Tag Archives: Writing

August 15, 2026

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Hi. I’m back and I’m in much better shape now. Apparently I’m healing OK. That’s because I’m spending most of my time reclining and watching movies. There are hundreds of them that I somehow failed to see when they were new. Watching old movies is fun. I know I actually saw many of them when they first appeared, but that didn’t matter because since I wasn’t sure, I pretended this was my first time.

My ankle is still swollen. Actually, my left foot is swollen. Not so bad that I can’t walk, but it’s gained a few pounds and doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. I’m still walking Max which may not be a good idea, but Max told me he wasn’t going on a walk with anyone else but me. So, I waited until the house was empty and took him out on the town. We generally get a couple of miles on these romps.

The Walters clan is camping at Big Eddy this weekend and are dealing with showers that have no hot water. So, Lydia brought her Mom home to get cleaned up so they can attend a wedding that’s on their list. Max was extremely excited about Lydia showing up unannounced. He’s really funny about that because he gets so excited about her arrival, then totally ignores her unless summoned for a neck scratch.

It appears that I got sidetracked right about here because today is the 18th. Therefor, I must have misplaced 3 days somewhere along the line. According to my calendar you didn’t miss anything. During those 3 missing days, I walked about 6 miles with Max. Maybe more. A routine day gets us about 2.5 miles so I just took a guess.

The weather is great during the day and cool at night. Most of my days are spent watching movies that I probably watched previously but forgot. Most of those have been very entertaining. Well, the ones I watched all the way through. Many of them caused me to take a nap off and on. I do that alot.

Lydia has been watching all the “911” series’ and I think she’s seen most of them now. Changing things up, a little, tonight she’s watching S1-E1 of “Law and Order, Special Vicitims Unit” which was made available for public viewing in 1999, the year Lydia was also presented for public viewing. I’d tell you how old she is but you’ll have to do the math.

A little research revealed that there are 26 series and the average season has 20 episodes. That means we will be a slave to our TV for at least 520 hours. During that time they are continuing to film new episodes. Factor in our need to sleep once in a while, and some of us have to work now and then, I predict we will catch up to the current episode sometime in mid 2035. If we want to watch other shows during this time, which we will, it will be necessary to extend viewing time for LAOSVU through 2042 because we enjoy dozens of other shows. I think we can catch up sooner if we spend all our waking hours in our recliners and order in all our food for the rest of our lives.

With all that fluttering around in my head which is a bit cramped with mostly useless information I believe I’ll reconsider my need to do all of that catching up and concentrate on Disney movies.

Here’s a photo to end this before it gets any worse.

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August 4, 2026

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Surprise! It’s only been a few days since my last post so I suspect some of you might be wondering why I’m back so soon. I used to do this every day until my life changed forever when Diane left me. When that happened pretty much all my joy went with her.

Oh, I still have many positive things in my life to keep me engaged, but without her the parameters are different. I’m surrounded by my children most of the time, and I have friends who share events with me. and that’s really awesome, but I miss sharing those events with her.

Sounds like a broken record, right? I’m sure everyone who has to go through this part of life’s journey says the same thing. Unfortunately for you, as I’ve said previously, when those feelings or thoughts get stuck in my head the only way I know how to relieve myself is to type it all out.

Doing that gets my head flying all over the place, ending at places I hadn’t considered. Eventually, I wind up in a happier place thinking about all the fun we had, the places we got to visit, and the family we made . . . .

I got stuck on that last paragraph. Picture me sitting here with my fingers poised over the keyboard, waiting for that next word that seeks relief from my clogged brain, and nothing happens. I’m sure that I’m not the only person that has this problem but it’s disconcerting when it happens. When my fingers are poised over a keyboard, I expect them to be productive. All the sudden they weren’t.

Considering that predicament, I deem it’s time for me to just make stuff up. You know I loved her beyond measure, and I miss her, but I need to move on down the road. So, here I go.

Let’s go back in time to 11/27/2011. Thanksgiving is over, and my head was overflowing with unused words.

