Not eating meat shouldn’t be such a major dietary issue; millions of people around the World get NO meat in their diet. They go to sleep hungry every night. We waste more food than some entire families eat in a day.

I do know that if I keep to the “meatless” diet, I must be VERY careful to avoid filling that void with empty sugar calories or fatty (but satisfying) food that makes me feel better.

For supper last night we had artichokes, brown rice and chopped raw veggies, spinach and romaine salad. By “late” last night I would have eaten ANYTHING that was handy and available but NOTHING sounded good that I could get my hands on, except FROZEN stuff, and that would take too long. So I decided that going to sleep might be the best thing I could do.

I am notoriously guilty of snacking late at night. Last night, I wanted something SUBSTANTIAL, something CHEWY, or something CRUNCHY! I got nothing. Perhaps I will lose some weight on this meatless diet if I can stay away from snacks.

Today, (now 10:00 a.m. here) I have had a bowl of mueslix cereal with almond milk and two pears. Pears are good. Mueslix is pretty good. I am hungry. Lunch will be a green salad, chopped veggies, and organic lemon juice as a dressing. I think I will also heat up some left-over veggie soup that my wife made. It is a water-based soup, with chopped veggies of all types, and spices, but no oil.

Many of the events that psychologists list as life-changing are also the most stressful. I have experienced many of those events and have survived them. Not without cost. I am still alive, but marriages have faltered and failed, relationships have been strained, confidences broken, careers re-directed, families asunder. I knew I hit rock bottom when the lives of others were affected by my actions in such a way that I felt they would all be better off without me.

I recognize many of the most stressful life events are made worse by addiction and dependency. Whether it is drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, or a personality disorder, these outside influences make matters worse. People will argue that “if it wasn’t for my smokes, I would never have made it through this.” I think I will give people the benefit of the doubt. If they survive, they can credit anything they want to, but usually such a dependency becomes an excuse for failing, rather than a reason for succeeding.

If you have been here near the bottom, or what you think must be rock bottom, remember that we all have the power within ourselves to reach out and get help.

Whether it is a loss by death or divorce, a drastic change in circumstances by choice or imposed by others, we learn from our experiences. By the time we reach our sixties we have undoubtedly been required to draw from strengths deep within our psyche to even reach this age. There isn’t much that can seriously disrupt our sanity any more.

Now I have begun spraying something called Liquid Fence, which is composed of putrescent egg solids and garlic, and nearly makes me vomit each time I spray it on the shrubs in front of the house. After a few hours I can no longer smell it, but evidently deer (and rabbits) can detect the odor and it repels them. Evidently. Supposedly, re-applying about once a month should keep the deer away. We will see.

So that we are on the same page here, I think Stephen King has a very distinctive, almost unique look about him–especially his eyes.

But, Nay, both of my look-alikes turned out to be ordinary, late-middle-age guys with a paunch, shaggy unkempt hair and glasses.

I don’t recall EVER, in my life, doing double takes on Stephen King look-a-likes, so twice in one day seems just exceptionally STRANGE.

Both of these guys were shopping for stuff, like me, and were intensely interested in what they were checking out. Perhaps it was the intensity that made me think of Stephen King. I haven’t read any of this stuff lately, just his how-to book On Writing that describes his craft and techniques.

There are other people who do resemble Stephen King, just in case you are now curious. One of these is the Author of the book, The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen, so here is a photo of him:

As we get older we often have that “get up now” calling in the middle of the night. When this “emergency” occurs I am often in the middle of a dream, and the dream suddenly takes on an “emergency get up now” twist.

Such was the case last night, when I found myself, in my dream, in front of a urinal and totally unable to open the front of my boxer shorts. In my dream, I was frantically pulling at the boxers, trying to get them open, but it was like there was no opening and no compromise was possible. It was sort of like giving myself a “wedgie.”

Suddenly, in my dream, I discovered that I wasn’t “wearing” my boxers, but that they were simply stuffed down the front of my jeans, neatly. In my dream, I pulled up on the underwear’s waistband and the boxers came right up and out the top of my jeans!

That means NEW base board, (or simply base), or more specifically, wood base.

We generally prefer natural pine for base board and we have always stained it. That is what we have throughout the three levels of the house (four if we count the finished basement area).

But the 3 1/4-inch tall, (and remember, 19-year-old), stained pine wood base looks cheap and outdated when compared to the refinished hardwood floor, which just sparkles! (You may want to take a gander at yesterday’s post about the hardwood floor which includes “before” and “after” photos.)

We are seriously considering the composite base, which comes already primed, and then painting it to match the wall color. We would also move up in size from 3 1/4-inch to the 4 1/4-inch tall version. I also would like to find a product that is slightly wider at the bottom than the 5/8″ thickness of the existing base. This would cover any minor flaws in the hardwood refinish that are right in the corner or up tight against the existing base. I may have to even move up in height to a taller base in order to find the 19/32″ thickness I want.

