Blog from a Florida Gator in Virginia

Yes, Black Lives Matter

2015-08-15T12:49:00.000-07:00

It has been a year since Michael Brown was killed by a policeman in Ferguson, Mo. Since then there have been several killings of African Americans by policeman and others in the U.S., the killings bringing a lot of media attention. It is this media attention that has made me, and a lot of other people, realize that racial problems still exists in this country, some of them being very serious racial problems. I have actually known for quite sometime that we still have racial problems from my teaching GED classes in the Adult Detention Center (ADC) in Manassas, VA. Most of my students are African American, and most of the inmates I see are African American. There are education and economic reasons there are more African Americans there, but I just can't help believing that there are racial reasons for this disparity as well. I am no expert on this subject, and the issue is complex, but I thought I was living in a world where race was not as serious as an issue as it was in the past, especially so in the sixties. I see now that racial discrimination is more subtle than it was in the sixties when I was a teenager. At least now we don't have the "whites only" signs and the "back of the bus" stuff. However, today's killings of blacks are not subtle at all. Having mostly blacks in jail is not subtle either. I don't know what I can do about it. I can continue to treat all my students at the ADC the same and to help them be ready for life after jail. That is good for them, and that is good for everyone else.

2014, A Year of Repairs for an Older Body

2014-10-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

We all should know that as we get older, our bodies tend to break down in various ways. This year I have found that little gem of wisdom is quite true. This year I have had two parts of my body break down enough that three surgeries were needed to get these two parts in working order.

I knew the first part was running down. I have known about my cataracts in both eyes for 3 or 4 years. My vision was getting progressively worse, but it wasn't until this year that I realized I needed to get rid of those cataracts. I had my cataract surgery on my right eye July 31, and the surgery went well. The cataract surgery for my left eye was scheduled for August 20. On August 19, I was in a hospital, but not for cataract surgery. I was in another hospital with what looked like very painful kidney stones. Urine was also backed up into my kidneys. To make a long story short, I had an enlarged prostate gland which was blocking my urinary tract. Needless to say, the cataract surgery was postponed.

The earliest the urologist could do the prostate surgery was October 1. I had to use a catheter for four weeks or more in the meantime. Such fun. Finally the day for the surgery arrived, and the surgery went well. Now my plumbing seems to be in working order.

Two weeks later on October 16, I had cataract surgery on my left eye. I was worried a bit about the other two surgeries since I had never experienced them before, especially the prostate surgery. I was not worried at all about the second cataract surgery since the first one was still fresh in my mind, except I had forgotten about those burning eye drops. This second cataract went well also, and now I am seeing in HD.

I didn't realize what I had been missing with my impaired eye sight. I had adjusted to the poor eyesight until this year when I could not adjust anymore. I had also adjusted to urinating more frequently, but I knew something was really wrong with my plumbing when I had the extreme pain and was urinating every five minutes. I hope I have learned a valuable lesson, especially being a older person. I have to listen to my body more and not put off checking things out when my body is saying it is not working 100%. I shouldn't check it off to old age. I am at the old age starting point now since I turned 65 this year. My mind is still young ( I was able to write this blog posting, didn't I?), but the body is not young anymore. I could have other eye problems. I could have an enlarged prostate again and have another blockage. Unfortunately, there are a thousand and one other things that can go wrong as well. I have to be more watchful and take better care of myself, or there are going to be other problems. Not all of the problems will be fixable, but at least I must get the fixable ones fixed before they are not fixable. Lesson learned.

Cataract Surgery Dates Have Been Set

2014-07-26T05:08:00.000-07:00

Wow, cataract surgery is actually going to happen. The surgery on my right, dominant eye is scheduled for July 31 at 8:50 AM. That is this coming Thursday! OMG! The surgery for my left eye is set for August 20, almost 3 weeks later. The reason the surgeries are done on different days is that it is harder to tell the cause of an eye surgical problem if the surgeries are done on the same day.

How do I feel about this? For one, I can't help but feel a little nervous. There is always a risk with any surgery. Cataract surgeries are done everyday all over the world, however, and the success rate for these surgeries is extremely high. My eye surgeon, Dr. John Baldinger, has done over 20,000 cataract surgeries, and he has been practicing for 25 years. He certainly knows what he is doing. I think the risk is very low, but it is still there nonetheless. Wouldn't you be nervous even a little bit?

I am also excited about having the surgeries done. I have known for the last few years that I had cataracts in my eyes, but they have been really causing me increased vision problems this year. I have noticed the it is harder to see at night, especially when driving at night. The cataracts cause glaring from the headlights and taillights of the cars. Thus my reaction time for reacting to events happening around me has slowed down. In other words, it is not safe for me to drive at night. Thus I have stopped driving at night. I can drive during the day, but I noticed yesterday that when the sun was hitting me from the side where my sunglasses were not blocking the sunlight, my vision was adversely affected. I was having difficulty seeing in the daylight, too. I will be very happy to be able to see better. I won't have perfect vision, but I will be able drive safely and do all my normal activities. I will no longer need contact lenses as the artificial lenses that will be inserted in my eye will take care of being able to see far away. I will need reading glasses for seeing up close, but I use them now anyway. I know if I don't have this surgery, eventually I will go blind. I certainly don't want that to happen. Having cataracts is a normal part of aging for most people. I am thankful that something can be done for this aspect of aging.

Cataract Surgery Is Now Approved

2014-07-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today I had my evaluation by a cataract surgeon to see if I need my cataracts taken out. The appointment was at 10:00 this morning in Fairfax near Merrifield, and I had a friend drive me there since my eyes were to be dilated. They tested my eyes with a couple of machines, and they tested them with a person making the measurements with the normal instruments used by an optometrist. I told them that the cataracts were making it difficult to drive at night and that I needed to drive at night for some of my math tutoring appointments. Bottom line, they agreed with me that I needed cataract surgery. Hooray!

Now, I have to do somethings in preparation for the surgery. I need to be medically cleared by my medical doctor no later than two weeks before the surgery. Tomorrow I will be taking the two-page form to my doctor and schedule the appointment for this. I already have a follow up appointment scheduled with my medical doctor for Tuesday afternoon. I don't know if this appointment can be used for this clearance or not, but hopefully I will find that out tomorrow. The people at the eye doctor wanted me to schedule an appointment for the cataract surgery today, but I did not want to do that until I know when my medical doctor will be able to medically clear me for the surgery. The cataract surgeon will perform the operation on my right eye first since that is my dominant eye. My left eye will be done 3 weeks later. There is a good chance I will be seeing better that next day. I certainly hope so.

