have reminded me of this; the good things that are starting to happen is a sign that it's true. I need to learn to listen.

Everybody wants to be a cat!

Well, maybe not everybody—and maybe not even me. What brought this up is a few facts about me and thinking about how things are going in my life these days. Then the infamous song from Walt Disney's classic 1965 movie, The Jungle Book, came to mind. First, I was born under the sign of the cat, you know, Leo (not Lincoln-Mercury). Next, as of late, I've been sleeping upward of 12-15 hours a day whether I need it or not, or even if I don't want to. We all know that cats spend more time asleep than they do awake. I also sleep curled up in a ball (think "sideways fetal position") under some very thick covers to stay warm. And in the summer, too! It also helps my feline persona that I have been very lax about shaving. I've almost completely regrown the signature beard I had from high school till about 1999. The difference is that my once auburn jowl-to-jowl face carpeting is now completely gray. I may be 61, but I look about twelve times that. See for yourself:

Small children and animals beware, right? At least the hair on top has more or less retained its natural color, though it's starting to pull the dreaded disappearing act. So far, no one I've encountered has tried to pet me or call Animal Control. They even allow me into grocery stores, so at least I can still get my mum-mums and other things I need.

This is the result of dealing with who-knows-what. My doctor sent me to the lab and nothing is out of whack, though my blood sugar numbers could be better—typical diabetic issue. But I'm in no danger, my heart and lungs are OK, etc. He also sent me to an endocronologist for further treatment, but thanks to some missing information and a tight deadline by which I had to have had my visit, I missed out. It's a new year, so I'll see if we can try it again. Having good health insurance is a godsend, but at times it can be more like "unsurance."

So there you have it. You didn't ask, but you got an update on me anyway. Weird as it sounds, I may be rockin' facial fur that rivals Chimi's, but that will change ASAP. And maybe I can take care of some other things that have needed doing for longer than they should. One step at a time. But first, a little more sleep...