Here Comes the Mom

This is too fun. My first attempt at this thing called "blogging." It's been right at a year since THEY have stuck me here at Summit Place, and I guess it's not too bad, but I still really miss my old place, especially my house back in Marble Falls, Texas. What fun we had there, me and Dad, away from everything and everybody. We were truly isolated. But we liked it. It made our trips to the post office all that more exciting.

Then Dad had to go and die on me. That spoiled everything. My "children" told me I was tooooo isolated for my own good, stuck way back in the rolling hills of Texas Hill Country. Especially what with Dad gone and all, they were concerned about my living out there all by myself. I guess they were right, but I still can't help myself. I really liked my little house, and I miss it terribly.

At first, since I wanted to stay close to family, they got me an apartment somewhere in Austin close to my son Paul and his family. It was also supposed to be close to my son Peter and his family as well, but the up and moved themselves out to California, so Paul and Teresa had to put up with me.

Then my oldest bought this place out in South Carolina at the beach, and he talked my daughter Carrie into moving out there to live in it. Well, that's when they had the bright idea I'd like to go there as well, which at the time wasn't all that bad an idea because I really wasn't liking that apartment living all that much. Too many whiny kids and noisy neighbors to my liking. I was really missing my Marble Falls home.

So Carrie moves out to South Carolina, and my sons Paul and Dick move me out there as well soon after. I stayed with Carrie first off, then got my own little place just a block away soon after. It was a nice little 2 bedroom duplex close to the beach, with nice neighbors, and fairly close to shopping, and of course, the Post Office.

But then I started getting confused about which meds to take when, and THEY decided I needed assisted living, especially since I was now having to use my walker full time, and could no longer drive. Glory be, one little accident with a local cop car and you'd think the world was ending. THEY decided I could no longer drive (or so THEY said), so between the medication merry-go-round, no driving scenario, and walker bound, it was off to assisted living I went. Oh Joy, oh rapture.

Well, that was about a yer ago, and now here I am, in Summit Place, living out my days in Bingo Wii heaven. It's not perfect, but then again, what is. I miss Dad terribly, and my house in Texas Hill Country, but I guess, all in all, I shouldn't complain too much. I've got my own room with cable TV, 3 squares a day, outings with the girls, and people to look out for me when I fall, which seems to be quite often these days. The doctors office is just down the street, and they have people (namely, Al) who take me there and back. Plus they monitor my meds. But I tell you, getting old's a bitch, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

That's it for now, I just wanted to catch you all up. Till next time, keep the faith and pray for surf.

The MOM.

My Kindle and Me

I've been waiting for an epiphany, but that ain't happening. So to get the old creative juices flowing again (like they ever did in the first place), I've decided to relax my publishing standards and just start writing (or typing as the case may be). So here goes .......

I've been spending way too much time on my Kindle. It's become a sort of escapism mechanism for me, but then again, reading always was and has been. But the Kindle is great, because when I finish one book, all I have to do is download another, and off I go into another writer's adventure, mystery, or flight of fancy. It's just too easy. No matter where I am (except 32,000 feet on some flight), I can download a new ebook directly into my Kindle, on the fly, without being connected to my laptop. Plus, I've discovered a whole new way to find out where the free ebooks are. They're not by A+ authors, but they are, for the most part, fairly decent, and highly readable. And when I say free, I mean zip, zilch, nada, free.

Right now the price of a Kindle 2 has dropped., and probably will again. When you buy it through Amazon, you establish a special account, and then when you select a book you want to read, you "buy" it and it download directly to your Kindle, and Amazon charges your account. Most new, popular, releases are around $9.99, but there are a bunch less than that, and like I mentioned above, there are true freebies.

The only downside I've had is not being able to turn the page. Old habits being hard to break and all that. But seriously, if you're a student that needs to highlight passages for reference, or something like that, the Kindle can be cumbersome. It does have highlighting and note taking ability, but it is not as easy as using a magic marker. Did I mention it comes with a full WYSIWYG keyboard; built in, searchable dictionary; internet access (albeit slow because you are on the 3G network); text-to-speech; and (of course) online access to the Kindle store.

