A sad, sad day in Chardon...

I was unaware of what had happened and of what events were unfolding in Chardon this morning until I arrived at work. I had seen helicopters as I pulled off the freeway, but I chalked it up to nice weather for flying. I had barely walked into the office when I was told, and I was immediately informed that a co-worker’s kids were okay and already with their mother. I pulled up the live news coverage, minimized the video and plugged in so I could listen as the news was updated, almost minute by minute.
 
An hour or so later, we learned that another co-worker had left in a hurry. His cousin was one of the victims. We were relieved when he contacted someone in my office to tell them that she was stable. By lunchtime, we learned that another victim had died at the trauma center of Metro.

I came home to more coverage of this tragic incident. We didn’t talk about it much. We just watched.
 
Now it is 1:15 a.m. I was in bed at 11, but today’s horror kept making the rounds through my head until I had to get up and write about it. It is too fresh, too awful, too close to home.

What a sad, sad commentary this is on our human existence. News reports say that this boy was picked on and made fun of by his peers. He was obviously troubled. He was obviously different. He obviously thought about taking these actions for some time. He obviously wanted his peers to know his intentions; otherwise he wouldn’t have posted such things on his Facebook page. No one listened; no one reported what they saw or read; no one took the threat seriously.
 
What a hell of a way to learn that we are put here to care for one another. When we ignore the plight of others, we upset life’s intended balance and things go awry. Maybe we need to spend more time teaching our kids how to be kind, caring individuals. Better yet, we should be teaching by example, by being kinder, more caring adults.
 
I’m heading back to bed now. My heart is aching for the victims and their families, and I will try to pray myself to sleep, asking the good Lord to help them through this horrible time. But I’ll also pray for that troubled, misunderstood boy who felt so unheard and alone that he resorted to this awful violence.

Friday morning and all is quiet...

I’m sitting at home alone waiting for the cable company to come make the switch from landline to cable phone. It’s time to cut expenses and make more moves designed to spend less, pay down debt and save more. I can’t be the only one thinking this way, but certain things could not be changed until now.
 
Of course, if someone in Rhode Island hadn’t walked off with my Powerball win, I would just pay it all off, invest the rest and live out my life worry free. Alas, it was not to be. I bought that ticket, recited my mantra “give me the Powerball, I am the Powerball” and it worked exceptionally well. I got exactly what I asked for…the Powerball number…and not a single other number in the winning play! Next time, I’m editing my mantra!

Of course, I shouldn’t complain. I got a 33% return on my investment. I spent $12 and won $4. That is better than my normal return, which is 0%. I will be making strides, however. I will quickly find out what my latte factor is while I’m laid up for 3 months after surgery and unable to drive. I’m sure it will be an eye-opening experience.

Okay, the New Year’s resolution to blog weekly…

Has pretty much hit the skids. I rather thought once the holidays were behind me that life would quiet down and I would have time to accomplish something other than work, dinner, grocery shopping, and laundry. Who was I kidding? Like the rest of life, you have time for those things that you MAKE time for; it never just falls into line without a specific plan. I am getting more accomplished on a daily basis using my Action Machine. But I still need to define my plans better. Even then, things happen that just can’t be helped. But with a more detailed plan, maybe one can keep things from getting too far out of hand.

Today I began moving my stuff downstairs. My whole life has to be relocated to accommodate upcoming surgery. No stair climbing for two months minimum post-op. Clothes, office supplies, computer, printer, printing supplies, all my bills, extra checks, meds, toiletries, etc., all have to be moved. The list seems endless. Just one more thing to keep me from my writing tasks, but never fear…once I get home from the hospital I will become a writing machine! I have lots of projects to complete during my medical leave.

Every week is a new adventure!

Gabrielle Giffords

Representative Gabrielle Giffords is resigning from Congress. To me, this is a huge, but hopefully temporary, loss. We need people in congress who are bright, capable, determined, and never give up. We need people in congress who are willing to cross party lines and work together. 

I was mortified when the shooting happened last year. It was a deranged and unthinkable act. I was angry that Gabby had been reduced to a state of having to relearn how to walk, talk, and otherwise function. I was very happy to see how far she had come in that Diane Sawyer interview last fall…and thrilled with the Gabby who made such a succinct announcement of her intention to resign until she feels recovered enough to continue her work for the people of this country. She has made an astounding recovery to date, and I am certain that with her determination and positive attitude, she will once again run for a congressional or senate seat a few short years down the road.

Here's to Gabrielle Giffords. The rest of congress needs to wake up and take a lesson in life, courage, and conviction from this remarkable woman.

Organization...not exactly my strong suit

I have to admit, I am just not the most organized person in the world. I make lists and don’t get everything done.  I keep moving those tasks from one day’s list to next and they remain undone.  I identify the large black holes in my life into which my time disappears never to return, and I eliminate those things from my daily existence.   But the small distractions, well, those are the things that add up.

I discovered a little tool that I am finding to be quite helpful, at least during my time at the computer.  It’s called The Action Machine. It is simple, intuitive, and seems to keep me focused on the job at hand.   I like its ease of use. It’s the foil to Parkinson’s law, the adage that states “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

The simple design allows you to determine how much time a task should take, then the clock starts running.  It’s amazing how much I can get done when there is a time limit on completion.

At any rate, I’m having a wonderful time and accomplishing more than normal using The Action Machine as my personal motivator. If you think you might need a boost in your productivity, at work or at home, you might want to check into it.

I so want to write something positive...

…but, I’m having some difficulty here. River Road in Perry pretty much got buried. We are somewhere between 28 and 36 inches deep in the white stuff. When last we checked it was still snowing at about an inch an hour, somewhat preferable to the previous 2 inches per hour from this morning and last night (a huge negative).

On the positive note, I made an excellent pork roast for dinner (positive). Tomorrow we will be having tuna noodle casserole (positive). 
 
Although my broken wrist seems to be healed (a positive), I blew the tendons in my right knee out last Wednesday (a negative). There is a reason, as in no hip rotation. Sooooo it looks like a total hip replacement is on the horizon (negative, but eventually positive).

I have been ordered to walk with a cane to relieve stress on the hip (a positive and negative) and promptly managed to break my toe…by whacking it into the cane (a negative). I had to consciously stop myself from laughing at the absolute irony of breaking my toe on the cane meant to help, before my ribs started to ache.

I will end on a positive, though. I just wrote this blog while sipping a nice glass of my homemade Amarone. Wow, this wine is smooth!

I'm Listening to Amy Winehouse's...

…grammy award-winning CD, Back to Black. The CD was a gift from my nephew Sean. Of course it starts with Rehab. Too bad poor Amy didn’t treat herself better..another musical talent lost to drug abuse and its related health detriments. I don’t think Winehouse is any Janice Joplin, but the music is good, if a bit on the depressing side. She would have had a singular music career had she gotten past her issues.

I wonder if she would have resisted rehab had she known that her eventual outcome would be early death.
 
Those who do not learn from past mistakes are doomed to repeat them.