Category: NoJoMo

Write a bit about your drivers’ licence. How old were you, where did you get it? What kind of car did you drive?

Not applicable.  I haven’t had a driver’s license since my unexpected move in Norfolk.  Prior to that, I had one, but I hadn’t been behind the wheel since late 2012.  I barely passed the vision test when I renewed my license in 2009, before I was diagnosed with MS.

I really stopped driving, though, sometime in the summer of 2012.  I had a pickup truck drop its under-bed spare tire in front of me.  This really screwed up my car, and I was very scared when I got it back out of the shop.

When I tried again between Christmas and New Year’s in late-2012, I realized that I couldn’t see a red stoplight with a green tree in the background.

Probably, if I wanted to, I would qualify as legally-blind at this point.

I was also having real trouble working the clutch without toeing the brake.

I never owned a car with an automatic transmission;  I’m happy about that.

What does it mean to be a good friend?  What type of friend are you?

I’m contemplating this one, and I really don’t know.

I’m still on good terms with a few friends.  There’s others with whom I’d just never speak again.  Some of those are due to adoption of beliefs I find insane.  No, none of them has become a Scientologist, at least.  Those who are fascinated with politicians who are disguised bigots I don’t worry too much about.

A couple folks might avoid me because of something I did, but I think the vast majority probably don’t know how to deal with me.  No, I don’t have nearly the energy I used to.  I also don’t have the money to blow on frivolity.  I made mistakes trying to live a life I couldn’t afford, then they figured out WTF was wrong with me.

Maybe there’s never any reward, but at least I can still live with myself.

So I am late on this one.  There was a lot going on yesterday, and I ended up getting side tracked.  It did give me an idea about what to write about though.

How do you deal with difficult feelings?

There is something going on in my family right now, and I did not react to it the way a normal person would react to something like that.  After realizing that, I began to feel guilty.  Then I questioned why I felt so guilty.  So yeah, that is the where I am at.

How do I deal with difficult feelings, not very well.

Until tomorrow…

 

Free-write

I drafted this a few months ago.  I’m trying to get out some of the stuff that’s stuck in my drafts queue.

---

I’ve complained, perhaps incessantly, about the stupidity that is LinkedIn.

Late last week, I got a suggestion that I connect with my father.

My dad died nearly eight years ago.

Words fail. Please, please, please shut off your email snooping, you all.
Yes, I’ve got emails dating back years and years; it doesn’t mean that I ever want (or can) speak to those people again.

Still, what’s happening, though, and why LinkedIn is a pond filled with just about only recruiters these days, is that companies are moving almost exclusively to having contract employees.

My new role, I get, at least, paid holidays, and time off. What do I not get? The sacrosanct health insurance, and any 401K match at all.

You know what, though, for most of my life, I’ve not had those things.

Older politicians ran on destruction of the “gig economy” not long ago, while people her age are working forever, and getting rich off reflated housing and equity markets.

So What?

I’m going to point out what I’ve had to deal with as one of the youngest Generation Xers. You will see it on my resume, which will be as long as it needs to be to cover my varied work history. It will not be a two-page Microsoft Word 97 document. Sorry.

To the arts major recruiters, consider your favorite author. How would his/her (yes, I know, that’s sys-gendered…..) works

---

I don’t know why I didn’t publish this back when I wrote it.  It does speak to the whole data mining.

How does government fix that?  It can’t.

I write this as I listen to a Libertarian take on the issue of birthright citizenship.

The more you read, and the more you think about things, the more your opinions change.

That makes me a bad person, I suppose.  Rachel Maddow might be able to whip up some tears about it.  *shrug*

Stuff in my sights at the moment:

Well, this.  I guess the idea is keep-it-big-but-regulate-the-fuck-out-of-it.  No.  Don’t do that.  If something’s too big, instead of forcing things, leave.  All you can do is take your attention and money away.

That, of course, is what I’m doing.

I’m also paying attention to the NFL, even if the fans, and the TV audiences have largely left.

Rams at the Saints tomorrow should be interesting.

Not a lot more to say, really.  I’m making prime rib for dinner for me, my wife, brother, and sister-in-law.  Similarly, I will declare that done when it’s done.  Like this entry.

So on to tomorrow.

Just in to the prompts today.  The second prompts are harvested from someone on OD, who’s trying to sorta resurrect the old NoJoMo bits there.