Thanksgiving is over and it’s time to get back to work. For me, it’s a trip to the VA for some poking and prodding. I love that part. It’s a simple way for me to get people to touch me for free. Well, there’s a little co-pay, but it’s not much. Worth every penny.

I’ve been scouting around for a new platform to use for my blog and thought I’d give this one a try. Susan recommended it, so it must be a good one. I think I made a couple of entries on Blogger, but can’t remember. There’s an image of a turkey carcass floating around in my head that I associated with that site, but that doesn’t mean anything. The carcass may have an entirely different meaning for me tomorrow. Or in a couple of hours.

I’d tell you what I did last Friday, but I can’t remember.

Yesterday it was sunny and we had a mini-USS Cleveland reunion at our house. In attendance was Gary, Cindy, Brian, Susan, Diane, Ziva, Panzee, Ozzie, and me. Gary & Brian remember each other from their time aboard Cleveland, but I don’t remember either of them. Probably because they were snipes, working below the main deck, and I was a deck rating working above the main deck. Everyone in the Navy understands the unspoken division between the two. We were never allowed to talk with one another, and we were all fed a different times to ensure there was no contamination from one group to the other. Apparently it works really, really well. It’s nice to learn that this division doesn’t translate to relationships in civilian life.

Gary & Cindy live in Washington. Brian & Susan don’t. Neither do I or Diane. But, all four of us who don’t can see Washington from the towns we live in. What a treat that is.

After everyone left I gave Diane a hearing test and we learned that she really is deaf in her left ear. I’ve known that for a long time but she refuses to get her hearing checked. Instead, she’d rather punish me for not answering her questions when she has her deaf ear turned toward me. It probably doesn’t help that I usually don’t talk very loudly. I do that for a reason, of course. Since her ear is already damaged, for some reason, I don’t want to take the chance of making it worse by making loud noises. So, I talk softly. Sometimes I just move my lips when she’s looking at me but that seems to make her angry. Thankfully, I can still outrun her and after 30-40 feet I forget why I’m running and she forgets why she’s chasing me. The dogs love conversations like that.

We hope everyone had a wonderful, safe Thanksgiving weekend, and that the turkey was all consumed, or sent home with visitors, so you can eat something “new” tomorrow. Send good thoughts to an old family friend, Jeff K, who is in a coma at OHSU. It’s complicated.

Today we went to church, like normal, but that doesn’t seem to help keep me from getting into trouble. We even took Diane’s Mom, Jean, like normal. We were the last people out of the church, ensuring the doors were locked and the garbage removed, and everything. It was a little ominous, weather wise, when we left the house. Apparently all of the weathermen got together on Saturday and decided it was going to rain at 10:30am sharp and, by golly, it did. There were minor breaks in the downpour so we had to time it right, ensuring it was at it’s heaviest, before heading to the car. We made it home safe and dry, then Diane made me and Jean exit the vehicle before she drove it into the garage. Thankfully, it wasn’t raining very hard at the time, so it wasn’t bad.

We heated up a mess of leftovers that included turkey, chili, baked potatoes, dressing, and salad. I had everything but potatoes and salad. I also had cheese and crackers, and a glass of expired milk. After feeding the milk to me, Diane reported that the date on the bottle indicated it should have been consumed by November 18th. Not too bad, but it suddenly tasted awful and gave me a stomach ache.

Jack & Wynette stopped by for a while on their way home from a funeral in Longview. We had a nice visit and it was good to see them, as always. Wynette’s letting her hair grow long. Looks great. Jack reported that he and Wynette have spent a lot of time, lately, looking for bras. It wasn’t immediately clear who they were for so I found it very informative. I’ve been thinking about looking for bras, myself. Diane doesn’t approve, telling me I don’t need one. In self defense, I never said I was going to buy one. I just wanted to look for one.

I learned that Jack’s hands are a C cup. I also learned that mermaids wear sea-shells because b-shells are too small, and d-shells are too big. I never knew that. I’m always learning new stuff from Jack. I always look forward to seeing those two.