Of course I will be nervous about this surgery. Who wouldn't be? There is no surgery without risks. My surgeon is an highly rated cataract surgeon, and he has done over 20,000 of these surgeries for 25 years. I think he knows what he is doing, and I trust him. I am looking for a great outcome when this is over with. I have now taken the first step to seeing much better.

Old Age Is Starting to Catch Up with Me

2014-07-05T05:49:00.000-07:00

This year I officially became a senior citizen. I turned 65 this past January. I am now on Medicare, and I am collecting social security as well. I am an AARP member, and I get discounts at various establishments. Yes, some of these milestones and events occurred before I reached 65 as there are various definitions of a senior citizen, but being 65 makes me a senior citizen by any definition.

I am also starting to feel the physical effects of being a senior citizen. I have minor aches and pains which I deal with by a dose of extra strength aspirin, if needed. I am trying to eat better with more salads and such. I am exercising more with fitness walks and doing sets of push-ups. I need to do more in this area, but exercising is not my favorite activity, I admit. If I liked it better, I would be in better shape. I do feel good about myself when I do exercise. It is just hard for me to get started. I am noticing one benefit of my doing the push-ups. The bags that contain my GED materials for the GED classes I teach have become lighter. How is that for results? Maybe there is something to this exercising after all.

I am also trying to keep my mind active as I can. Teaching my GED students certainly keeps my mind active. I have to be at the top of my game when a student comes to me with a question, especially a math question. I enjoy helping students understand how to solve a problem. It is so cool when they do understand. You see that light bulb turn on, and a smile breaks out on their face. It is moments like that that keep me in the teaching game. I play a computer game called 7 Little Words on my Nook tablet everyday, and I read a lot, the "Post" every morning, magazines, and books. One fear of mine concerning getting older is the fear of getting some form of dementia. Maybe I should not feel this way, but I am proud of having a somewhat sharp mind. It is a major part of who I am. I don't want to lose that aspect of myself, and that is the reason I fear dementia. By keeping better care of myself both physically and mentally, I hope to keep that dementia devil away as long as I can.

The biggest senior citizen problem I am dealing with right now is my vision. I have cataracts. I have had them for quite a while, but this year they are causing real problems with my vision. I can no longer drive at night. The cataracts are causing glaring by the headlights and taillights of the cars. It is impairing my night vision to such an extent that I don't think it is safe for me to drive at night. In less than two weeks I will have an evaluation appointment with a cataract surgeon, and hopefully I will have cataract surgery and will then be able to see much better. When I made the eye appointment, they told me not to wear my contacts for two weeks prior to the appointment. Contact lenses change the shape of the eyeball, and they want my eyeballs to be in their normal shape. That means everything is a little blurry for me. I can drive okay without my contacts, but it certainly is not optimal. Because of this, I am taking the train to Lynchburg tomorrow, and my ex-wife Jill will be doing the driving to Williamsburg on Monday (Yes, I said my ex-wife. I am very lucky that we are still good friends.). I will come back home on the train the following Saturday. I am certainly looking forward to seeing better.

Being a senior citizen will have its ups and downs, just like any other part of being alive. Certainly it is a lot better than the alternative. They say these are the golden years. I hope these coming years are golden for me. We will just have to see.

MYOB in DC

2014-07-04T07:28:00.001-07:00

Yesterday on WTOP radio I heard Chris Core give one of his "Commentary & Analysis" broadcasts. This particular broadcast was on DC Home Rule. Why should I be concerned about DC Home Rule? I don't live in the District of Columbia although sometimes I think about living in an urban area like DC. I do live in Northern Virginia, which is next to DC. I am concerned about DC Home Rule because DC Home Rule is an undemocratic form of government. We should not have an undemocratic form of government in the United States, especially for the capital of the United States. How can this be? Let me explain.

In the Constitution of the United States, the District of Columbia is setup as a separate entity. It is not a state. It does not have representatives in Congress like states do. DC has one, non-voting member in the House, and it has no members in the Senate. States have two Senators each in the Senate, and they have voting members in the House, the number of which are based on population. All members of Congress are elected by their respective states and DC.

Congress has oversight on DC's budget and laws. Although DC has a city council which makes laws and budgets for DC, Congress has approval and can make changes to DC's budgets and laws. The trouble with this is the members of Congress who make these decisions about DC are in no way beholden to the residents of DC. DC residents do not vote for any of the members of Congress except for one, non-voting member. Thus DC residents cannot vote out any member of Congress that makes these decisions about DC. They can't do anything about any member of Congress they disagree with, unlike what a person like me ,or anyone else who lives in a state, can do. We can vote the bums out. DC residents can't do that. Whatever Congress decides about DC, DC residents must live with.

An example of this was in Chris Core's "Commentary & Analysis". Congressman Andy Harris of Maryland disagrees with DC's recently passed marijuana law. Whether Mr. Harris is right or not is besides the point. Yes, currently Congress does have the right to comment on and change DC laws. However, Mr. Harris cannot make changes to local laws made by cities, town, or counties. Only local leaders of those jurisdictions can make these changes. It is not right that Congress can change DC's local laws. Mr. Harris and other members of Congress are not elected by the residents of DC. They do not truly represent the residents of DC. Thus this is an undemocratic process, and it must be changed.

What changes should be made? I am not a lawyer, nor am I a politician (some may say that is a good thing, especially these days). Should DC be made a state? Maybe, or maybe not. Should there be voting members of Congress from DC in both the House and Senate? Yes! Should the DC council have final say on DC's budget and laws? Yes, on tax money that comes from the people of DC. The federal government does provide some money to DC just because DC is the capital of the US, so Congress does have a say on the amount and purpose.

There may be some other changes that need to be made, and none of these changes will be easy to make since everything becomes political no matter what the situation. Otherwise these changes would have been made a long time ago. At least they should have been made a long time ago. Frankly, it is shameful that we have people in this country who are not properly represented in Congress. Congress has no business interfering in local rules and laws. They don't do it anywhere else. Congress, myob! Congress, mine your own business!

Retirement. Yikes!

2013-12-29T09:41:00.001-08:00

Yes, next month I will be reaching a milestone. Next month, I will be 65 years old. For a lot of people, this is the time when they retire. Will I be retiring? The answer to that is yes, and no.

One thing that most people in this country do when they retire is apply for Social Security and Medicare benefits. I have done both. I received my Medicare card this past week, and my Medicare benefits will start on January 1, Wednesday. I will start receiving my Social Security benefits sometime in February. To my consternation, it is not clear exactly when I will be receiving these benefits, but it will be within the next two months. My point is I will start receiving these retirement benefits this year.

