The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

Life

Sometimes You Can Feel Opportunity…Knock

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Sometimes you think your life is going to go a particular way and then something happens that makes it clear that what you expected to happen won’t.

Those changes aren’t always easily read so you can’t determine whether the new direction is something to be excited or concerned about.

But sometimes there is a moment where you can smell changes in the air and gain a sense that something is about to happen.

And sometimes you can feel opportunity begin to stretch and warm up because it is about to…knock.

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What Will Your Story Look Like?

I don’t know how to answer that question yet, but I suspect I will soon.

 

The ‘Gifts’ Of Aging

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Don’t have it in me to try and translate this song for you because it requires more than just providing lyrics in English.

It would be similar to asking me to tell you about Springsteen’s Born To Run, Marlowe’s Passionate Shepherd poem and what they mean to me.

We’re not talking about a report for an English class but the kind of intimate explanation you provide to someone you want to understand you on a deeper level.

And I am tired, physically and mentally.

Been carrying a load that I hadn’t realized was extra heavy and it has caught up with me. The funny thing about it is in so many ways life is really good now.

The work I have put in to make it go a certain way has paid off and I am 90 percent of the way or something close to it.

That is a good thing and I am grateful but now I have to take it off of my shoulders, this load and catch my breath because the last part of the journey is going to require even more.

Don’t doubt that I will make it but this pause is how I take a moment so that I can recharge my battery because it is going to take some grit to go the distance.

Probably part of why I have seen so many docs lately, I subconsciously knew this was coming and began to prepare for it.

The ‘Gifts’ Of Aging

One of my daughters best friends is walking the streets of Jerusalem now in a program far different than the one she is in here in the states.

She hears stories via Whatsapp and various methods that make the world a smaller place but she doesn’t know the world her friend is in the way I do.

Nor does she have the benefit of life experience to have similar expectations to mine and that is ok, she doesn’t need to.

I haven’t volunteered much and intend to stay silent because it is not my place to prognosticate about 18 year-olds and their dream.

Nor will I tell her about the people I know who went down similar paths and years later are divorced and far less religious than they were.

Not my world or my place, my focus is on other things.

Got a girl who scored higher than most of the class on her Chemistry test but is frustrated that she didn’t meet her own expectations.

Been talking to her about grit and remembering that she has been in college for all of five weeks. Her old man had a very different experience during the first five weeks but he was never as driven as she is in some areas.

Though I can say I was and am as driven in some areas as she has ever been. Her drive didn’t just materialize from nothing.


What The Docs Have Said

Overall the docs have said I am doing well and offered counsel for ways to do better. Still need to get back to my PCP to get that broader view of things but have refused to go in.

Why?

Because I want to be in better shape when I go and have been seeing progress. Overall I feel good but could feel far better.

I attribute some of that to frustration with particular areas of life. Once I get those fixed or at least adjusted I think I’ll stop carrying some of this weight and that will have a positive impact.

For now I am just working through it because I can’t wait for things to happen. Can’t say it is all contingent upon one thing or another.

So I am rollng with what I have got and doing what I can.

As I said above, things are pretty good overall so I am keeping my fingers corssed that I can maintain the momentum even as I deal with some of the brain damage life throws at us.

Maybe that is one of the gifts of aging, the knowledge tomorrow isn’t promised so we act upon it all today, whatever ‘all’ is.

 

When Civility Is No Longer Warranted

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The man told me it is ok to agree to disagree and I said he was dead wrong.

Why?

Because he told me Sandy Hook was fake and spouted three other ridiculous conspiracy theories.

“There is a moment when civility is no longer warranted and it starts now. I will not let you push offensive knowledge that isn’t based upon fact or rational thought as if we are having a simple disagreement.

This is not you and I debating whether you can put ketchup on a hot dog or if chunky is better than creamy.

If you believe Sandy Hook is fake, that the earth is flat and that nothing happened on January 6th you are delusional and in need of help.”

They pushed back and said I had been taken in by propaganda.

I refused to listen and said it was convenient to say that anything you dislike is fake and anything you agree with is factual.

“Toddlers do that. I am ok with two and three-year-olds figuring out what is real. That doesn’t extend to adults who push the lies you are trying to.

It is not only offensive it is dangerous to let idiotic claptrap be pushed out as having some sort of science or peer-reviewed support when no such thing exists.

There are some things upon which there is no room for disagreement and this is one of them.”

The Joy Of Packing

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The joy of packing for a trip you don’t really want to go on but know is necessary is never the same as packing for the one you can’t wait for.

No surprises or shock is derived from this less than profound insight. Heck, you can label this as mild whining about something I could get out of but won’t.