Now it’s dark and nearing time for me to go to bed. We need to leave in before 7am in the morning to make sure I’m at the VA by 8am. It’s a long drive but, since I’m not allowed to sit behind the steering wheel, I can sleep all the way over. And all the way home. Which I probably will.

I hope all is well with all of you. I feel better now that I’ve moved beyond that roadblock in my head.

August 1, 2026

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It’s been about 10 days since my last post so I’m really falling behind on sharing the new. If I was smart, I’d keep my wheel book handy and jot down things of interest you might enjoy but I’ve never been accused of being smart. That means you’ll just have to put up with whatever I can remember. There’s nothing on my calendar during those days which means either I didn’t do anything, or I just forgot to add them to the calendar. Odds are it’s the latter.

Yesterday Carolann and Terry paid me a visit yesterday. It was a very nice way to end July. They were beckoned to the Columbia Funeral Home so Carolann could deliver a eulogy for a friend. It was very thoughtful of them to think of me during this trying time. That’s just the kind of people they are. We sat in the back yard and talked a while until they had to leave. Max was on his own with us and stayed right with us the entire time. I took him to McCormick Park and let him loose in the “No Leashes” area before the visit.

At the park he ran off a lot of energy and spent only a little time in the creek which surprised me. He loves the water but he seemed to be just happy running circles around the big dogs in the park.

I’m thinking I need to eat something with lots of protein for lunch. I’m cooking 4 ears of corn while I ponder about that and think I’ve settled upon some fried chicken from the Safeway deli. Maybe I’ll buy Max a beef bone to gnaw on. He seemed to like the ones I bought him a few weeks ago.

Later … I went to the store and got some things I that weren’t on a list, anywhere, and forgot to get Max a bone. Now I’ll have to go back. Maybe I’ll take him with me on the next trip.

Today is Saturday. Jennifer has been invited to attend a surprise birthday party for our good friend Noydena. She and Jennie have been friends forever and Noydena is essentially a family member. The party is at Big Eddy County Park near Vernonia. I’m sure Noydena has no idea what’s coming so it should be a lot of fun. Max gets to go with us which I know will please him to pieces.

This morning when I took Max for his first walk, it was raining. I haven’t been paying any attention to the weather, or news, so that was a surprise. Max didn’t care, nor did I. I just put our raincoats on and went to the river. It was really nice because the rain deterred most folks from walking our way.

When we got home, Max focused his puppy-dog eyes on me and gave me a friendly growl letting me know he wanted a treat for being such a good dog. So, I got one of his current favorites and headed for the back door so he could go outside and bury it for later. I stood in the doorway watching him and he just stood there watching me. He was in th e middle of the yard during this standoff and wouldn’t move until I turned my back so I couldn’t see where he dug the hole. He must like the taste of dirt with his treats. I’ve talked with him about this, but he won’t tell me what the appeal is of eating a treat that’s been buried for a week.

I may have mentioned that our friend Gretchen blessed me with her presence last week, but couldn’t find a photo to share. I just now found this one from our trip to the Happy Garden Chinese eatery here in town. We had plenty left over for the trip home. I pulled the trailer out into the driveway so she could have a private place to spend her nights and she stuck around for a few days. Gretchen was one of my co-workers at PGE for many years and we became good friends with me and Diane. So, having her visit was very nice. We spent a lot of time just sitting in the living room talking about everything.

Since I didn’t get permission to use this photo I may be in trouble but that’s OK. Maybe she might determine that another trip to St. Helens is necessary so she can read me the riot act. Or, maybe she’s OK with this and will visit again just for fun. If she does, I’ll get a better photo to share.

Here’s the better photo. I know this is true because Gretchen called me about the one above. I’m thinking she might have to take over as editor so I can have someone with common sense give me guidance.

Here’s me at the same location at the same time.

Now I must eat. I bought a bunch of stuff a few days ago and probably should look it over to see if it’s still appealing.

Stay safe.

July 22, 2026 – Trip to the Beach

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Today is Wednesday. Yesterday Lydia asked me what I had planned for tomorrow, which is today, so I checked my calendar and found nothing listed so I said, “Nothing. What’s on your mind?”