Another thing that retired people do is not work. However, being retired does not mean that you only sit on your recliner, eat bon-bons, and watch TV all day. Everyone needs a reason to get up in the morning. If you don't have a reason to get up in the morning, you will not last long in retirement. You will die, literally. A lot of retired people have part time jobs to help pay their bills and/or to have a reason to get up in the morning. I already have a part time job. I actually have two part time jobs. I teach GED classes at the Adult Detention Facility in Manassas, VA. I also tutor high school and middle school students in math.

I will keep these part time jobs for two reasons. I continue to need a reason to get up in the morning, and I believe I am making a difference in the lives of my students in my part time jobs. When I retire fully by not doing these part time jobs, I will still be doing something, maybe volunteer work of some sort, that will give me a reason to get up in the morning and hopefully will enable me to make a difference.

Thus, this year I will be retiring in the sense that I will be receiving retirement benefits, but I will not be retiring from work. When will I be fully retired? I don't know when that will be. I may stop working within 5 years. I may not stop working until the day I die. That is an open question, and in a sense, that is exciting. I don't know what is going to happen, and that means my options remain open. I may end up doing something I had no idea I would be doing. That has certainly happened to me with my teaching career. I never thought I would be a teacher, and now I am doing just that. Who knows what will happen next.

I am Glad I Realize I am an Introvert

2013-04-07T07:30:00.001-07:00

I really have known for a long time that I am an introvert, but it wasn't until this week that I have come to know better what that really means and how that relates to the kind of person I am. This week I read the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, by Susan Cain. This book has really crystallized for me why I do the things I do and why I relate to others the way I do. I now understand better that it is okay that I am an introvert and that there is nothing wrong with me being an introvert. As a matter of fact, Susan Cain says in her book that some of our greatest achievers like "Eleanor Roosevelt, Al Gore, Warren Buffett, Gandhi-and Rosa Parks" are/were introverts. If they had not been introverts, they may have not been able to perform those accomplishments. I am certainly not in their league, but I think I might not have done the good things I have accomplished if I had not been an introvert.

What kind of person is an introvert? According to Susan Cain, an introvert is a person who does not like a lot of stimulation. On the other hand, an extrovert requires a lot of stimulation. I do like to be in quiet places. My favorite time of day is when I get up in the morning to drink my morning coffee and read the Washington Post on my Nook with classical music in the background. Right now as I write this blog posting, I am drinking another cup of coffee and am listening to classical music, and I feel happy doing this. I only like to go out with one or two people. If I am with a group of people, I tend to talk with people on a one on one basis. I also tend to work on one task at a time where I can devote my concentration on the best. I do not like to multitask. I also do not like confrontation. I tend to freeze when someone confronts me. All of these things I like and dislike are traits of introverts. Certainly this is not a complete list of introvert traits, but I think you get the idea of why I am an introvert.

Sometimes I have to be an extrovert, at least in some aspects. When I was a teacher at Stonewall Jackson High School in Prince William County, Virginia, I quickly had to learn how to confront students when they were misbehaving in class. When I worked at IBM, I had to learn how to run meetings, both department meetings when I was a manager and customer meetings when I worked in the program office. In my current job as a GED teacher at the Adult Detention Center (ADC) in Manassas and the ADC Liaison between the ADC and the Adult Learning Center, I am the master of ceremony at the GED graduation ceremony that we have 3 times a year. I have to keep this event moving along, and I even have to give a short speech at the beginning of the ceremony. I did not want to be the ADC Liaison because of what I would have to do at these graduations, but I decided to accept the job anyway. I knew it would be a challenge for me, but I also knew I needed that challenge in order to grow more as a teacher and as a person.

Now that I understand better what kind of person I am, I will try to learn more about what an introvert is and how I can use this knowledge to become a better person. Hopefully, it will also help me know when I need to be an extrovert and how to do so when the situation calls for it. I think that will help me have an even richer life.

New Year Resolutions?

2013-01-01T09:13:00.000-08:00

Well, it is that time of year. Time to make New Year Resolutions. A lot of people go through this ritual every year. We recognize that we need to make changes in our lives, and the new year offers a new beginning of sorts. I use to make New Year Resolutions along with everyone else. Doing so was almost a tradition.

If you get my drift, I haven't been making New Year Resolutions in quite some time. I always had trouble keeping them. I would get off track, get discouraged, and then forget about them. I probably made my resolutions too lofty, too hard to obtain. Maybe I would resolve to lose 50 pounds. A better resolution should have been to loose one pound a week, both an easier resolution to meet and one that takes much less time to meet. Knowing that does not mean I am going to make better New Year Resolutions this year, although I probably should. To be honest, I have a fear that I would be just setting myself up for failure, again. I don't want to put myself through that. The thing is I would feel so good about myself if I succeeded with a resolution. Once you do succeed at one, you might be inspired to make another resolution. You then may start a positive cycle of successful resolutions. The sky would be the limit. The hard part is taking that first step, making that first resolution that could result in making a whole new life for yourself. That is the dilemma I am facing. Should I not make a resolution, and avoid failure, or should I make a resolution, risk failure, and give myself an opportunity to succeed? What I end up doing will make this year a very interesting one for me.

Are You Going to Watch the Republican and/or Democratic Conventions?

2012-08-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

The national conventions for the Republican Party and Democratic Party will be going on these next two weeks. The Republicans will have first crack at getting the attention of the nation. The Democrats will follow suite the next week. My question of the day is, will you be watching on TV either of the conventions?

I remember as a kid that I hated it when they came on TV. Thank goodness they only came on once every four years. All of my favorite shows were not on, and I did not know what was going on with these people. There was a lot of talking going on, there were a lot of cheering (and some booing), and sometimes, there were lots of balloons. How boring!

As I got older as a teenager and beyond, I became to better understand what was going on. Each party was trying to decide who they wanted to run for president. Sometimes it was just one party who was trying to make that decision, because the other party already knew who they wanted to run for president since that person was already president. For example, in 1964, President Johnson was already president, and he was a Democrat. The Republicans had to decide who they wanted to run. If my memory serves me well, Barry Goldwater and Nelson Rockefeller were the primary candidates. Goldwater was more conservative than Rockefeller, and he was the one nominated.

The various candidates ran in various primaries, but it was a rare event, if ever, if one candidate won enough primary delegates to have enough votes to qualify as the nominee ahead of the convention. Thus the nominee was determined during the convention. It would be up to the delegates who the nominee would be. A lot of back room meetings were held, and a lot of deals were made. Sometimes a dark horse candidate came from behind and became the nominee. Sometimes many rounds of votes had to be taken before a candidate had a majority of votes. Candidates did not usually become the nominee on the first ballot.

