If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. —Antoine de Saint—Exupery
So flouting my state of denial. the amount of weight that is, I have gained over the past couple of years certainly has consequences. Refusing to weigh myself. Should have gotten a clue when every picture I posted of myself dropped to the bottom of the page. So this blog very well may just be devoted to our inspiration to lose that weight. Following a trip to the doc's and having to finally get up onto a scale. Quite the Oh shit moment for both of us. That was nearly three weeks ago and we have both cleaned up our eating substantially. My aggregate loss has been seven pounds and Lisa three. Though I suspect she has lost roughly what I have because she was weighed only five days apart , whereas myself a couple of weeks. We'd also forgotten that it was in fact kind of fun creating healthier dishes. We had home made Crayfish Etouff'e last night. Since this is Viking night it's likely it will be something easier. I completed blood work though I have yet to convince Lisa to do hers. Somebody with more clout than I should give her a call. Surprisingly, even I thought a good chance existed I might be diabetic, but according to my number 91, not even close. And that was the same number the last blood work I had about six years ago was. Once again (I say with great confidence) absolutely, positively expounding upon the great health benefits of cheap red wine, my liver and kidneys seem to be the healthiest organs in my body. Course probably why I've quite possibly packed on some extra el bees too. Hmmm, the diabolical......ness of it all.
Got signed up and approved for my SS. Looking forward to a little bit of relief having to watch every penny. Go figure, hard lesson learned. Whereas I thought I'd have my check in the mail on the first day of June following that 62nd Birthday, the federal government has their own way of conducting business. Namely, to receive that first check for June, I won't get it until the last of July. Our skinnier days.
Get this out of your head after listening to it. Anyway, I got the Harmonica part down pretty good.
Anyways, first things first. Given the crazy costs of anything Health care related, I thought I might reduce the possibility of our breaking our asses, or any such other appendages.
Since I have been bragging about this location awhile now. It's so cheap to live here I've compared it to the kids as "like living with the folks" . Rent, cable internet and all of the other utilities is just south of a couple of hundred bucks. Not only picturesque, if one takes reasonable care, the freedom to pound a few nails and operate some power tools. Old guy Nirvana. Anything resembling this would have been verboten at some of the previous locations. So I got busy. A trip to Lowes and about a hundred and forty dollars later. Lord if I could only cut a straight line.
Princess Inspection
Start to finish, I got about a hundred and forty bucks into it. Hardware store down the highway want six hundred for one pretty similar to this.
We are fixing up our digs here because now it's official, we'll be spending a whole lot more time around here. Lisa got us quit fired again. Truth be told, after a couple of years of it I'm really not going to miss the work. Financially, we certainly aren't rich but the financial damage is manageable. There certainly are a lot of options to return to some kind of work but for now I'd like to just consider myself retired. So I've been dealing with some frightening dizziness lately. Turns out not so much a health as a hygiene issue. Yeah I get the self diagnosis bit, but I did have some medical help because we decided to make contact with the physician designated by our insurance. . First conversation with a doctor in a long time as he poked his light sabery tool into my ears complaining he couldn't see anything. Guess Q tips pack rather than remove wax. Deeeerrrr. Some commercial stuff and a few days later problem solved. Well, mostly. Doc also diagnosed me as medically fat. What the hell!!!. Somehow this wasn't much of a surprise as I'd already joined a gym. Lisa and I are back on the wagon and I got weighed again for the blood work part. Lost seven pounds. Only one million to go. It's not like there isn't a lot going on. I've been a bit preoccupied these days with a few other matters. But to catch up. Lisa and I have gotten involved with the Democrats around here. Fledgling bunch for sure and certainly one would think hopeless this deep in Texas. But they seem to be a hardy bunch and attending the meetings has been anything if not enjoyable and informative. Lisa managed to get herself selected as one of the Delegates to attend the State Convention in San Antonio this June. Of course I'll be there serving as "Lovely Assistant". She doesn't know it yet but I am fully intending to attend a week long Blues Harmonica workshop somewhere, possibly in Mississippi next year. And finally, last week we got a call from the Nephew Dustin that himself along with his DSO Tiffany were heading this way. A spring Break trip bringing them nearly 1800 miles from Twin. So they camped on our porch, enjoyed Texas BBQ, the weather and Mosquitoes for two days and toured our little tropical area down here. Weather was awesome, low eighties and high seventies. A couple of Pics.