She said, “well, I need more yarn to finish my current project so I’m going to Cannon Beach for more.”

I said, “why Cannon Beach?”

She said, “because that’s where I got the yarn I’m using and I need the batch numbers to match,” in a tone that meant I should know that.

Not one to miss a chance to go to the beach, I said, “that sounds fun. What time are we going?”

She said she would get up a little earlier than she did today, meaning yesterday, because stayed in her bed until noon. As it turned out, she got up and was ready to go by 0900. That worked just fine for me because that gave me time to take Max for a walk along the river, which I did, this morning.

I woke up about 0730, ate my breakfast to decrease the chances of me falling down, then took him to town about 0830 and had him back by 0930 which ensured we could get to her yarn shop by 1130.

The drive over was fast because Lydia doesn’t drive slow, and uneventful because she’s a good driver. We took Max with us and he was ecstatic because going anywhere in a car is one of his favorite things to do, any time.

Once we got to Cannon Beach a parking space appeared out of nowhere so Lydia grabbed it. We had to walk a ways, but that was OK because we were surrounded by friendly people and lots of dogs. Max was in heaven. He got a sniff of every one of them.

While Lydia was getting her yarn Max and I just walked around visiting people. I was amazed that there were so many people wandering around in town. It was almost like walking around the streets of Honolulu again.

On the way out of Cannon Beach, we stopped by Ecola State Park for a while. She had never been there. So, here we were …

Regarding previous events, I’m sad to announce that in addition to the fair beginning on July 15th, I inadvertently failed to report that Jerrie Anne Diane Cate attained the lofty age of 15. That’s significant. She is, as you may have guessed, the youngest offspring of Jeff and Heather and is named after Diane and me. I’m very honored that she bears my name and I know Diane is also honored. I’m truly sorry I failed to let everyone know in a more timely manner. Perhaps Jerrie will forgive me for this failure.

Now I leave you with this PDA.

July 12, 2026 – On My Own

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I’ve been released into the wilds, on my own, without supervision of any kind. The road ahead for the next few days looks a bit rocky.

Daniel and Jennifer deserted St. Helens to board a cruise ship for a week of frivolity sailing around in the Caribbean Sea. They’ve been working up to this for a long time that began at the first inkling of the COVID outbreak. They were scheduled to be on the cruise at that time, but it was cancelled at the last minute. What a bummer that was for them. This time everything worked just fine and they are now on their 3rd or 4th day of their cruise. This photo is from a stop at the Dominican Republic.

Lydia is in charge of the Littles while Mom and Dad are on vacation which means she won’t be staying with me. Hence, I’m alone. I will, however, rise to the challenge of not falling down, or hurting myself by other methods as I traverse this challenging period of my life. There’s no doubt I will weather this storm and maintain my dignity till the end.

Eating properly is the big challenge, as it always has been since Diane left us. I do OK, but I’m sure many would disagree with some of the choices I’m making. For instance, I had ice cream drenched with the remains of a small half full jar of freezer jam from 6/23/20 that I found in the freezer. It looked to be in good shape and it was only 6 years old. I figured it was good as new, and I was right. It was very good. That was my dessert yesterday evening after a nutritious meal of buttered popcorn. I think there was a ham & swiss cheese sandwich in there somewhere, but I’m not sure.

I went shopping yesterday and did my best to get the things that were on a list that I left at home. I do that once in a while. The solution, for me, is to go up and down every isle in the store and get anything that gets my attention. Normally, this method results in me obtaining most of the things I think I need, plus a few extra things that are questionable.

Oh! Another treat I made myself yesterday was fajitas, with a pound of sliced up beef. It was pretty good, as I recall. I think I had those earlier in the day, before the ham sandwich. I had to cook the meat before it got rancid and I bought it to ensure I got a decent amount of protein to help manage my blood sugar issues. I’m working on a plan where I must eat steak frequently to ensure my protein intake is adequate. I actually don’t know what adequate means so the success of this process hangs loosely on my ability to make good guesses. What could go wrong?