In 1968, both political parties had to select a nominee since President Johnson decided not to run again because of the opposition to the Viet Nam War. (In case you do not know, Johnson became president after the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. Johnson was reelected president by a landslide over Goldwater in 1964.). Richard Nixon was the Republican nominee at the convention in Miami, if I am not mistaken. The Democratic convention was held in Chicago, and it was a very contentious convention. There were riots in the streets of Chicago, and the delegates themselves were very divided, mostly over the Viet Nam War. In the end, Hubert Humphrey became the nominee. He was the vice-president under Johnson It certainly was not boring TV. I did not mind that my favorite shows were not on.

Now we have changed the process on how the nominees are selected. More primaries occur in various states, many debates are held, and thus the nominee is determined usually before the convention. This year Mitt Romney secured the Republication nomination well before the convention. He even has already selected someone to run with him for vice-president, Paul Ryan. That determination used to be made during the convention. Thus there is hardly any drama during the political conventions. The nominees are already determined. There might be a small fight over a platform issue, but nothing else. The only thing of interest might be the nominee's acceptance speech. The nominee might say something then about his vision for the future, both for the campaign and for when the person might be president.

Thus to answer my own question, I do not think I will be watching much of either convention on TV. There should not be any drama to get excited over unless something very unexpected happens, and that would not be a good thing. The real drama will be the campaign itself and the election itself. It looks like it will be a very close race for the presidency. We might not know who the next president will be until the wee hours of the morning. That is drama I just don't want the kind of drama that occurred in 2000. We did not know who won until several days after the election, and that decision was not made by the people. It was made by the Supreme Court of the U.S. No one should want that, or anything like it, to happen again.

Dreaming, An Activity We All Do

2012-04-07T06:47:00.000-07:00

Dreaming is something we all do. We dream at night whether or not we remember that we did dream after waking up the next morning. We daydream as well during the day (isn't that what daydream means?), but we may not daydream everyday. Last week, especially last Friday, this whole country did a lot of dreaming, both day and night. We all dreamed about winning $656 million from the Mega-Million lottery.

Last week, along with everyone else, I spent $5.00 playing the lottery. I dreamed, along with everyone else, about what I would do if I won the lottery. I dreamed about paying off my debts. I dreamed about buying various things. I knew I couldn't spend all that money on myself, so I thought about how I could put some of that money to use helping others. I dreamed about traveling to various places. I don't think any of my dreaming was vastly different from what other people were dreaming about last week. That was one aspect that made last week a shared experience. We all were dreaming about winning that huge jackpot. The dreaming was fun to do, and it was fun talking to others about what we might do with all that money. For a little while, it was fun forgetting our troubles and thinking about what we would do if we won.

While it was fun dreaming about winning the lottery, I also was aware that winning the lottery could be a bad thing in the long run. There are too many stories of people being worse off after winning the lottery. They would spend the money foolishly and end up in worse financial shape. It would be hard to resist going into a spending frenzy with all that money, especially if you have gone without for a long time. The smart thing to do if you win the lottery is to seek financial advice. You can still "reward" yourself after winning, but you want to set something up so that the money will last you the rest of your life. I think that is one reason some people do not claim their lottery winnings right away. They need time to setup a financial plan so that the money will last, and they need to do that with someone they trust. That does not happen overnight. I hope that is what I would do if I ever won.

Last night I played the Mega-Million lottery again with only $3.00 this time even though the jackpot was just $20 million (just?) . Why did I do that? I have an almost zero chance of winning, but it is zero chance of winning if I don't play. I knew I would not win, but I had fun thinking and dreaming about the prospect of winning. It was a form of entertainment, and I enjoyed doing it. I never spend of lot of money on the lottery. I usually spend just $5.00, and I only do that occasionally. As long as I don't spend a lot of money on the lottery tickets, I don't see the harm in playing. It is good to have something to look forward to, even if it is just a dream.

Change for an Older Guy

2012-03-05T16:57:00.000-08:00

I love using Bounty paper towels. I have used this brand of paper towels for many years. They are very useful for many things around the house, or in my case, around my condo. I would recommend them to anyone.

Then one day they started offering paper towels that you could tear in half sizes as well as whole-size paper towels. Why would I want those kind of paper towels? I don't want a paper towel with a perforation in the middle that makes it easy to tear in half. Why would I use a half-sized paper towel? I have always used full-size paper towels to cleanup the spills that I always make. However, Bounty was not giving me much of choice. All I could see on the Bounty shelves were the paper towels you could easily tear in half. What was I to do.

But I started to find uses for the half-sized paper towels. I put the spoon I use to stir my cup of coffee on a half-sized paper towel. I put my spatula or my big spoon I use when I am cooking on a half-sized paper towel. After cooking bacon in my microwave, I clean the bottom of my microwave with a half-sized paper towel. I even use a one and one-half paper towel when I clean the white board of a classroom. When I use a half-sized paper towel, and it does the job of a whole paper towel, I am saving paper and money by doing so. I have grown to like this kind of paper towel. I would not be happy if this kind of paper towel went away.

Too my horror, it looks like the unthinkable has happened. A couple of weeks ago when I went to the paper towel aisle in the grocery store, and all I saw on the Bounty shelves were the full-size paper towels only. The half-sized paper towels were no where to be seen. My favorite paper towels were gone.

Why did this terrible thing happen? I don't go to the grocery store every day to see if my favorite paper towels are back (maybe I should). Maybe they were out of those kind of paper towels temporarily and had to fill the shelves with the full-size paper towels. Maybe they were not making enough money on the half-sized paper towels and figured they could make more money on the full-sized type. It seems so cruel to get someone used to using a product in a new way, and then ripping that away. I have become dependent on using half-sized paper towels. I miss them. I am sad that they seem to be gone from my life.

I know you are thinking now that I have really flipped. He is not really upset over a paper towel, is he? No, I am not that upset. However, the older you are, the harder it is to accept change. I had accepted change when I started to like using half-sized paper towels. Now I have to go back to using the old-styled paper towels, especially when I was saving money and paper using the new-styled ones? Oh, what a cruel world this can be!

A Sad Weekend

2012-02-12T08:41:00.000-08:00

I am saddened this weekend by the loss of two famous people. Whitney Houston died yesterday afternoon, cause unknown. Glen Campbell has not died yet, but he is dying slowly of Alzheimer's disease.

