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 A blog of no uncertain musings. What goes on in my mind is often a source of wonder to me. |
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My mind and my life are wonderous things ... as are yours, I'm sure. I have more slips of paper and pages of notebooks with musings and thoughts than I really know what to do with. Someone, actually several someones, have suggested I start a blog ... or a journal as a means of focusing some of this mental energy. To be honest, I don't even know what the difference between a 'journal' and 'blog' is--or if there even is a difference. Read on, my friends, and you can judge for yourself whether it even matters. And so....  I'm JACE. Yep ... that's me! And somewhere in all my writings my last name may be posted. But I'll just leave it at Jace for right now. I'm 70 years old and heading full tilt to 71. It's strange that while I'm going through some rather serious medical issues, I still consider myself to be in the prime of my life--pretty good shape physically AND mentally, though I don't run for competition anymore  . I love to ... dang, if I put this stuff here, I won't have anything for my blog.Guess you just have to be patient until such stuff leaks out.  Perhaps 2025, having embraced my retirement, will see more participation in my journaling efforts. Well, one can hope.... |
| It's never good when you wife gets bored at home and wants to do something. Yesterday she decides she wants to go and visit her old college's Christmas Market festivities. It's located about three-and-a-half hours north, which requires an overnight stay ... according to her. I can think of three reasons to stay home. The weather report is for extreme cold with winds--down to 10 degrees at the OUTDOOR market. We are dog-sitting, which means she must go along. And we were already scheduled to attend a Christmas party that we RSVPed for and which we canceled out of last year. Oh, and four: the Air B&B she books has no indoor bathroom or running water. It was termed 'rustic'. On that I drew the line. She found another place, one that accepted pets. Guess I'll be driving north this morning. |
| Are you a scatterbrained writer? I have to say, I am. I started writing on some topic for my Blog ... and ended up writing my next Noticing Newbies newsletter. The latter isn't due for a couple weeks, which is good. But I had this great subject for my daily blog entry that never got done. That deviation resulted in this blog entry. So I shouldn't complain. But this is why I have SOOOO many scraps and pages of notes, scribblings, and thoughts about this subject or that topic. I can't seem to decide about what I should write. I wonder how close I'd come to 50,000 words is I just started putting all those scraps and pages into one file. It wouldn't be a novel, per se. But consolidating some 20 manila folders of my ideas is more appealing these days. On a personal note (hmmm, I suppose everything I put in here is personal): Thank you for nominating me for two Quill Awards. I'm honored to be considered. Both nominations are for reviewing--something I truly enjoy and take seriously. Category: Best Reviewer Category: Best Review: Review of "Blue (A short story)"  |
| Sixty-one days! I've completed all five of my daily consistency Achievements for 61 consecutive days. That's two months. Yep, I'm crowing a bit. I usually mess up at least once a month. Next goal: finish this year with that perfect record in tact. |
| Today's the day--arbitrarily chosen by my wife, I think--to decorate the house for the Christmas holidays. We don't go overboard any longer. I think she doesn't want me up on a ladder putting lights on the house. I'm certainly still capable of doing that, but I'm not telling her that. I'm perfectly willing to remain on the ground. Besides, it's 30 degrees outside. We have a brick fireplace with a gas fireplace insert in our family room that bears the bulk of our inside decorations. We used to get a real tree every year for the front room until our current cat came along. It amazes me how quickly a cat can shred a tree. Since we spend most of our time in the family room, we can watch for the cat stalking the decorations on the mantle. I have a loaded Nerf gun at my beck and call, and I know how to use it. Christmas gifts in my wife's family is limited to what can be placed in a stocking on the fireplace. They are a mite over-sized in my opinion, and that opens the field for imaginative gifts. There IS a lot of room above the insert to the mantle allowing for the super-sized stockings. I better get the boxes down for the decorating to begin. I just hope I'll get to watch a couple football games today. |
| Okay, I admit it--I like Starbucks. My go-to drink is a Venti Blonde Ristretto Iced Mocha with an extra pump of mocha, one packet of Sugar in the Raw, no whipped cream, and about 'four ice cubes.' That last was a joke among the baristas at my local Starbucks because when they filled the cup with milk there was only half an inch remaining space for ice. My wife tells me I'm crazy to pay the high price for a cup o' coffee. Honestly, it was more than that. Before I retired, I would get to my woodworking shop every morning about 6 am. By 8:30, I was ready for a break, and went to Starbucks. I was such a regular, one of the girls would begin making my drink as soon as I pulled into the parking space. And I knew ALL the girls' names. It became my daily ritual. It was more than just the caffeine--it was the camaraderie. The visit set the tone for my day. Over a period of seven years before I retired, I actually hired five of the young ladies there to work for me part-time. Since they were part-time at Starbucks, they welcomed the extra money. I think I paid better than Starbucks, and if I can believe what they told me, they enjoyed working at the shop. And I welcomed the occasional discount I got on my drinks when 'one of my girls' rang up my drink using their discount. The girls worked for me one at a time over those