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Fours years have passed.....

since my last cigarette. After 45 years of heavy smoking, I quit with the help of a hypnotist friend on Feb 4, 2004. The internet provided help also... a quit-smoking group on the internet which has a chatroom open 24/7 so's you can bitch to someone else in the same position. Also, the "Quitnet Gadget" keeps a record of your savings for quitting.

This morning, my gadget reads:

• 1462 days, 6 hours, 18 minutes and 23 seconds smoke free.
• 73,113 cigarettes not smoked. (can *you* imagine???)
• $9,137.50 saved (well, I bought cheap on the internet and prices have risen since 2-4-04)
• 18 months, 18 days, 12 hours of your life saved.

My quit date: 2/4/2004

Current Time, Catskill, NY

aaahhhhh....the link no longer works ...

Reviewing This Year's Christmas Cards

With the holidays over, I was taking a final look at the Christmas cards I had received and editing or adding changes to my address book. Several cards had come back "not at this address" which can mean the recipient has moved... or deceased.

This, and the New Year's contemplations, brought to mind people I had been close to years ago but with whom I had long since lost touch. How are they doing now? Has life been good to them?

The following song by Nick Lowe really moves me as I picture what he is singing....

If necessary, press the play arrow twice to hear the song



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What happens when we die?

My mom passed away this Oct 9th, 2007. My father back in 1997. I don't think we "end" when we die. My thoughts on "immortality" or "re-incarnation" were brought up again when I heard the lyrics to "The Highwayman" sung by Johnny Cash and (I think) Willie Nelson and one or two others:

Johnny Cash Lyrics

Listen to The Highwayman below....
(You might have to click the "play" button twice)



Think about this....

Rant on the supermarket experience

Supermarkets.... I love the darn places. We can choose today foods that emperors of the most powerful countries less than a century ago not only could not get, but did not know about. In my hometown, the local chain Wegman's outshines any other chain I ever saw. Aisles of all kinds of foods....as well as fully cooked meals of every nation. So long as I have the time, I enjoy shopping.

I guess because I enjoy it so, I very much resent the behaviors of many other shoppers.

I particularly resent shoppers who treat food with disrespect. The other day, I watched as a lady dressed in quality, fashionable clothes, wearing expensive-looking earrings and rings, was looking in the meat bins. She was throwing packages here and there, looking for what she thought was "perfect". The disgust and disdain on this women's face when she threw back the meat packages that did not meet her standards was almost extreme. As she was tossing the packages around, I said to her: "You know, in most countries people would do almost anything for a nice package of food like you just threw there over in the corner." She was aware that I was suggesting something negative, but seemed to have no clue of what I was objecting to. She made some comment to me about minding my own business, but I did not let it end there. I told her she was very fortunate not only to be able to choose the "best" for her, but to be able to afford find food in the first place. She just sniffed and moved on. I don't believe she had a clue as to what I was trying to say to her.

I also dislike intensely having to wait for credit (or debit) cards to be processed. I always pay cash for groceries. It is convenient, and it helps me budget. And it is ... fast. For years, supermarkets have conducted studies as to how to speed customers through the checkouts. Until the advent of these damn cards, however. Now the cashier expects to have to wait for the customer to find his/her card, run it through the machine (after studying which way to slide it), wait for the machine to accept, and then print, the charge and then wait for the customer to sign the receipt. As supermarkets are now like banks, the cashier has to ask how much cash back the customer wants and count it out and give it to the customer. Ugh....all I do is give money to the cashier, and wait for change and I am out of there.

But -- most of all -- I hate customers who leave their carts in the parking lot without returning them to the designated collection areas. The empty carts take up parking spaces, bang against cars when the wind blows them, and get in the way of opening your own car door. I have seen, on a windy day, carts being blown against the sides of cars, leaving long scratches on the cars. It does not take a minute to return the cart to the designated area, where it won't blow around.

Blogspot shut me down the day after I posted my first post. Claimed I am a suspect spammer. Well, it seems they re-opened my account. Let's see what happens from here.

Stay tuned.