If you're like me, like to read, hate the hassle of carrying around dogeared paperbacks (trips, flights, doctor office visits, etc.), and want the convenience of reading the latest whodunit at a much cheaper price than the hardback price, click the following link:
Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6" Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation)

OK, that's my 2 cents worth on that subject. As you can probably tell, I LOVE my Kindle. BTW, get the protective leather cover to go with it, about $30. It's done wonders in protecting the Kindle screen.

Now here's another secret I bet you didn't know about. If you are yourself an author, or have access to PLR ebooks, you can become a Kindle publisher, and sell your own stuff via the Kindle library. You can name your own price, write your own copy, headlines, etc., and sell it directly to the ever expanding Kindle nation. This can be really cool if you have a great niche and ebook info to sell. Just follow the Kindle publisher rules (there are already several books out there that can help) and you're all set.

That's it for now. Hope everyone had a great holiday, and we'll see you on the flip side.

Dick

Olga's Unisex Salon

We're still at the beach, just at Miami Beach, helping Robin do catch up stuff. More detail later, but in the meantime, see the next paragraph.

One more tip - recommendation - before I sign off. My friend Olga in the Miami Beach / Surfside area has a really cool unisex salon you ned to know about if you're ever there. It's called Hair and Body New Dimensions, so go check it out if you're anywhere around there.

Dick, from Miami Beach (for now).

Aging Gracefully

Aging gracefully

"$5.37." That's what the kid behind the counter at Taco Bueno said to me. I dug into my pocket and pulled out some lint and two dimes and something that used to be a Jolly Rancher. Having already handed the kid a five-spot, I started to head back out to the truck to grab some change when the kid with the Emo hairdo said the harshest thing anyone has ever said to me. He said, "It's OK. I'll just give you the senior citizen discount."

I turned to see who he was talking to and then heard the sound of change hitting the counter in front of me. "Only $4.68" he said cheerfully. I stood there stupefied. I am 66, not even 70 yet?" a mere child! Senior citizen? Isn't 70 the new 50? Geeze!

I took my burrito and walked out to the truck wondering what was wrong with Emo. Was he blind? As I sat in the truck, my blood began to boil. Old? Me?

I'll show him, I thought. I opened the door and headed back inside. I strode to the counter, and there he was waiting with a smile.

Before I could say a word, he held up something and jingled it in front of me, like I could be that easily distracted! What am I now? A toddler?
"Dude! Can't get too far without your car keys, eh?" I stared with utter disdain at the keys. I began to rationalize in my mind. "Leaving keys behind hardly makes a man elderly! It could happen to anyone!"

I turned and headed back to the truck. I slipped the key into the ignition, but it wouldn't turn. What now? I checked my keys and tried another. Still nothing. That's when I noticed the purple beads hanging from my rearview mirror. I had no purple beads hanging from my rearview mirror.

Then, a few other objects came into focus. The car seat in the back seat. Happy Meal toys spread all over the floorboard. A partially eaten doughnut on the dashboard.

Faster than you can say ginkgo biloba, I flew out of the alien vehicle. Moments later I was speeding out of the parking lot, relieved to finally be leaving this nightmarish stop in my life. That is when I felt it, deep in the bowels of my stomach: hunger! My stomach growled and churned, and I reached to grab my burrito, only it was nowhere to be found.

I swung the truck around, gathered my courage, and strode back into the restaurant one final time. There Emo stood, draped in youth and black nail polish. All I could think was, "What is the world coming to?" All I could say was, "Did I leave my food and drink in here?" At this point I was ready to ask a Boy Scout to help me back to my vehicle, and then go straight home and apply for Social Security benefits.

Emo had no clue. I walked back out to the truck, and suddenly a young lad came up and tugged on my jeans to get my attention. He was holding up a drink and a bag. His mother explained, "I think you left this in my truck by mistake." I took the food and drink from the little boy and sheepishly apologized.

She offered these kind words: "It's OK. My grandfather does stuff like this all the time."

All of this is to explain how I got a ticket doing 85 in a 40. Yes, I was racing some punk kid in a Toyota Prius.. And no, I told the officer, I'm not too old to be driving this fast.

As I walked in the front door, my wife met me halfway down the hall. I handed her a bag of cold food and a $300 speeding ticket. I promptly sat in my rocking chair and covered up my legs with a blanky (or was it a Snuggles).

The good news was I had successfully found my way home.


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