Retirement (If You Are Young Still Read This)

     Retirement is the pits.  All you do is sit around, watch T.V. and sit on your butt with the occassional round of golf thrown in maybe four times a week.  Its boring.
     Wait a minute....Wait a minute...Lets see. [Went to college for eight years, taught school for 20 years and I still don't know the correct usage of its and it's.  Pray for me, won't you.  It's, or its, truly a shame.] Ummmm.....Yesterday I only sat down and watched T.V. for about 20 minutes.  I only played golf twice in July because I couldn't afford the green fees and  just didn't have time for it in my schedule. 
     It really is hard to fit time into your schedule away from the important things, sitting in front of the T.V. on your butt and doing nothing.  Where do I find the time away to go to opera rehearsal?  I am in the chorus and we will perform Lucia on August 7.  How about the new staff writer position at the new magazine, when do I fit that into my busy schedule of doing nothing?  I can't possibly pry myself away from the couch to volunteer and be very much involved in my church, Oh heavens no! [That was funny.  I didn't realize that play on words until I stopped and looked at the sentence.  Sometimes I amaze myself.]   The grandkids don't need me at their swimming lessons.  I can't go over to their houses for dinner or to watch the kids, and please don't ask to borrow money.  Please don't ask me to get involved in alternative education choices for children and adults, it takes away from my beauty sleep.  Being lazy sure has its [there's that word again] advantages.
    I am going to close my post now, because it is taking me away from cartoons, breakfast with my son and a friend of mine.  Later, I am going to go to a major league baseball game.  I could be watching Barney or playing golf.  Retirement is the pits!  Maybe I'll go back to work to relax so that I can schedule in golf and doing nothing.
Nahhhh........

Great Inventions Answer

     The Geatest Invention Ever Invented:  The Pocket Calendar.  It may be obsolete, but to some of us who rely on traditional methods of organizing our time it has made life doable.
     OK, I admit it, this was truly a lame post but I can't always be witty, humorous and brilliant.  Come on people, writing is a process and has to be experimented with.  Please just bear with me on this one, I tried. 
    

Hmmmm?

     I must tell you about my son.  He is a fine young man that is taller than me.  Each day I wake up and  he is the first person I see, even though he is in a horizontal position.  OK, Let me put it to you this way.  He still lives at home and boy can he eat.  My son is a special needs kid who has Pervasive Developemental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, but this doesn't hold him back.  His mind is always working and in many areas is sharp as a tack.  He comes up sometimes with the most interesting comments and observations
     Yesterday, I had an appointment with my cardiologist to have an echogram, an ultrasound that looks at my heart and how the blood is flowing through it. My son came with me to the appointment.  Don't worry, I am as healthy as a horse I hope, and the test was routine. The technician hooked me up to the machine with electrodes, and told me to lie on my left side.  She began the test, dragging the receiver over my chest.  You could hear the "lub-dub" beating of my heart and see it beating on the computer monitor.  If you have had an ultrasound for anything, you know what I mean.
     My son sat quietly in the corner of the room.  I can always tell when his mind is going because he gets this look on his face.  He looks over at the computer screen and becomes quiet for a second and then says in an observing wise voice, "There's a baby in there somewhere."  We all had a very good laugh.
     Have you decided what the most important invention known to man is?  I'll give you some more time.
     

Great Inventions

     I know that I entitled this bit of wisdom "Great Inventions" but I am going to focus on what I believe is the greatest invention man has ever seen.  What would you think that is?  Think now, challenge yourself.  I'll give you some time.  I'm going to have some cookies and milk, so I'll give you some time.
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No, it's not the computer keyboard or the typewriter.
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Here's a good one:^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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Here's my favorite:$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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I can't forget this one, it felt a little left out:%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
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     There is something about cookies and milk that just sort of satisfy the soul.  I fully intended to talk about cookies and milk here, but I am going to save that for another blog.  When I wake up in the morning I always write my blog and it is hard to come up with ideas so I will write about it later.  I don't know, maybe I'll forget and not write about it.
     What is the greatest invention known to man?  Take a minute to respond and post a comment.  I'll get back to you.

What's a Puccinni?

     What do you do after you retire.  I was able to retire this year from a career in the public schools and taught sixth grade.  You get up in the morning and wonder how much of nothing you will do.  Those of you that are retired know that is not true and I have noticed that I am more busier now after I retired than when I was working.  The difference is that I am doing what I really enjoy doing, mostly.  On one activity the jury is still out.  I have auditioned and got a part in the chorus of a production of the opera Lucia.  I don't even like opera.
     OK, OK, I do sing in our church choir, which gives you an idea just how bad our choir (how do you spell choior) is.  Actually, I have been told that I sing very well.  People have stop and tell me how much they enjoy my rich bass voice, and I have soloed many times.  Sometimes I wonder if my choir director has me solo because of my voice or because the regular soloist suffers from COPD and whistles with every breath like a steam locomotive blowing  its whistle when it comes to a railroad crossing.  He wasn't there last week, I think he was admitted into the intensive care unit of our local hospital, but I hate opera.
     My business associate was an opera major in college.  She has a friend that is the director of the local opera association who is very well respected in the opera world.  It seems that the opera association is putting on the opera Lucia and the company needs basses.  My business associate told me that practices were starting on July 17 and that this was a very big deal.  I would have fun.  The hook was set and the big largemouth bass (meaning me) , or bass, had hit the lure and was being reeled in.  I really don't know if I said yes or not, but I found myself at the first rehearsal on July 17th.  Let the performances begin.
     The rehearsal was an interesting experience, to say the least.  I recieved my music which to me looked like something that was discovered in a tomb in ancient Greece.  What are all these squiggly lines and why are there so many of them.  I do read music a little, but my "See Jane. See Jane run." musical reading abilities were a bit taxed in this situation. Why were all the words in a strange language, Italian I think.  I don't speak Italian.
     It was time to reahearse.  Let's see now, there was Sarah who had performed at the San Francisco Opera, Frank who had soloed with the Los Angeles Phiharmonic, and let's not forget Hannah who was an understudy to lead singer in Aida performed by the New York Philharmonic. Most all the singers had great pedigrees, unlike me that studied under our choir director at church who is a mighty dentist by day.  I strongly felt like a bottle of Thunderbird (very cheap "wino's" wine for those who are not familiar with the drinking scene) in a case of Dom Perignon, and I hate opera. 
     After I got over my feelings of total ineptitude and got back into the water to get the water flowing over my gills (fish out of water analogy, I just wanted to make sure you got that one because I know it is a stretch, well I chuckled at it ) and started singing and rehearsing.  I got lost about three-quarters of the time, but I found that I was having fun and I was not as bad off as I thought.  I can do this I thought, even though it is a stretch.  Life is full of new experiences, these experiences make life more interesting.  I hate opera!
     Wish me luck on this one.  I must admit that I am enjoying it, even though I hate opera.  This is hard work but it is great to be asked to be a part of something special.  There is a great deal more to performing in an opera than I thought.  What is a Puccinni, anyway?  I hate opera, maybe I don't.

Here We Go Again

     Hello again to the person that has ever read one of my blogs. I have decided that it is finally time to get serious about blogging.  At any rate I want to thank the person that has followed me, reading each of my posts in the last blogs.  You know who you are, my one and only friend and I truly pity you.  I hope that I haven't fouled up your mind too terribly.
     I don't know where this blog is going to take me but I look forward to going there.  Where DO we go from here?  That is the great thing about being me, I don't know either and in my twisted mind this could be a good thing. 
     This may not have been the best of posts, but it is a start.  See you tomorrow, or whenever, hopefully tomorrow.