So for all intents and purposes I have chosen to hide this blog. That really wasn't the choice it just kinda happened. Anybody to read this, there have been numerous posts, just not showing up on FB anymore. So I'm going to resolve this issue and make it available to people I think might be interested. My apologies.
I am now within the 90 day window in which I can file for social security benefits at 62. (long sigh) At early retirement many years hence, I selected the option to receive less in order to receive more later. In other words I have had to learn to do more with less as they say in government by the lucky individuals who will do anything but. It's not going to be a lot though now Lisa and I have the option of working or not. I choose not. Speaking of working, Likely we are the privileged few who even now are occasionally called. A nice present but surely over now (as I have said every other time.} We just returned from a few day gig. Now we have had to learn to get along with the occasional inhospitable land owner. And without naming names, there have been a few ( among other titles) who have been truly despicable. This time we were warned that once again we'd be located on inhospitable land. A truly onerous sort. Drop by at two in the morning to check if you're asleep or let any of his animals out. I'd heard another horror story from a previous gate guard about the gentleman. So I was prepared to get in and get out. Let me digress just a bit. Down near the border where we started, our location was situated on a huge piece of property I heard rivaled the King's holdings.We got to know one of the head hands who turned out to be the personable sort. Though when he dropped by to converse occasionally, his one complaint to us was the behavior of the Border Patrol, who often left gates open. " Every critter inside them fences has value" he said. "And now they're getting out all the time. When I was a kid, go to work for one o' these ranches, you left the gate open one time you were fired. One time. No forgiveness or sorry, you're just down the road." So we were working a rig move and I was in the process of checking in a line of vehicles and equipment at around two in the morning, when the last one, a big shiny one pulled through. I walked to the driver side and was met with a big smile, a hand stuck out to shake mine and the offer of a beer. Of course contrary to some of my previous bosses who sought to besmirch my name, I've never drank on the job and never will. Of course it didn't hurt that a company man showed up just a few minutes later. Had I accepted, I'd be motoring down the road fired and blacklisted. But over the course of the next twenty minutes a very affable discussion ensued. The land purchased by his grandfather after the second world war, he intended to take care of it and made no bones about battling the companies or individuals that disrespected it. He allowed sure he made a pile of money, but his ranch would still be there when the big companies left. He then commented he liked what we were doing and left. Now it's tough to get everything done when it's hectic and never to leave the gate unattended or open. But if it were me, and the beautiful animal I'd raised from a colt were to slide on out and get killed by one of those psycho truck drivers working down here. Who've bragged working four days in a row with no sleep. I'd be more than perturbed. Especially given the money it cost. The upside of this racket is that for a long time, the oilfield wages were good. Sometimes it's just a point of view. I still dream about my old jobs. The two that I worked the longest for. Sometimes even I'll admit them to be a little unsettling, the dreams that is, resembling not at all my actual experiences at that time. But my first retirement date was June 2007. And the second in 2008. So it has been nine and eight years respectively. So what have I learned after all that time? That Curmudgeony is neither an illness, nor a choice. It is in fact an insidious male phase of life whose symptoms can simply be described as more bellowing than voice. Speaking loftily as master of all things worldly, child rearing, politics etc, I find myself in that unique position of being both astounded at my own senior abilities of possessing all that is wise, with another tiny voice whispering in my ear, the one that has reminded me time and time again while in the presence of such gifts, "You are so full of shit". Just ask my kids..... And that folks is my tiny bit of insight accorded to me this two naught, naught, naught. Enjoy.....