Whitney Houston had a fantastic singing voice, and she was beautiful as well. She has left behind an incomparable singing legacy, and she even performed well as an actress in the movie "The Bodyguard" with Kevin Costner, a ground breaking movie at the time because of the interracial relationship portrayed in the movie. Yet she paid a heavy price for her fame and talent. Perhaps if she had a little less talent and a little less fame, she would have been more able to pay the price for her talent and fame, and Whitney Houston would still be alive today. It is sad when someone dies so young (she was only 48 when she passed after all) and with such a talent, but it is even sadder to think what the drugs and alcohol did to her, that they caused her to lose that talent, and maybe ultimately, her life.

Glen Campbell has a great talent of his own, a talent for singing and for playing the guitar. According to CBS Sunday Morning, Glen Campbell played guitar on many recordings, including at least one recording of Frank Sinatra. He even was a Beach Boy for 6 months before making records of his own and hosting a TV show for 4 years. He has had many hit songs, and he acted with John Wayne in "True Grit". He is 75 now, and last year he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Not only is there no cure for this disease, but it robs a person of who they are, their ability to remember things and remember people. It robs people of their personality. Glen Campbell is on his last concert tour, and his last album is now out. Three of his children play in his band, including his daughter who helps him stay on track, especially during the concerts. His life is slowly ebbing away, and it is so sad to see that happen to Glen Campbell. It is so sad to see that happen to anyone.

No Man is an Island

2012-02-03T07:51:00.000-08:00

No Man is an Island is the title of a poem by John Donne, an English poet who lived from 1572 to 1631. Why am I bringing this up? I am not known for reading poetry, or for knowing anything about poetry. That is usually left to a fellow blogger Dan Verner, who is a retired English teacher. However in one of my GED classes yesterday, the subject about being connected came up, and John Donne's famous poem came to my mind. I remembered studying about it in high school, which is quite a feat for me at my age. It is a short poem, but a very meaningful one. So I recite it here.

No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as a manor of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

As I see it, this poem is saying we are all connected to each other, that when we lose someone, we are in someway diminished. A part of ourselves is gone, never to be retrieved. Even if we do not know the person, we are affected by the death of this person, whether we realize it or not. If a church bell is tolling for that person, it tolls for us as well. A part of us has also died.

I am not sure when John Donne wrote this poem, in the 16th or 17th century, but obviously there was not much technology around then, not to today's standards. I think he would be more than amazed to see the technology of today. He would be amazed to see how connected we are through our social media of Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and the like. But are we really connected in the way John Donne would like us to be? Do we feel the lose of someone on the other part of the world, or the lose of someone across the street? We still fight each other. We still hotly debate the issues of the day, but we debate in a personal and hurtful way. We have the "my way or the highway" attitude.

I wish people realized how connected we are to each other, not by our technology, but in a spiritual sense. We are all human beings, and we have more things that are the same than are different. If we focused more on the things we hold in common, perhaps we would get along a little better. That may be a lot to ask, but if we don't ask, it won't happen.

You Get What You Pay For

2012-01-30T12:58:00.000-08:00

The expression "you get what you pay for" has been around for a long time. It generally means the cheaper something is, the less value for your money it has. The more expensive something is, the more value it has. This is not always true. There are expensive items that are not worth the extra cost. Sometimes you are paying more for the item's reputation and ad campaign versus how good a product really is.

I was reminded of this expression a couple of weeks ago in a very small way concerning my laundry detergent. For a long time I have used a detergent, which I will call brand A, that cost more than most other detergents. In an effort to save a little money, I decided to switch to a cheaper brand, brand B. I did not notice any difference in my clothes with brand B. They all felt the same on me with one exception, my blue jeans.

My jeans felt real nice when I wore them the first day after washing them with brand A. When I wore them a second day, my jeans did not feel as nice. On the first day with brand B, my jeans felt like they did on the second day after washing with brand A. I did not think much of it at first, but after a while, I began to realize why my jeans did not feel as good after washing them. Sometimes I am a slow learner, but it finally sunk in that the cheaper brand was not as good as the more expensive brand. My jeans were not as clean with brand B as they were with brand A. I indeed was saving a little money, and over time, those little savings can add up to a big savings, but my clothes were not as clean.

Now I am have returned to brand A. I may feel the extra cleanliness only in my jeans, but it makes me feel better when I know my clothes and anything else that I wash in the washer are cleaner. I am keeping the container of the cheaper detergent I already have in case I need to wash something and I don't have any brand A available.

Now I understand better the expression "you get what you pay for". Hopefully I will keep that expression in mind more when I am shopping. That does not mean I will always buy the most expensive item. It does mean that if something about an item is important to have, I will be more willing to pay the extra expense.

Reading is Fun

2012-01-16T10:34:00.000-08:00

I have always enjoyed reading, whether I am reading strictly for pleasure or for studying something. When I was a kid, I would borrow books from the library, read them all in two weeks, and then return the books back to the library and borrow more books. I would do that more during the summer when I had more time to do so. I don't quite read that much now, but I certainly do read something everyday. I start each day by drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. That time is my favorite part of the day.

I am currently reading the book 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Mr. King is known for his horror books, but this book is a science fiction book. The main character is able to travel back in time, and his mission is to stop the assassination of President Kennedy. One day last week I was reading one passage where I found that I could not read the passage fast enough. I could not turn to the next page fast enough. However, I did pause enough in my reading to realize that I was having fun, a lot of fun. I was really enjoying myself. It was like I was on a roller coaster, and I wanted the vehicle to go faster and faster on the tracks. The faster I went, the more I liked it. It was quite a feeling. It reminded me how I much I like to read. You almost can say reading is a passion of mine. I just don't read at home. I like to go to Starbucks or Barnes & Noble, get a Vanilla Latte, and read a book or magazine. If I go with someone to a shopping mall, while that person is looking around in a store or actually shopping, I will find a place to sit and read with another Vanilla Latte. Now that I have a Nook Simple Touch, I am reading even more. At least for me, reading is fun.

Changing My Blogs

2012-01-07T17:41:00.000-08:00

In December 2010, I started my first blog. I blogged for over 6 months fairly consistently, and then I stopped writing in July, the reason for stopping mainly being nothing came to my mind to write about (writers block?). Then about two months ago I started writing again, but I wrote in a different blog that had the same name as the first blog but was under my Gmail email account instead of my AOL email account. I wrote more about tech issues in the second blog, and I got at least one comment back indicating that person was not interested in tech issues. That got me to thinking that maybe I should separate my writings into two separate blogs, one dealing with mainly tech issues and the other dealing with non-tech issues.