I am writing because I’ve already hit my work target for the week, and am out of workable hours.  Maybe, though, Sunday, I’ll actually have a full day off for the first time in like two weeks.

So on to it….

Are you listed as an organ or bone marrow donor? Why or why not?

I was.  My disabled guy ID doesn’t show it anymore, though.

At the same time, like anybody would want my organs with the sheer amount of chemicals pumped into my body, I wonder if anyone’d want them.  If there was something on/in me to salvage, I guess someone could have it, but I’m having trouble figuring out what of me might be of any use.

My blood?  No, I ate British beef in the 1980s, so nobody will take that while I’m alive.

Hair?  Well, what of it’s still left, maybe.

How would you describe yourself to someone who had never met you?

This one is tough.

I’m a married guy in his late-thirties.  No kids.  Nerd.  Not much of a professional future left on account of my physical disability;  I have multiple sclerosis.  MS has taken most of my vision, and quite a bit of my mobility.

My father was a career Army officer, so I grew up all over the place;  I attended three high schools.  While I was in college, I started working in television, then radio.  I stayed in broadcasting for the better part of a decade.  I left radio in 2005 to try to pay off my college debts, in preparation for going to law school.

Instead, I met the girl I’d marry.  I got sick, and she stuck around.

And I got turned around while writing this.  The work I thought I was going to do tomorrow got quadrupled.  Oh well.  I like what I’m doing.

Has it really been a year already?

This year I am going to try something a little different.  I am going to try and come up with a topic on the day I am writing and not go with a premade list of prompts.  We are going to make this artisanal as possible.  (Yes, I am part of the millennial generation.  Deal.). It’s going to be very Mark-esque from “RENT’.  “From here on out, I write without a script, instead of my old shit.”

So today, I think I will tell whoever is reading this a little about this past year.  There have been many changes and most of them were unexpected.

We had a blizzard in Tidewater, something that hadn’t happened in I don’t even know how long.

The bigger news from that day was I received a tentative offer from a government job that I had only interviewed for the day before.  I have been with them since March and plan to stay with them until the foreseeable future.  I enjoy the work and I enjoy the company I keep in the office, mostly.

With this offer came one of the scariest changes of my life so far, moving away from home.  Tidewater had been home for almost 18 years of my life, so moving to northern VA was not something I looked forward to, especially not alone, which is what I had to do.  Eventually Sean followed and we are currently residing with is brother and his brother’s wife while we get our bearings up here.

I try to go home every couple weeks, but I know as winter comes, that will get harder and harder.  Still not sure what the holidays are going to entail and that is a first for me, because my parents used to be a 15 minute drive away.  Now it’s more like 4 – 5 hours.  I enjoy being on the road by myself.  I can think, sing, and just be myself and no one really cares as long as I maintain my speed.

I have started using my FitBit regularly and am seeing results with that.  Since August, I have dropped about 18 lbs.  I need to be more disciplined in my dinner ideas and my weekly workouts and then I think I will be able to create my ideal body, or at least something closer to it.

I think that is enough for now.  Until tomorrow…

 

 

November is tomorrow.  I’m sampling some prompts this year from a Teachers’ site. https://www.dailyteachingtools.com/journal-writing-prompts.html

1. Intro and what I’m doing.  This marks the ninth straight year.
2. Are you listed as an organ or bone marrow donor? Why or why not?
3. Free-write
4. Write a bit about your drivers’ licence. How old were you, where did you get it? What kind of car did you drive?
5. What are some qualities of bad bosses? What would you not do if you were supervising others? (No, I won’t aks for you to make your worst bosses, but you can write about why they sucked.)
6. Election Day.
7. What is the most expensive thing you have ever bought for yourself?
8. Is there an outfit, a meal, a drink, a style, a whatever, that you feel is the quintessential “you?”
9. Write about someone who is no longer a part of your life. Could be a love, a friend, a relative. Why aren’t they a part of your life anymore?
10. What would you do if you could travel into the past?
11. Veterans’ Day.
12. What has been the biggest disappointment in your life that turned out to be a blessing in disguise?
13. What is your favorite kind of weather?  Why?
14. Compile a list of words that describe you as a child.  Compile a second list that describes you as you are now.  How are these lists the same?  How are they different
15. Halftime.
16. What was the last thing on your mind as you fell asleep last night?
17. Tell about what triggers anger in you or someone else.
18. What is on your bucket list? (A bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you die)
19. What would you do if someone just gave you $1 million?
20. Recap of your year month-by-month.
21. Write a bit about what you do in a “normal” day.  What do you do?  Where are you?  Are you satisfied with your current situation?
22. Thanksgiving
23. Do you think steps should be taken by government (local, state or federal) to help curb the obesity epidemic currently happening in the United States? If so, what steps should the government take? If not, how do you feel the problem of obesity can be addressed?
24. Small Business Saturday. Write about small businesses you frequent.
25. Football.
26. Thanksgiving leftovers — what do you have, and what are you doing with them?
27. What places hold particular allure for you; where might you like to live?
28. Free-write
29. What are your holiday plans for Christmas?
30. Wrap-Up.

