I have written three books since I retired. One was an autobiography (up to retirement), one was about religion, and the other was a 12-month chronology of events during retirement (about ten years ago). None of these masterpieces was meant for publication; rather, just something I could pass along to my grandchildren, if they were interested.
I’m thinking about doing another book. This one would be about life in the early 21st century, with general observations about technology, culture, politics, human relations, etc. I might call it “Musings” or something. I can see someone in 100 years looking back at our primitive society and wondering, “What were they thinking?”. In that future state, robots with artificial intelligence might perform most of the work on Earth. Humans at that point might ask themselves, “How did people function when they actually had to think and work?”
Anyway, if I get energized, or laid up for a spell, maybe I’ll start typing again, big time.
Speaking of health issues, our neighbor Clark Pace had a “heart attack” recently. Or, at least that’s what we all thought until his doctors determined that it was probably a pulmonary embolis (that he survived!). He’s doing fine now. Another close friend, George Knapp, had the real deal last week, and had to endure a triple-bypass open-heart surgery. He is a card-playing/bowling buddy of mine, and a fellow critic of the Master HOA Board of Directors here in Bear Creek. I love to talk with him about community politics. He’s quite knowledgeable; he once served on the Master HOA Board. I did a couple of stints on such Boards; once on the Oak Tree HOA, and another time on the Country Club Villas HOA, where i was President for a short while. It’s a thankless task.
JayJay, our male Boston Terrier, is visiting the Vet eye doctor today for a follow-up exam. JayJay had a bad case of conjunctivitis and the beginning stages of cataracts in both eyes. I’ve been dosing him with three types of eye drops for about a month, and the whites of his eyes are not red anymore. I think he can see pretty good at this point; if I held out a hot dog in my hand 20 yards from him, I’m pretty sure he’d be on it in a flash. We watch a lot of veterinary “reality” shows on TV, and it appears that dogs can function pretty well with poor or, even, no eyesight, just like they can get around pretty well if a limb is amputated. The Jay Man is 10 years old now, so we can probably anticipate him losing sight in his left eye within the next 2 or 3 years. We’ll all deal with it. As long as he doesn’t lose his sense of smell and taste, he’ll be a pretty happy guy.
Speaking of that, JayJay has begun to rough house with Baby, our Boston puppy, just like Booger has been doing. The three of them spent about 20 minutes this morning playing together, “fighting” over a squeek toy, and wrestling back and forth. The puppy has unlimited energy and is quite feisty, gives as good as she gets, and really wears out the old fogies. They had another play session later in the morning. Booger is now taking a well-deserved nap while JayJay is at the eye vet.
I am looking forward to the day (please, Jesus!) when Baby is fully housebroken. Then she can do what the other two dogs do most of the time…nap…in various spots around the property. Booger is sunning herself out in the backyard as we speak.
Charlie’s tax season chugs on. She’s doing several a day now, while son Tim and I try to keep her regular bookkeeping up to date. At 71 years old, my wife has tremendous stamina to do what she does, although, at times, she swears at the computer like a longshoreman. Her main communication technique during tax season seems to be yelling (ha ha), but we put up with it because we love her and know that she loves doing people’s taxes and helping them maximize their deductions and tax return. Only six more weeks…
We are planning to take a well-deserved vacation on April 29 to join our son Jeff and his wife Carol in Cancun for a week. One of the things that we will do there is a short trip to, and overnight stay at, the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza. Our hotel there is right adjacent to the national park, so we will be able to leisurely roam the archaeological site in the late afternoon and in the morning, when the tour bus crowds are not on site. I’m looking forward to it! We will also be goofing off at our Cancun hotel for six days, good food and drink, and lounging next to the turquoise waters of the Caribbean.
I suspect that the arthroscopic surgery that my right knee needs won’t take place before our RV road trip, which begins on May 29th. I will have to do my hiking and dog-walking with the aid of regular doses of Aleve and Norco. We will be back in the Southern California area by mid-August, so perhaps my surgery can happen at that time. I am getting tired of the painful, stiff knee. It’s a bummer. However, I can still function. I’m bowling two days a week, and I do just fine if I take the Aleve/Norco regime when I arise on my bowling days. I will, hopefully, be able to do my projected Grand Canyon hike (South Rim to river and back, in one day) with my friend Jason and his girlfriend Holly in early June. I might need a couple of extra pills that day!
We just got some good news today. Our granddaughter Jessica, who is in her second year at Cal Baptist University, has been accepted into the Nursing Program, beginning with her third year. She’s an outstanding student, and always has been. She should breeze through that program.
Charlie and I watched the Oscars telecast a few nights ago…all by ourselves, for the first time in decades. I fixed some nice appetizers and we munched on them, in bed, surrounded by our little doggies. I thought the new host, Jimmy Kimmel, was quite good. The show ran along pretty well until the end, when the Best Picture award was botched. I wonder whether the Price Waterhouse guy had a job the next day?
Just sayin’: Why is it that entertainment folks spend so much time congratulating themselves for the work that they do? There are now scores of “awards shows” for actors and musicians and tradespeople involved in production. What other vocations do this? It always amazes me that, at the end of a movie, the list of folks involved in the production scrolls up the screen for at least five minutes, acknowledging everyone, including the guy who brought sandwiches to the set. No other industry does this, do they? Just imagine if everyone involved in the production of your family car had to be listed somewhere…it would fill a telephone book! When you buy a tomato, perhaps every field hand who was involved (planting, fertilizing, cultivating, harvesting), the guys at the processing plant, the boys who load the trucks, the overweight redneck truck driver who brings the product to your market, the green grocer who arranges the tomato in the produce department, and…dare we forget…the checker and the bag boy who actually deliver the product to the consumer…shouldn’t all of these hard-working folks get the recognition that they richly deserve? I think there may be a need for another awards show. I can see it happening now: Sam Walton handing out the Farmie Award to Jose Gonzalez, who was the Tomato Picker of the Year. And, then, Jose’s heartfelt acceptance speech, where he thanks his employer, his family, his agent, and maybe even President Donald Trump…for not building The Wall. (HaHa)
(Almost as if on cue, dozens of ICE agents storm into the awards ceremony and arrest Jose and the other 400 illegal Latin Americans attending the show. Senor Trump has the last laugh.)