seven or eight years. Working at Starbucks was always transitional for them. I don't think Starbuck fostered a desire for lasting employment. They found they enjoyed learning about woodworking and using their hands to help create something lasting, functional and beautiful. I discovered a keen difference between hiring guys and hiring girls. I was pretty set in my methods of building the projects for which I was commissioned. Yep, I had to have things done 'my' way. Guys always seemed to think they knew how to use tools and make things out of wood. I spent a lot of time trying to change their point of view. Many of things they knew came from working with other contractors, which didn't necessarily translate to my shop and the techniques needed for finish cabinetry. Girls, on the other hand, had few preconceived notions and were willing to learn the techniques I desired. The arts of sanding and staining, and even some simple joinery was quickly learned. I had a lot of power equipment that they also learned to use ... safely. They learned to use the pocket machine and framing table (for joining cabinet pieces and face frames together), horizontal boring machine, a drum sander, and even a machine for boring and mounting hinges. They were critical when having to cut full sheets of plywood. I could cut them myself but having two people was much safer. The one item none of the girls touched was the table saw. At least from the input side of the saw. They helped as the plywood and solid wood pieces came out stacking the material neatly on the proper storage shelves. Over 33 years of using a heavy-duty table saw, I'd had enough close calls with the blade that I was still uncomfortable with letting them use it. And yes, I still have ALL my fingers. Even now I keep in touch with several of the girls. I feel especially satisfied when they mention missing working at the shop. Several have used the skills learned from me in their own homes now. After I retired I moved away from the town where my shop used to be. My current town has no Starbucks so I don't get my Iced Mocha as often. Yesterday I happened to visit my old stomping ground for a doctor's visit, and stopped by Starbucks. The manager I knew was still there, but I didn't know any of the girls. Taci, the manager, and I talked a bit. We both keep in touch with some of the girls who've moved on. It was a nice, nostalgic visit. At least, my mocha tastes the same. |
| The medical community is anything but consistent. If you followed my Blog from earlier in this year, you'd know about my interaction with the VA medical community regarding a diagnosis of and subsequent surgery for kidney cancer. That entire situation was discovered and resolved in less than four months, not including the requisite follow-up scans and visits to ensure the cancer remains at bay. These visits will occur every six months for the next couple years. I've also been seeing a private Urologist once a year for some 15 years. Since I saw VA Urology in concert with Oncology about my kidney issue, I figured I'd move all my care to the VA system. For some reason, moving my Urologic care to the VA has been somewhat difficult. I began that process back in March and the earliest I can see a VA Urologist is April next year. I'm happy they handled the urgent care quickly. On the plus side, I'm healthy. At least considering what I've gone through this year. Scans are negative, so no cancer found to date. And the few meds I take are keeping issues under control. Did someone mandate that after turning 65, one must take some form of medications? I read a statement in a recent story I reviewed that sums up life: "Getting old isn't for sissies!" May the coming holiday season find you all in good health, fine spirits, and living your best life. Perhaps that's a tall order. But I pray for it anyway. |
| I posted yesterday too early. Mother Nature, being the fickle entity she is, decided to push a bit further south. We did get snow! Though it was only a solid inch, the snow and the temperatures were enough to wreak havoc with the roads. I'm not sure why folks don't take better care IF they just have to drive. Ice is not something on which you can drive safely. At least the powers controlling the school busses were smart this morning. And the kiddees get their first winter break. That said, I need to go and clean off the car. My wife has a doctor's appointment she considers necessary. At least MO-DOT says the Interstate is clear. Honestly, the interstate has never been my concern; it's the side roads in town that worry me. Maybe no one else will be fool enough to be out. |
| Not to be obvious, but today is the first day of December, The tenth month in the old Roman calendar, but now December is the twelfth--as if the world isn't screwed up enough as it is. Still December is all we've known to finish out a year. Anyway, we began this final month of the year in south-central Missouri at 20 degrees Fahrenheit (wind chill is 14). Currently it's spitting snow. Which means WE won't get any accumulation here. It's all going north of us. I got to shovel our driveway ONE time last year. I like ... no, I LOVE snow. And I'm in the wrong place for it. Growing up in Michigan and Maine, I didn't want for snow. I loved the sledding, ice forts, snowball fights ... I even liked shoveling snow. In Maine, a good Nor'easter meant reinforcing our meager allowances with some real cash. We lived at the bottom of fairly steep hill which did not deter drivers from trying to get to the top. On a good day our road was pretty busy. We would each get $1 to $3 PER CAR for digging them out of the snowbank into which they "drifted". Cheaper than a tow, I suppose. We might dig out as many as five cars per storm--five drivers who didn't get the memo to stay home off the slick roads. (By the way, ten dollars in the late 60's is worth about $85 today.) It's probably just as well that we'll get no snow. That cold tends to sink into these old bones a bit more now. |
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