July 9, 2026 – Jerrie’s a Hero, Kinda

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This happened a few days ago, but I keep forgetting to mention it.

Max and I were driving home from a walk on the river, going down 1st Street to a mandatory left turn that puts you on Columbia Blvd. It’s a sweeping curve and doesn’t require either direction to stop. It’s just common sense that causes those who have it to slow down. Just as we approached the turn, we encountered a guy on a dirt bike coming around the corner way too fast. When he saw my big black truck aimed directly at him, his front tire began to wobble as he tried to get back into his lane.

As he lost control I managed to stop the truck and waited to see what was going to happen. The bike solved the problem by dumping itself, and the rider on the asphalt as a speed slow enough the it slid a little closer to me, but stopped about 5 feet short. He didn’t hit us but I’m sure he was convinced he was going to die right there.

He jumped up after extracting himself from the tangled mess he’d made, laying in the middle of the street with his legs still wrapped around the bike. After getting the bike upright, he shoved it to the side of the road. He was limping as he moved so I presumed he suffered injuries, but I couldn’t be sure that was his natural way of getting around since it was my first time seeing him walk. Limping might be his normal way of getting around and after his close encounter with death, it seemed feasible, so I just let it be.

While he was busy, he kept saying, “I’m sorry” not knowing I was more concerned about him than he was about me. He assured me that he was going to be OK and I believed him because he wasn’t leaving a trail of blood or body parts, and his clothes were not all ripped up, so I stayed in the truck to keep other drivers from running over him. He had to make another trip to gather up some things that fell off the bike when he crashed. As he was doing that we had a brief conversation about how it would probably be a good idea in the future to take this corner a little bit slower the next time he happens to come this way. He agreed.

Once the road was clear I asked him again if he was good to go and he assured me he was. I think he was more embarrassed than hurt at this point and so I went on down the road.

That would have been an excellent time to have a dash cam so I could share all that ecxcitement with you.

In the end, I’m just happy that he was able to stop his slide before winding up under my truck. I probably should have insisted that I call 911 and have him checked out but by not doing so I probably saved him a bunch of money he couldn’t afford to spend, but would have been covered by all of us who have car insurance and pay extra for uninsured motorists.

I should have taken a photo, right? I take pictures of everything else, but not this knucklehead.

July 2, 2026 – Philosophizing

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Yes, that’s a real word. I didn’t think so when I typed it so I had to look it up even though my handy spell checker thought it was OK. Please don’t ask me why I chose to use it because I have no idea. It just jumped into my head and I had to get rid of it. So, now you have it.

Lately, I’ve been having déjà vu moments about my life with Diane and I find it very comforting because the memories of Diane were clear and bright for me, brought to life by simply cooking a familiar meal. Yesterday was the most profound event.

I had pork chops so I dug around in one of the kitchen drawers and found one of the recipes we collected during our “Hello Fresh” days. That was one of the things I relate to Diane’s final days. I was the cook and she was the cleanup crew. Her choice. I should have done the cleanup, too, but she wouldn’t let me

So, I cooked one special meal every day and served it to her in her recline. It didn’t occur to me until recently that she was training me to be self sufficient, preparing me for life without her. I was an okay cook before working with Hello Fresh but that program taught me many things about making simple meals way better than normal.

We never talked about what life would be like if one or the other of us passed away, like what would the survivor do to move on. When the subject came up it was restricted to who would go first. She was very adamant that it would be her, not me. I never took it serious, though, because life has a way of throwing curve balls so anything was possible. I could easily go first because I wasn’t careful and hurt myself frequently making trips to the emergency room routine. I’m sure she was convinced that I might cut my arm off one day while using my table saw. I never did, of course, but more than once I came very close to losing a couple of fingers. Little things like that worried her, I know, because I was never concerned about myself as much as she was.