This needs to be done and as I have taught my children so shall I act. Jumping on it sooner than later gets it out of the way so that I can focus my energy and attention on what I want to do.

Still, I’ll grant myself five minutes to complain about it.

I had the option of flying which in concept would reduce the amount of travel time by a significant amount but I decided not to roll the dice on that one.

Why?

Because during the Summer of 2022, at least the beginning part, the airlines are short-staffed and it is causing issues with flight delays and cancellations.

So I am putting in for windshield time knowing it will cause more wear and tear on me but I’ll better control of when I come and go.

Let’s hope the roads remain clear because that could blow this whole idea up.

If nothing else I’ll get plenty of time to listen to some of the books I downloaded from Audible and catch up on some of the interviews Howard Stern has conducted that I haven’t listened to yet.

And who knows, maybe I’ll find a bag of money or some buried treasure during my adventure and get to retire.

 

Unexpected Guests

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Sometimes our cyberhomes receive unexpected guests and we celebrate their arrival because their presence adds to the overall experience.

Sadly the converse is true and sometimes we receive guests we prefer not spend time with us.

There are steps we can take to help encourage them to haunt a different home but they are not always as effective as we might like.

The latter is where things are at so I am thinking about borrowing SQ’s giant black purse so that I can provide both digital and physical motivation to go.

But then again might not have to do so given that some visitors have provided more details than they might wish.

Funny how you can point out time spent on frivolity instead of work and suddenly get people whipped into shape.

Pressure and motivation come in multiple forms. 😉

That Time When Almost Everyone Got Covid

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One day the story of that time when almost everyone got Covid will be told and when it does we’ll be sure to laugh heartily at how ridiculous it all was…but not today.

We’ll tell you about how the family flew in to celebrate my daughter’s high school celebration and how wearing masks and being fully vaccinated didn’t work as well as we hoped it would.

Given the current climate I’ll stress I am a believer in science and medicine and a proponent of getting vaccinated. Some failures are going to happen upon occasion and I would still argue in favor of smart preventative measures.

Anyhoo, a couple of days after the graduation my daughter’s mom came down with Covid. She was fully vaccinated, including the boosters and wearing a mask…go figure.

A day after that I came down with a fever and a scratchy throat so per instruction from my doc I went to urgent care and they checked me out for Covid and strep throat.

I tested negative for both. Hell, I tested negative for Covid a couple of times afterward so it seems I never had it or maybe I am just one of those people it didn’t register with.

Took me about 18 hours to shake whatever I had which is pretty standard for what happens when I get one of my twice-a-year colds.

But the real concern were the multiple senior citizens who flew out, some of whom are immunocompromised as well as in the aforementioned demographic.

As of today only one of the four got sick and it indeed was Covid but it appears decent genes and some meds have mostly taken care of the illness.

Still it made for some dicey moments and extended several trips beyond where they were supposed to be.


What To Do & How To Do What

Given all of the fun I have been in insolation for a while now more out of an abundance of caution than anything else.

It created more than a little stress because I never felt particularly ill and there was always concern about how to best help the visitors, especially my mother who didn’t rent a car and was sort of stuck at the hotel.

Fortunately, the grandkids are at an age where they can drive and given they all tested negative were able to spend time with grandma.

Although that helped give me peace of mind there was still a nagging question about what to do and how to best do it.

Wasn’t going to panic but also wanted to be prudent.

Given ages, history and life experience I know that life can turn on a dime and that any time I see them it could be the last time.

When it came to my mom I looked at genetics a bit, had a couple of conversations and talked it out with her.

She is still almost 20 years younger than her both her parents were when they died. Overall she has a pretty good bill of health and her doc didn’t have issue with her traveling on the graduation circuit.

That added some comfort, especially given her attitude. She doesn’t want to miss out on these opportunities because even with good health/genes her age makes it clear there is a clock.

So some of this is/was a calculated risk.

I didn’t hug her goodbye and I was a good 15 feet away when I said “I’ll try to see you later this summer.”

If you ask me my gut feeling on it all I will tell you I feel good about it and that I expect to see her again. She felt fine when she left and fine when she landed so I am going with that.

Won’t say that I haven’t kept my fingers crossed and hoped not to be proven wrong about anything.

Won’t say that it hasn’t been extra stressful for reasons both obvious and less so either.

But I am looking forward to the day when this is just one more funny story.

Especially given the last three weeks included plumbing issues, a car accident and an assortment of other irritants in addition to this last set of nonsense.

Kids asked me why so much has to happen at one time and I told them it is because life doesn’t care.

“You get what you get however you get it and then you just roll with it. Manage it as best you can and try not to let it make you crazy.”

I think it is pretty good advice, I ought to tell it to myself again because there are days…