I have combined my two blogs under my Gmail account. I am keeping the name of my first blog, Blog from a Florida Gator in Virginia, and that blog will contain postings of non-tech issues. I have renamed my second blog Blog from a Florida Gator in Virginia with Geek Tendencies (not a big name change). That blog will mainly deal with tech issues. A lot of my tech issues come from Lockergnome.com, a Geek web site, but I will certainly be talking about tech issues from other sources, including myself. It will be interesting to see how that works out, at least interesting to me.

Amazing, I never thought I would be a blogger, and now I have two blogs. What is this world coming to.

Is There a Solution to this Mess?

2011-07-24T09:18:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't been keeping up with the news about the crises over the budget deficit, we have a very serious problem in this country. That problem is not the budget deficit and increasing the debt ceiling. That problem is the inability of our leaders to solve problems. We elected our leaders to run our government and to solve problems. That is not being done. All our leaders seem to be able to do is blame the other side on why a particular problem is not being solved. All our leaders seem to be able to do is score political points at the expense of the other side. All our leaders seem to be able to do is talk, talk, and talk.

I think I have a solution to this problem, but I do not have the power to implement this solution. It is called binding arbitration. Our leaders should be put in a room with no contact to the outside. Then they work on a solution until they can all agree on it. They will not be let out of the room until a solution is found and agreed upon. Whatever the solution is, that will be the solution that will be implemented. No debate.

Obviously binding arbitration can't be used for every problem, especially in a democratic society. However, binding arbitration has been used when there is no other way to forge an agreement. We seem to be in that situation now with the issue of the debt ceiling and the budget deficit. Just when we are getting close to an agreement, the talks breakdown when some group says no. Some groups seem only to want to say no, and only no. There is no willingness to compromise. It is my way or the highway, to coin a phrase. Our government can't work with this kind of attitude. Our government, at least our government in Washington, is not working now. Both sides are to blame. I have my opinions about who is more to blame, but that doesn't matter. I just want an agreement so that this country will not default on its financial obligations. The long term consequences of defaulting will hurt us all in the long run. I am tired of the blame game being played by our leaders. What the people of this country want is for this problem to be solved so that we do not default, and then we can move on to try to solve the other big problems that we have. Our leaders have been elected to solve our problems. If they can't find a way to do that, then we will find someone who can do that.

I am Addicted to my Smart Phone

2011-07-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

I admit it. I am addicted. I am addicted to my smart phone.

My addiction started when I bought a HTC Sensation 4G smart phone from T-Mobile a week ago last Thursday. I have been wanting a smart phone for a long time, but I did not buy one because I had higher priorities (like eating). My old cell phone was a flip phone with two basic functions that I used, making and receiving phone calls and texting (to a small extent). This phone was really all I needed in a phone. I dropped my land line over two years ago, and my cell phone kept me in contact with people everywhere I went. The problem was my old cell phone was starting to have issues. It started to miss phone calls even though the phone was right next to me. My phone would still tell me that I had received a voice message from the person who just tried to call me. Also, my phone started not to match the person's name with the phone number even though that person was in in my contact list.

The problems with my old cell phone was an excuse, a very valid excuse, for me to buy a smart phone. I had heard and read all about the things smart phones can do. I felt like I was missing out on something, that I was behind the times. I saw people engaged with their smart phones ( they were smart phones, not cell phones, because they were not talking on their phones), and I wanted to be doing the same thing because everyone was doing it. I did not want to miss out on the experience they were having. It must be a good experience because they would keep doing whatever they were doing on their smart phones. They would be oblivious to what was going on around them even though they were with other people. They were enjoying themselves. They might not be talking to anyone near them, but they were certainly connected to other people in other places, even to people around the world. They did not have to be at home to do this, nor did they have to bring their laptop with them. They just had to bring a small device that fits into a pocket or small purse, and they can be connected to almost anyone. How cool is that?

My salesperson at the T-Mobile store at the Dulles Town Center did not have any trouble selling this phone to me. You can see why. However, I now realize I have a problem with this new phone. I take this phone everywhere. I not only do that (I did that with my old phone), but I doing something with it all the time. Part of that is the time I am taking to learn how to use the phone. There are so many functions, apps, and widgets on that phone. I have also installed some apps and widgets. I can now check my email on this phone. I access Facebook and Twitter. I look at videos on YouTube. I check my bank balance. I check the standings of golf tournaments. I check the weather forecast. I use the GPS function to help me get somewhere. I do some of these things even when I go to bed (not the GPS part, obviously)..

I now feel like I know something about drug addition. Being addicted to my cell phone is not the same as being addicted to drugs. I am not physically addicted to the phone. I may be mentally addicted to my phone though. I feel better mentally when I am doing something on my phone. It is so much fun. Of course, drug addiction may have a mental component to it as well. Drugs can make you feel better, too. Hopefully, I will not have to go to some organization like AA to get over my addiction. Hopefully, I will get over the newness and excitement of this new toy. I do worry about some people who really do seem to be addicted to their phones or other electronic devices. Being engaged with their device seems to be all they do. I hope this is not creating a society where there is no personal social connection, and all connections are via electronic devices. That is not a society I want to live in.

Making Decisions about the Future

2011-06-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

For some reason this past weekend I made two decisions about what I am going to do in the future. I decided what I am going to do when I payoff my car loan two and a quarter years from now. I also decided what kind of condo I want to buy when I move out of my current condo.

In the April 2011 edition of Discover magazine, there is an article on how humans recall their past and how humans think of themselves in the future. Both abilities seem to be performed in the same area of the hippocampus portion of the brain, and these abilities may have appeared when our our ability to speak using language evolved a few hundred thousand years ago. I guess my hippocampus was very active this past weekend.

I find it enjoyable to dream and think about what I might do in the future. I seem to be an optimist and always see the glass half full instead of half empty. Yes, I know I have problems that need to be solved. Not everything in my life is going well. However, not everything is bad. Things could be worse. I am not homeless or starving. I am not unemployed. Thus I feel things will get better. For that reason, I dream about a future that will be better. I dream of a possibility that my problems will be solved and my situation will be better.

Oh, what did I decide this past weekend? After I payoff my car, I will save the money that normally goes to my car payment. Part of that savings will be used for a down payment for a new car with much better gas mileage and a much lower monthly car payment. As for my next condo, I want a two-bedroom, two-bath, one-level condo with a garage and a big enough living room or family room where I can have both my TV and a desk for my laptop (I currently have that kind of living room now). My current condo has only one bedroom, one bath, and one-level, and it does not have a garage. A new condo will have to wait a while. My current condo is underwater, which means it is worth less than what I owe on it.

I may change my mind about these two decisions. Nothing about them is set in stone. That is the fun part about it. There is no reason I can't dream a whole different dream.

Two Weeks of Death and Life

2011-05-15T00:40:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks, at least for me, has been full of both death and life.