About those pork chops … the first menu card I found was for honey-butter pork chops, which sounded very good to me. While gathering the things I needed, my mind drifted back just a little bit and I could easily envision Diane sitting in her chair, watching the news while waiting for her dinner. The TV was on, and my view from the kitchen had a partial view of her as I went about my tasks. Much of my work was done at the stove with her at my back so I knew she was watching me. The smells of cooking familiar food made it easy to have a silent conversation with her, just like old times. I even let the rice boil over like normal, and really mess up the stove, just like old times. I even managed to dump an entire dinner plate on the floor as I worked on cutting my pork chop into bite-sized pieces. It just flipped right off the counter and made a mess of rice and meat.

I quickly reclaimed the meat and left the rice for Max. Then I realized that this was all planned because I made twice as much rice as normal so there was plenty remaining to fill the plate.

Max did a great job cleaning up the spilled rice. Diane would have been proud.

Having her near has never been difficult for me since she left. I can almost see her next to me everywhere I go. Walking Max around the block I can feel her beside me as we automatically take each other by the hand and move quietly down the sidewalk. I miss that, and I can still feel her fingers entwined with mine . . .

Now you know where my mind goes when I’m left alone.

May 28, 2026 – Thinking Ahead

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Thinking ahead. That title was added spontaneously, not one I’ve given much thought. Normally I consider the course of each post only when my fingers touch the keyboard. I do not ponder about what may transpire. I think everyone is aware of this and are probably as surprised about the title as am I.

So, let’s put this thought aside for a moment and get busy discussing the here and now aspect of my life. I’m sure you are all sitting on the edge of your seats waiting to see what comes next. It’s okay to yawn.

I gave Max his annual bath a few days ago and he’s really happy about that. He kind of forced the issue by digging a giant hole in the side of the pile of dirt sitting in our back yard.

I’ve been told that the pile of dirt will eventually migrate back to the hole from which it came and things will get back to normal. Sadly, having the pile of dirt in the back yard is becoming a new normal for me. When I look out the kitchen window it’s almost as if the pile really isn’t there because my focus is on the creek that is visible on either side.

The dirt isn’t really a problem and it was created with my permission. The big kids had fun with an excavator to make it and the little kids, and Max, have made it known that the pile of dirt must remain until they are done with it.

The purpose of digging all that dirt up was to rid the area from which it was extracted of all the vegetation that covered it. I know, I’ve told you this many times, but I’m invoking my right as an octogenarian to repeat myself any time I want.

During the dirt extraction process they encountered a plastic drain pipe that (we think) is for the water runoff from the roof of the house. All the downspouts around the house go directly into the ground and we always knew it had to go somewhere. Since the yard never floods, it wasn’t a problem so no one pursued the question about where did the rain go. Now we know.

The extraction process resulted in the removal of about 40 feet of the drain pipe which will have to be replaced before the dirt is pushed back in the hole.

This is Max wondering if he’s going outside any time soon.

He can sit like that for a very long time. Eventually he will escalate the situation by adding a very quiet growl. It’s not an aggressive so I let it go. Then he will start patting me on the knee with his left front foot. When he gets to that point I usually put things away and take him for a walk, or I’ll take him out back and hook him to his 50 feet of nylon rope. He had an inferior rope prior to the nylon which he broke twice but getting a long full speed run at it. When he hit the end he barely slowed down as the old rope broke and he kept flying off into the neighbor’s yard.

He came back, dragging about 30 feet of rope behind him. I was surprised he didn’t get wound up in the bushes.

Maybe he figured out how to not get trapped .

May 8, 2026 – Doug and his computer

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This is not a dig on Doug but the efforts expended were directly related to his laptop.

Doug is the Financial Officer for American Legion Post 42. As far as I know, he’s the only one that’s held that position since the post was started 135 years ago. Considering the span of years, I could be wrong. If that turns out to be true, I believe I’ll at least be close to correct.

He keeps all his files on his laptop and generally shares his information with hard copies for the troops to review. Post meetings are held in the Moose Lodge and they have three large TVs mounted in the room they use. Someone asked Doug if he could display his files on those TV’s. He told this person, “Yes I can.” Then he called me.

