Requesting ReLoad

The New Year January 9, 2007

Once again I have made it into the new year.  Time for a new plan (at the very least, the annual update of the financial plan) and a fresh look at things.  I’m not really in to all those resolutions that everyone makes but nobody keeps.  I use this time of year to “update” my short term plans and review my long term goals.  That is my effort to avoid so many reload moments; not that it works, mind you.

My latest reload came from a hasty glance at the weather forecast.  I saw no rain in the forecast for a few days and lit the old stump I’ve been trying to burn away.  I did not take the time to look at the wind speeds.  About bedtime, after a long busy day, the wind picked up and sparks went flying across the yard of dry leaves.  It was just cold enough and damp enough that I escaped having to get out the water hose but I had to stay up and be on fire watch until the wind calmed down.  I don’t feel like I slept very well after that; could be the frequent trips to peek out the window — just to be certain I hadn’t set the neighborhood on fire.  Aren’t you glad you don’t live next door to me?

Depression November 29, 2006

Sorry folks, I know it has been a while since I added anything of interest here.  Perhaps it is just the gloomy weather outside or the fact that I can’t seem to shake this cold.  Maybe it has more to do with the fact that although the work load has increased, the debt load has not decreased.  That could be the reload of this post — go back and do it over but without making so much debt.  What can I say, I am typically American!  And like so many of us, I don’t seem to be getting any closer to that American Dream.  Just my middle-aged realizations of my many failures, I guess. 

Perhaps I should give up on this blog thing also; I don’t seem to be very good at it.

The seasons change… October 4, 2006

October is here and autumn is in the air.  The leaves have started changing colors here in the forest.  Life is always about changes — some good, some bad.  One key to happiness is in how you react to these changes.  For example:

My youngest child is now attending college and living in her own place.  Perhaps “empty nest syndrome” is kicking in as I have returned here to post a life update.  What does this have to do with reload you ask?  Just ask any parent of a grown child for the answer.  There are so many things I wish I had done different for my children.  Oh well, too late now; the rest of life’s lessons will be learned by them first hand.

Meanwhile, the wife and I get to convert the kid’s room into a hobby room!

Too Hot to … October 4, 2006

Sorry, this one got stuck in saved drafts and is just now getting posted.

Just in case you didn’t know… where I live, it is too hot outside for my taste.

I believe there is some truth to all the talk about Global Warming.

When I was a child, I used to stay outside all day and play.  Even as a teen I would drive around in a car that did not have air conditioning and seldom complain about the heat.  Am I just old and soft now?  Or is it actually hotter than it was then?  I can remember playing on the green grass in the yard but my yard is turning into desert.

I also read on Yahoo News that South Africa is being hit by its hardest winter with snow in places that have never seen snow before.  What will earth be like in twenty years?!

Addictions August 15, 2006

I have no true addictions – in the negative sense of the word -
but find that it does not take long for me to miss some things.

My addictions:

1. My wife – truely the other half of me
2. The Web, in general – I hate it when the broadband is down!
3. Mountain Dew – trying to cut back
4. Photography – wish I was had some talent in this hobby
5. Other hobbies at times - ham radio and R/C cars and trucks

I did not mention the kids because they are grown now and, despite being so anxious to move out, now call and visit more than when they lived at home!

I did not mention this blog because I can go weeks without it and really don’t know why I bother with it anyway.  Supper is ready so bye for now…

And then I bought a boat … May 20, 2006

Actually, it was my birthday present (because I asked for it).  This story is a week in the making and so full of possible reload moments.  Problem is … I don’t have time to write it just now, so check back in a few days and see if I’ve edited this post yet.

I wanted the boat the second I saw it because it was like the one I learned to ski behind.

The trailer tongue broke on the way home and I had to have a rollback wrecker carry it home for me.

 Later…

I find out that the boat was not winterized and the V8 engine froze and the block is busted on both sides.

 Good thing I didn’t give much money for it!

hotter, as opposed to the colder post April 7, 2006

Still alive, no better looking, no more literate either.  With a daughter about to graduate high school, I have little time to think of reloads or write here. 

Speaking of high school students — I am worried about the future of my country.  I had the opportunity to visit a 10th grade class this week and talk with about a dozen students.  A few lacked social skills to the point that one word answers had to be drug out by direct questions [maybe I should have asked about sex?].  Others could talk endlessly about the latest video game or music video but nothing else.  None could respond to the basic question of "what hobbies or interests do you have?" [remember we were at school and sex was an unpermitted answer].  To give credit where it is due, perhaps one or two of them were just too studious to have outside interests.  Maybe I just expect too much from young people.

Oh, back to the title topic… a high of 86 [degrees Fahrenheit] today.  Spring is here and storms are abundant.  The flowers are looking pretty and the insects have returned.  That's all for the news today … check back next month to read my complaints about the summer weather!

People Are Like Ice Cubes March 8, 2006

We people are like ice cubes. Ice cubes come in a variety of shapes and sizes for different uses. People also come in a variety of shapes and sizes for different purposes. Most importantly, we must accept what we are and serve humankind to the best of our ability. Some choose to stay cold and rigid for survival, while others may choose to be warm and giving at the risk of being used up. Sometimes life puts us in the shade under a tree, to relax as time slowly passes. Sometimes we are like the cube on the sunny sidewalk, sparkling with brilliance though only for a short while. We, like the ice cube, may not know how we came to be or what our purpose in life is, but we know that our time here is limited. Our weaknesses, like imperfections in the ice, may cause fissures that widen and threaten our very existence. We realize by watching others around us that we may be broken and come to a premature end. We may be smashed into a billion tiny pieces or we may remain a single mass. Whether we turn into countless little drops or one large puddle, we can only hope that the water we become cen serve to quench the thirst of another living thing.