Happy Last Day of January

  And so we bid a fond farewell to the month of January.  In spite of a fairly significant snow storm last week, it was a very nice month and definitely a welcome departure from last year's frigid weather. 

The forecasts call for a very mild first week or so for February before turning to 'normal'.  I'll take it.

The month ended on a somewhat negative note when I awakened to a smashed mail box this morning.  Some stupid kid(s), riding around smashing mail boxes for kicks, struck yet again.  This is about our 6th new mail box. That doesn't count the number of times I've repaired one that was damaged for future use.    Between snow plows and creativity-challenged kids, they don't stand a chance. 

Are there worse things in life?  Well, yes, of course.  Still.....

Happy February everyone.  For more about the month of February, click here georgeswebpage.com/almanac

I'm reading this weird book now by one of my favorite authors.  He's a popular author and known for writing about some very weird stuff like spirits and double lives.  The author is Dean Koontz and the book is about a woman who is spared a deadly cancer in order to save someone's life. From there the adventure gets more bizarre but I'll spare  you further details in case you want to read it.  The book is "Ashley Bell".

The reason why I brought this up is because after listening to the morning news this morning as I do every morning, I sometimes think I've been teleported into one of Koontz's worlds.  Talk about bizarro.

First we hear of a stand off between nut jobs who think they own federal property and federal authorities.  That was followed by Trump's childish rant at Fox news and his withdrawal from the debate.  Next there's the guy who hijacked a car with a child in it.  and it goes on and on.

I guess the solution is to stop watching the news but it's like an addiction.  I just can't help myself.

Oh well.  Off to the dump. At least things are normal there. 

The Internet

I just received yet another invitation to join a web based portal for one of my (many) doctors.  Access to these kinds of portals provides just about every piece of information there is about your medical status.  Personal information like your height, weight, blood pressure, medications, results of last exam, lab results and diagnoses are all there for you (and hackers?) to see.

This is all done in the name of total transparency-an effort to keep patients informed of their status at any given time in an efficient and timely manner.

The numerous rows of files that one often sees in the doctor's secretary's office are shrinking.  Instead what you now see is the doc walking around with not a stethoscope in his hand but a laptop.

It seems the medical community has joined the digital age with a vengeance all of which makes access to your information very easy and I guess that's the part that has me a tad unsettled.  In spite of the use of secured servers and the huge efforts to secure a patient's privacy, we all know that there are those out there constantly testing the system.  It's not out of the realm of possibility that one or more of these sites will get hacked.  But then let's think about it.  So what?  I have no financial information whatever on any of these portals.  No social security information, no bank records, nothing.  Just a bunch of stuff about my weight and my high blood pressure and other conditions that would in no way benefit a hacker.  So should people be worried?  I suppose not...but still...

Twelve years ago today this young lady was born.  She is the first of our four grand children.  Five months later I retired from a 32-year teaching career.  That marked my entrance into full-time grand parenthood.

Since Brooke's arrival, there have been three others.  Baby sitting duties have lessened a great deal since those days when the kids were younger.  Everyone is in school now and very involved with other family activities.  Nevertheless, there are still plenty of times when I either get them on the bus, off the bus or we have them for overnights and days when there's no school.  All of this is good and I hope it continues on for a long time.

So happy birthday, Brooke.  May there be many, many more. 

There's No Place Like Home

We've just returned from a 10-day trip to our condo in Florida.  The weather was not up to our usual expectations but it was at least warmer than it is here-in addition to which we got to spend time with two friends who we haven't seen in a long time.

One of my main objectives was to try out a metal detector I rec'd for Christmas.  I didn't get to do that but at lease it will be there for our next trip in late April-early May.

Now it's back to the routine.  My usual volunteer stuff-schools and nursing homes-and occasional baby sitting duties and little projects around the house.  Just enough to keep me busy and not so much that I'm stressed out.

Interspersed with all of this will be the occasional snow storm to clean up.

That's life.  Routine. As much as some people complain about being in a rut it's very often the rut that keeps us focused and moving along. 

So there you have it.  My pearls of wisdom for a cold January day. 

Finally, my web site has new pictures from our trip.  Be sure to check it. georgeswebpage.com

Happy New Year

Well, I've done my due diligence and for what it's worth, I'm actually going to make a new year's resolution.  Here it is.

I hereby resolve to refrain from all political posts on Facebook.  I'm sick of them.  I will also attempt to keep any posts that appear here on a positive note.  I'm tired of politics and we're just getting started.  It's going to be a long haul to the elections. 

Other than that, it's business as usual-diet, exercise, good health habits, enjoy the family, etc.  Nothing new there.

Bye for now from Naples, Fl.