We spent an hour or so at the lodge seeing how things work there and we came up with a solution. The first choice, for me, was to use Bluetooth for connectivity, but that didn’t seem to be a choice. Another option was to connect directly to the TV via HDMI. During our discovery, we were able to do that, but making it work would require purchasing a very long HDMI cable. Since the TVs looked fairly new I figured there must be a better way.

So, we got busy pushing buttons to see what happens. That’s my solution for any computer problems and generally it’s productive. It this case it was so it’s all good. I haven’t been to an AL meeting in quite a while but I agreed to show up at the next one to support Doug and his first effort in front of the crowd. I will, I’m sure, be a target for many reasons but I’m not worried. Doug has my back.

The lodge was not officially opened this morning when we did our work but a lady was working in the office. When we were leaving she asked for help getting into the office because she inadvertently locked herself out. The only way in was via the service window in the hall. Doug has trouble walking and the lady in distress wasn’t up to the task so I drug a chair over to the window and inserted myself into the office. Doing this required me to bend myself in half, literally, and slide in feet and head first. It worked. During the process the lady questioned my age saying, “You aren’t really 81, are you?” I said, “No. I’ll be 82 in 12 days.” She was amazed. So was Doug. I bet he was sure he’d have to find a way to , I extract me from the window and the ledge that I was sliding on. But, I fooled all three of us. I was adlibbing everything I did about getting through the window. I amazed myself. Tomorrow will tell the tale about which muscles I tweaked the wrong direction. So far, I feel just fine.

My only fear about the entire process was that bending myself in half might could easily have caused me to expel some extra gas that I seem to have, all the time. The down side of that is that sometimes, expelling gas sometimes results in accompanying debris and the need to purchase new underwear. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

That’s my story for today.

April 24, 2026

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Today for lunch I made a peanut butter and orange marmalade sandwich. Normally I use strawberry jam, or grape jelly but I couldn’t find it but the orange marmalade was right there in front of me. I like orange so I thought it would be OK, but it really wasn’t. It wasn’t a good pairing. So, I’m tossing that stuff out and will stick to the regular stuff from now on. I ate the entire sandwich, in case you’re wondering. I did that thinking, with every bite, it’s going to get better. It didn’t. Actually, it was really bad, it just wasn’t normal. I like normal.

It’s a nice sunny day out there so Max is taking advantage of it, laying in the yard, daring that eagle to show up. Oddly, I haven’t seen him since I reported him last time I saw him. I think he’s waiting for me to forget, then he’ll make a run at Max. If he does, I have no doubt he’ll have his claws full of fury and will let him go. Then Max will strut to the back door, look at me and cock his head a little to the right, which means “Did you see that? I was flying!”

I started cleaning up the computer room, finally. It’s a mess. I started in my corner, stacking papers in separate piles for filing, shredding, or just a ?? pile. much of it goes in the ?? pile. Much of the mess was created when I started digging around in the filing cabinet looking for things I needed to file taxes. During that process I got diverted just about every time I blinked. This resulted in many stacks of paper for many reasons. Finally, I just started stacking them in piles by color. Not the paper color, but the color of what every the business logo was.

After a couple days of this it began evident that doing this was not productive so I switched to piles that were set specifically to Diane, specifically to me, and specifically to Diane and me. That was much easier. Then I worked on each pile to separate them into bills that I needed to pay, bills that were already paid, advertisements begging for monetary donations, and ads.

Now there are stacks of paper all over the floor, a lot like there was when I started this job, so now I’m thinking that if I just shred it all I’m pretty sure if there’s a bill in there someone will let me know. I’m not all the way there, yet, but it’s definitely on the table for consideration.

Then there’s Diane’s computer. She complained about that computer all the time but she wouldn’t let me replace it with something she’d like better. It’s not a bad computer, it’s just slow for many reasons. One reason is because she didn’t like deleting her old email. She kept every one of them. Forever. Because of that I have a hard time thinking about doing that myself and passing the computer on to someone else. One of these days maybe I’ll start drinking wine early in the afternoon so I can work up the courage to clean it up.

Maybe tomorrow.