"Wow...Getting Older...Will I Be Able To Do Anything Soon?"

I finished my ten weeks of daily Monday through Friday external radiation, for prostate cancer, eight days ago.  I shall be tested to determine of the success of the procedure two months later.   With a two thirds reduction of workout strength, a reduction of long-term energy, and an increased feeling of "frequency", that I did (and look) very well...That done, it will soon be time to address the arthritic "trigger finger" in my left hand that locks up into a closed position at night!

This morning, I took Mom on errands.  Since I had broken one of the blades while trying to shut the bedroom ones, we returned to a window treatment store in a nearby town where Mom had previously replaced broken ones.  The owner came up and responded that the blades no longer came with flat profiles. Arched profiles had replaced these over 20 years ago! An examination of hundreds of color wheels revealed that they do no come in beige (the second most South Florida color) either (of course not)!  At Mom's insistence we placed an order for an arched white one to eventually be installed with the other non-matching ones.  Mom realized it had been about 28 years since she had last gone to this store!
 

This afternoon, I returned the phone store to get a battery-charger for my cell phone. I was told that these were not still available for this "vintage" two year old product. Nor were batteries. But I could be "upgraded" to a product that although it looked the same (simple operations with visibly large keys!), this one would have a few "new features"! I responded that I don't use hardly any of the current features, and that switching phones would cause (once again) my non-Sim-card entered contacts to be lost..."Oh no, that is not the case anymore; let me show you"...and sure enough they were dropped!!!

Tonight,to no avail, I spent an hour trying to find a serial number on (with two different strengths of reading glasses!), and read the directions of, my newly purchased bicycle.  I went on-line to see if their site would be of assistance but it wasn't...

So I went upstairs and took out the directory of over 1000 channels available (I use about five basis ones!) with my cable system.  I got a magnifying glass to read the minuscule print.  I grabbed the remote and turned it on, and then went to the TV to turn on the receptor button for the remote (so convenient), and nothing but horizontal lines appeared on the screen.  The "trouble-shooting" directions were no help, so I called the dial-around customer (usually disservice) service number.  Surprisingly I got a voice that took me through a number of steps to eventually get a picture to reappear!  "You must have pushed another button on the TV other than the remote receptor one that caused your channel receiving station to be moved to another!  You should be good to go now!"..."If you are in the US, Happy Thanksgiving!"..."I am, and thank you for calling.  We appreciate having you as a customer!"

Success...maybe I (we will make it after all)!!! 

 

 

 



"Black Friday to Black Thursday...Black Days..."

More signs of the times...

 

Once again, the new America "speaks"...Majority rules...

Despite the e-mail, letter and walk-out protests by a few employees, many stores decided to  open mid-afternoon on the Thanksgiving Day Holiday!  Shoppers began to "camp out" in lines in front of department stores as early as the prior Saturday to be sure to have the opportunity to BUY, BUY, BUY merchandise at "perceived" sales too good to miss!!!

"Black Friday" has now been preceded by "Black (Thanksgiving) Thursday"...or "Black and Blue Thursday" as shoppers fought for the goods after the doors opened!!!  The paper described fist fights breaking out after a box of the "latest" cell phones was opened!  One customer even shot another who was trying to grab the last reduced-price "game boy"!  Debriefing reports related that merchandise could have been purchased online at the same or better prices!!!  Some continued shopping from noon Thanksgiving Day to midnight on "Black Friday".  and for this, some even realized $200 in savings for all of the anguish and misdirected motivation! They continued that over 41 million customers shopped on Thanksgiving Day, and over 123 million shopped on "Black Friday".  The record breaking sales volume was so impressive that the sales are being continued through to "Black Sunday"!!!

A friend posted a quote:  "Black Friday: Because only in America, people trample others for sales one day after being thankful for what they already have!"

 

I am old enough to remember Blue Laws...no stores could open even on Sundays! 

My niece told her father (my brother) that she was going to the stores with a friend at 10 PM Christmas night to watch the crazy shoppers.  To which my brother and sister in law told her to be extremely careful as some of the crazy shoppers could be dangerous.  I have to admit though that I would sometimes go to the local malls Christmas Eve afternoon, not to shop either, but to watch all of the "desperate" people trying to BUY, BUY, BUY before Christmas morning, in the true spirit of the religious Holiday.

On to "Cyber Monday"...

"Busyness..."

Last week, the "Healthy Living" section of our local paper featured an article "Are Our Lives Really Too Busy? Sleeping, Working, easting, Exercising...There Is Not Enough Time In the Day...BUNK!"

"Why do Yuppies Always Feel Tired (we have even classified run-down symptoms as Yuppie Syndrome!)?"

 

This "hit home" with me!  I have always felt that the more one puts on their plate, the more efficient one becomes at accomplishing!  I have been known to express that "there is plenty of time to rest...ultimately"!  I found that eating small meals and keeping "hydrated" throughout the day allowed me to keep going with three hours sleep per night.  Friends urged me to slow down, for fear of me getting ill.  And with a weakened immune system from Myrsa Staph Infection after cancer scare lymph node removal surgery...and tomorrow I have my last day of ten weeks of daily Monday to Friday radiation for prostate cancer...this has proven to be true.

 

Our current 24-7, instantaneous communication technology-driven lives have enveloped a lot of what would have leisure and sleep time.   Between my office (architecture, real estate and management careers) and home computers, and even with Spam blockers, it is not unusual to receive a few hundred e-mails a day!    The Harvard professor featured in the article, stated that 80% of what is received is "c_ _ p!", and he advised to only handle e-mails once whenever possible.  "Time-tracking" is a good tool.  I determined that to get paid for one small architectural addition, I had 122 e-mails back and forth with the client!  At 10 minutes each times an hourly billable rate of $160 per hour, this unbilled time was worth $3,904, and expended one 24 hour day of time!

 

For time management, he continued to prioritize, avoid procrastination, and for middle-aged adults to eat well,and sleep at least eight hours per night.

 

I managed to increase my sleep to six hours per night, and continue with a limited version of my anti-oxidant regimen, during my recent treatment.  And the "state of our country's (and world) economy" has (somewhat) reduced my work load, but other's impression of my life is that it remains about three times as busy as the majority of those my age...and realistically this is part of my persona, and for the time being probably won't change too much!  But, my goal is to re-implement as many "smart" time management aids as possible...