I mention death first because the news of the last two weeks has been dominated by the death of Osama bin Laden. Of course, everyone knows who he was. He was the worst terrorist and the killer of many people, including many Americans. If anyone deserved to die, he certainly did. As well as killing so many people, he affected the lives of so many friends and relatives is such a negative way that their lives are forever changed despite his death. His death will not bring any of those he killed back.

Yet I did not feel like other people who celebrated his death at Ground Zero, at the White House, or at others places. I did not celebrate his death like they did. Despite what Osama bin Laden did, it did not seem quite right to me to celebrate the death of anyone. Yes, I am glad that he is dead, but at the same time, I do not wish for anyone to die. Perhaps I would feel differently if a friend or relative of mine had been killed by him. I was horrified when so many innocent people died on 9/11. I haven't been affected by the events of 9/11 in such a strong way as people who had so many loses on that day of almost 10 years ago. I did not lose a friend or relative on that day. I have not had to live my life without a parent, spouse, sibling, or friend who died by Osama bin Laden's hand. All my life, I have been taught to celebrate life. I have not felt comfortable in celebrating his death.

At the beginning of this post, I said the last two weeks has been filled by both death and life. The news has been filled by the death of Osama bin Laden. For me, the last two weeks has been filled with life, in particular, my life. Actually more than two weeks ago, I had a mini-stroke in the retina of my left eye. A blood vessel broke in the retina, and my vision in my left eye has been affected. The mini-stroke was caused by high blood pressure. I have made changes to my diet by eating more fruit, drinking tomato juice, and not eating as much of the stuff that is bad for you. I am exercising much more now. I have had a fitness walk five of the last seven days, and as a result, I have walked eleven miles this week. I am on blood pressure medicine, and my blood pressure has gone down to around 120/80. I check my blood pressure twice a day since I bought a blood pressure monitor from Walgreens.

Obviously, this health event has caused me to make changes in my life. I realize that if I really want to keep on living on this earth and continue to have a high quality of life, I am going to have to continue with these changes. I have lost a little weight already, but I am nowhere near the weight I want to be at or need to be at. This is the start of a long process, but I am actually looking forward to where these changes will take me. Last Thursday, I did not have the time to do a fitness walk. I had walked four straight days (2.2 miles each day). As I was walking to my car to run some errands, I could feel that my body wanting to walk faster. My body wanted to do a fitness walk. I had to slow myself down. I felt guilty not doing my fitness walk. Today I did my fitness walk despite the threat of rain. More and more, fitness walking is becoming a part of my life. It is what I do along with teaching. It is what I have to do, along with the other changes, if I want to keep on living. Too bad something drastic had to happen to me to make these changes. I really knew I had to make these changes at some point in my life. Now I know I have no choice. I have to make them.

We are not Vulcans

2011-04-03T07:24:00.000-07:00

I love the Star Trek TV shows and their movies. They portray such a optimistic view of the future. Two of the more fascinating characters on the various Star Trek shows are Spock and T'Pol, two vulcans. Supposedly, Vulcans do not have emotions. However, we do learn that Vulcans do have emotions. They just do a better job of suppressing them. That does not mean that Spock and T'Pol do not express their emotions. They do express them, just not as often or in conflicting abundance.

Yes, we humans do have emotions, and we express them in their many forms all the time. We are moved by beautiful music (I am listening to some beautiful classical music as I write this posting), or we get angry when we hear a politician say something that we disagree with in a fundamental way. Emotions can be a good thing or a bad thing. Anger can make us say to someone something that we really did not mean and which we may regret for a long time. Anger can also motivate us to make meaningful change.

I was watching a video this morning about a person who has made the decision to switch from a PC user to a Mac user. He made this decision after much thought and deliberation. The person who was talking with the person who has made the switch to Apple products (he has bought an iPad and a Apple TV as well) made the comment that PCs are getting so inexpensive, especially compared to Macs, that buying a PC can almost be buying on impulse. Many manufacturers actually count on people to buy on impulse to sell a lot of their products. I certainly have been guilty of that, as has most everyone else.

I have Windows Vista on the laptop that I am using to write this posting. I really want to install Windows 7 on this laptop as Widows 7 is a much better operating system than Windows Vista. My emotions are telling me that I must go to Best Buy today to get Windows 7. It would be so cool to have Windows 7 on my laptop. However, I know that I have higher priority things that need to get fixed or replaced. I have a leaky faucet in my bathtub that must be fixed. I need some new clothes, especially t-shirts and polo shirts which are wearing out. There are other things that are higher priority as well, but I really do not need to mention them. Actually I am not having any problems with Windows Vista if I must be honest with myself. If I am having any problems with it, either I put up with them or ignore them.

Just suffice it to say that emotions are tough to deal with, and we deal with them on a daily basis. Some people wear their emotions on their sleeves. Others are better at hiding their emotions, but that does not mean they do not have a hard time dealing with their emotions. In fact, they tend to have a harder time with their emotions, and their emotions may come out more intensely as a result.

I am glad I have emotions. I enjoy life more because of them. They are a part of who I am. Emotions can make me feel bad as well. However if we did not feel bad at times, we would not appreciate the times when we feel good. We appreciate the warm spring days more when we have had the cold winter days. I am glad I am not a Vulcan.

We Don't Know How to Drive in This Country

2011-03-12T15:54:00.000-08:00

After reading this posting, maybe before even finishing reading this posting, you will classify this posting as a rant. You will probably be right. This posting is a rant. So be it.

I have been wanting to write this post for a couple of weeks, but I just haven't been able to carve out some time to do so. I do a fair amount of driving around the county in my teaching GED classes and tutoring people in math. There are two things that really bug me during my driving. Everyone that drives around here has seen these two things. There is nothing new about it. I just have to get this off my chest.

There are a lot of cars out there that have non-functioning turn signals on the rear ends of cars. I really do not see another reason why so many people make lane changes and turns with no turn signals blinking like mad. I can't believe that these drivers think it is not necessary to let a person in another lane know that they are going to make a change into their lane, or let a person know that they are going to make a turn in front of another car that is behind them. I can't believe that they do not think accidents can happen if notices of a lane change or a turn are not given. I can't believe that they don't care that they may have just cut someone off or they may have just missed being hit in the rear of their car by another car because the car behind did not have enough time to slow down before the turn was made. Non-functioning turn signals must be the cause.