What did you get out of a month of writing?
Mostly, I got a lot of stuff off my chest.  This was helpful because I don’t need to bottle all of that in me.  It also helped me work on my typing speed and just let me express thoughts that I didn’t think I could express in any other way.
I plan on keeping it up, even if I might not put in an entry everyday.  I enjoyed writing and am a little surprised that I didn’t forget a day (until today, but I was running around a lot).
In the end, I am happy that I stuck to it and was able to keep at it and make it through.
Until next time…

As the year is coming to an end, any New Year’s resolution plans?
I have a few resolutions that I am going to try and accomplish in the new year.
First, I want to spend less money on frivolous things.  I love makeup, but I really need to use what I have and stop adding tons of products every time someone is having a sale.  I also need to stop buying groceries just because they look good, even though I have no idea how I am going to use them (although there are websites that will tell you what to make if you give them a list of ingredients).
Second, I want to stop caring so much about other people’s opinions of me.  If it is constructive, that is one thing, but constantly telling me that the things I like are stupid, lame, ugly, etc., it doesn’t help me improve myself and it doesn’t improve my view of you either.
Third, I actually want to be serious about getting healthier.  I know it is going to be hard to get to where I want to be and it is going to take time, so I need to work on changing bad habits and being impatient about results.  I have already made a few small changes (drinking more water and using my FitBit), just have to set a goal and create a plan to achieve it.
Fourth, start working in a career field for my degree.  I’m hoping the interview I talked about a few days ago is my path to this one, but if not, I will keep sticking to finding something where I want to be.  It will come, I have always been a late bloomer.
I think that is enough for now.  These may change but this is what I think at the moment.
Until tomorrow…
 
 

What is a favorite hobby? 
Other than shopping for makeup, because you know every girl has to have 1,000,000 lipsticks.
Cooking.  I LOVE cooking!!  Being in the kitchen makes me happy.  I love browsing recipes, selecting ingredients, and making a complete dish.  The feel of the knife in my hand, the sizzle of the skillet, the aroma in the air as each flavor is developed.  Everything about cooking makes me happy (other than our overly sensitive smoke detector, that I have set off 3 or 4 times since we moved here less than a year ago).  I also really dislike a glass top stove when I have been used to gas.  You can’t blister on a glass top, it just won’t work.
I love trying new ingredients and recipes.  It is just very fun to change up from the regular course of food.  Before I met my spouse, I was very apprehensive to try new things.  Ask him about the time he took me to an Indian restaurant the first time and I was utterly appalled by the entree I ordered until I tasted it, then I was in love.  It was Saag Paneer, which if you don’t know is pureed spinach and farmer’s cheese.  It looks like wet lawnmower clippings, but it tastes absolutely delicious.  Thus began my love of Indian food.  So much so that the first time I saw Ghee in a store, I shrieked and my mother thought there was something very wrong with me.  Nope, just never thought I’d be able to find that in store.
I also have developed a serious love for the slow cooker.  Always thought they were just for old ladies.  Yeah, no, not even close.  I use mine a couple times a month and will probably use it more now that winter is coming.
I could go on and on, but I’m sure you will get bored after awhile.  So, here are some of the favorite recipes that I’ve tried thus far:

• Coq Au Vin
• Beouf Bourguignon
• Chickpea Masala
• Ratatouille
• Cuban Sandwiches (the pork in this recipe is amazingly simple and DELICIOUS!!)
• A lemon, butter white wine sauce that goes great with fish and potatoes
• Spicy marinara

There are plenty more, but I’m going to make myself something to eat because I’ve made myself hungry 🙂
Until tomorrow…