When waiting at a traffic light, why do some drivers stop a car length or so behind the car in front of them? They must not be thinking of what is going on behind them, or they would not leave so much space in front of them. If a right or left turn lane is next to them, they must not realize that other cars behind them could be blocking access to the turn lane because of the space they are leaving in front of them. If they knew they were responsible for someone not being able to make a turn onto another street, they might be embarrassed if they knew that they might be making someone late for a very important appointment. Surely what they are thinking about while sitting at a traffic light would not interfere with being aware of all of their surroundings. Surely they would not want to hinder anyone getting to their destination on time, or make someone waste precious gas while waiting to get in the turn lane.

I don't know why I let these things that drivers do bother me, but I seem to be irritated about it more and more. Maybe I am getting too old for my own good. Maybe I should not worry about it since there is really nothing I can do about it. Maybe there are things I do while driving that irritates other drivers. I do try to turn my turn signal on when I make a lane change or a turn onto another street. I even turn the turn signal on well before I start slowing down to make my turn onto another street. I certainly don't want to be the cause of an accident. I know I am not a perfect driver. No one is. I just wish other drivers were more aware of what their driving actions are doing or not doing to other drivers around them. Just because no accident occurs does not mean what they did is okay. Not being a courteous driver by keeping a driver from getting into a turn lane is not okay. By delaying someone for a even a few seconds may make a big difference to someone. Maybe this is a rant. So be it.

I Love to Sing

2011-02-19T18:49:00.000-08:00

I love to sing. It is one of the things I do that make me the person that I am. I have been singing almost all of life. I remember singing in kindergarten the song Heart of My Heart. I liked the song so much that one time I got up at a restaurant where there was someone playing a piano. I asked him if he would play that song while I sang it in front of everyone there. I would not dare do that today, but kids have no fear, or maybe I just didn't know any better. I don't think I knew all the words to the song. I would have not made it to American Idol.

In third grade I joined my first choir, the Cadet Choir, at my church. In school, they would sometimes let me sing a solo. I was in the youth church choir starting in seventh grade through senior high, and I sang some solos in church as well. Now don't start thinking that I am, or was, a great singer. I am not a great singer, but sometimes I do have my moments.

As an adult, I sang in church choirs, and I sang in the Manassas Choral Society (they no longer exist) and in the Manassas Community Chorale. They let me sing solos as well and in small groups. I really enjoy singing in small groups where just a few singers are making music together. I like the team aspects of singing in a small group. You must blend together to make a good sound. There can be no divas in a small group.

I am not singing with any choir or group right now. I have had an issue with my hearing this year, and I have had to drop out of my church choir, the Trinity Singers, who sing at the 8:30 service at Trinity Episcopal Church in Old Town Manassas. Let me explain what happened.

First of all, I am completely deaf in my left ear. My hearing has been that way all of my life, probably from birth. I have never made a big deal of it. I actually have been more embarrassed by it, so I have always tried to hide it by having people be on my right side. When singing with others, I make sure everyone is on my right side. My hearing in my right ear is not 100% either, but it is good enough (I know one or two people who might debate that). As a result, I usually do not have a problem hearing someone unless they are on my left side or are speaking away from me.

Last May my church choir was rehearsing in the sanctuary when the organist hit a couple of notes on the organ really loud. He did it by mistake, but the result was I started to have hearing problems in my right ear. There was a roaring in my ear, and sounds started to sound distorted. It was like I was missing some frequencies. I finally went to an audiologist to have my hearing tested. She found that I had some low frequency loss. She recommended that I see an ear, nose, and throat doctor so that an MRI of the ear could be done in order to determine perhaps the cause of the hearing loss and the roaring. I was able to get a prescription for the MRI, but I did not get the MRI done right away because I do not have health insurance.

In September, my hearing started to improve. The roaring became less and less, and the distortion started to decrease. One Saturday morning I woke up to find my hearing was back to normal. There was no roaring nor distortion. I told my audiologist about the improvement, and she told me to wait a few weeks before making another appointment to have my hearing tested again. Meanwhile, I did not rejoin the choir, but I continued to go to the 8:30 service. I just stayed in the back of the church so that the music, especially the organ, and other sounds were not so loud.

However, I had a setback. At the 8:30 service one Sunday, the organist hit a loud note on the organ, and I started to have the same problems with my hearing. I was not so worried this time. My hearing had come back before, and I trusted that it would come back again. I made one change though. I quit going to the 8:30 service, and now I am going to the 9:45 service where the piano is played only and the organ is not played. My hearing has indeed come back again, but I am being very careful not to be around loud noises. I miss being in the church choir with my fellow singers, but I cannot risk losing my hearing. I can go without being able to hear in one ear, but not in both ears.

When I think about it, it is amazing that I am a singer at all. Even at my best, my hearing is just okay. I probably miss some sounds that I am not aware of. I do have a tendency to sing louder than I should. I may do that to compensate for my hearing. Over the last few years, I think I have done a better job of not singing so loud. When I sing a solo, I will sometimes sing a little loud, which makes my pitch go a little sharp. I have to concentrate on not singing loud, and I have to realize that I do not have to sing loud for people to hear me.

I do not know what I am going to do about singing again. I certainly cannot sing when the organ is being played. Even though there is no organ playing at the 9:45 church service, I still am sitting in the back of the church. I sing along with songs on my CDs or songs being played on the radio, but that is not the same as singing with others in a choir or a small group. I love to sing, but I also love to hear. I am very thankful that I can hear. My singing with others will just have to be on hold.

I am Changing Lives

2011-02-03T19:05:00.000-08:00

As you may know from reading my previous posts, I am a GED teacher. I help people get their GED diplomas. This week I found out that two more of my students from my GED Math Only Class took the GED test this past weekend and passed. That means at least five students that I know of from that class have earned their GEDs. That certainly makes me feel good, but this will have a much greater impact to the lives of these students.

One of these students who passed the GED test this past weekend has been working to get his GED for seven years. His father once told him that he was not smart enough to amount to anything. Despite this and a lot of other obstacles, he did not stop going to classes, and he kept on working to get his GED. He has always wanted to be a mechanic, and now he can get the training he needs to be a mechanic. He has other paths he can also take. He can get a better paying job, or he can go onto college. With his GED in hand, he now has choices in life.

The other student who passed the GED test this past weekend came to my GED Math Only Class Tuesday night with her two children to tell me that she passed the GED tests. She now wants to go onto college. She also now has choices of what to study and and what she wants to do for a career. She has choices in life.

What better job can one have than a job that impacts people's lives in a positive way. By helping them obtain the knowledge that enables them to have choices in their lives, I am having a positive impact on their families and the community as well. I would have to look hard to find another job that does the same thing. I also enjoy teaching them and working with them. I will not get rich doing this, but I am rewarded in so many other ways. I feel very fortunate to be making a difference.