At this point we are only considering replacing the base in the rooms that have hardwood, which means about 70 lineal feet. (There are heat registers along the walls that take up over 30 feet and then the kitchen cabinet bases occupy about 25 lineal feet.) At least that keeps the cost down.

The same 3 1/4-inch wood base currently lines all the other rooms that are carpeted, plus the basement area that is tiled. Not only would the cost go up (substantially) if we did the entire house, but the project would take us a LOT longer to complete.

I personally LOVE the look of a solid oak hardwood floor; it is something that can’t be duplicated by tile, carpeting or even the new laminated stuff that “looks” like hardwood.

My spouse feels the same way, and believes that wood really adds something intangible to a home’s environment, or “feel.” She likes to find nice rugs to place in strategic places to absorb the punishment of wood rocking chairs, of which we have two, and the dining table legs, and, or course, the coffee table.

So we looked at the cost of a complete refinish of the hardwood and found it to be a little over $3.00 a square foot, that is $9.00 a square yard, and probably HALF what we would spend per yard for fairly good carpet.

We hired a wood floor contractor and this is his week. After sanding, sealing, and applying a couple of coats of polyeurethane over a period of four days we have a like-new floor! We think it looks terrific and tomorrow we begin to move EVERYTHING back into the house.
Above: the New Floor. Below: the Old Floor
What an Amazing difference, huh? Wow! I can say that we are very pleased with the results. Additionally, we think that we must be helping out the economy by spending money. What a wonderful new excuse!

Another religious leader that has influenced my life is Sri Sathya Sai Baba, of Puttaparthi, India. This modern day “avatar” has established hospitals and schools, and is looked upon by his devotees as an incarnation of a fully enlightened being. Sai Baba has inspired millions and has devoted followers in ashrams around the globe. Thousands of pilgrims travel to Puttaparthi each day to simply be in his presence.

The current Tibetan Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, has authored books on peace and the compassionate heart. I re-read his work frequently and greatly admire his efforts to peacefully reach an accord with China so that Tibetans can be free to live in their own country without fear of persecution or reprisal.

Mother Teresa showed the entire World that material possessions provided no satisfaction in the spiritual realm and her work amongst the poor, the diseased and the downtrodden people of Calcutta inspired the Roman Pontiff to recognize her saintliness.

Around Christmas hereabouts it starts to get dark about 4 pm. What fun. I suppose I could move somewhere else, but I don’t see the sun’s cycles as the real problem so much as the sudden change that happens when we shift an hour one way or the other.

I have always been sensitive to the time changes, and it REALLY affected me when I was in the Navy and we would cruise across the Pacific Ocean, changing time zones ONE HOUR, EVERY TWO DAYS!! After a couple of weeks I couldn’t snap out of it. I had no idea when was day and when was night, why I was eating breakfast at dinner time, and dinner in the middle of the night, at least to my body, it seemed.

Then we would arrive on the other side of the World, and there was 15 hours difference, or 9 hours difference, depending on which way you counted, and it was either tomorrow or yesterday, again depending on where your “thoughts” were located.

And, I don’t even want to think about JET LAG! When I flew from Los Angeles, California, to the Island of GUAM, total hours in the air were about 17 and I need 3 days to wake up during daylight hours.

The shopping part of the project, as always, was the worst part for me. We looked at so many different products, each one seemingly more difficult to work with and costing more and more. Ceramic tile, grout, adhesives, patterns, saws, chisels, and more hassle that I ever bargained for.

In the end, my wife discovered a product that is made of vinyl, comes in sheets that are 12 inches by 36 inches, has a base layer that overlaps each tile and contains sticky stuff that holds them in place. The finished product just lies on top of the existing tile floor–NO ADHESIVE NEEDED!! What holds the tile in place is the weight of the product itself and the fact that each 12 inch x 36 inch piece is staggered as they are laid in place, just trimming at each end, and contain a one-inch wide glue strip on two sides, that adheres to the next adjacent tile. The most difficult part of the entire project was removing the toilet and then setting it back in place.

I am going to include a couple of photos here, on the left is a thumbnail of the project in process and the other is a thumbnail of the finished project. Both of them will open up to large-sized photos.

We think the pattern and color of the new tile goes well with the paint colors and we are really happy with the project.

Terry Radcliffe taught Speech Communication at a small private college. He helped me get a job as a disc jockey at a local radio station. Then he taught me the “art” of sportscasting “play-by-play” for basketball. I learned the importance of the rhythm of the game and the importance of the audience and I learned how to create a picture of the game in the listeners’ minds. My career in radio and television only lasted five years but always included sportscasting play-by-play, which paid extra in talent fees. That extra skill was worth extra money.

Jules Karlin taught Constitutional History and Diplomatic History at the University of Montana. His classes were small, only six to a dozen students at a time and he challenged us face to face each day. He was a taskmaster. He required us to OUTLINE our notes from the required readings each night. His handwriting was almost unreadable. He was also the volunteer tennis coach. He never drove an automobile. He only rarely rode in one. His day would begin at 4 a.m. and by noon he was done teaching classes and was off to a myriad of other activities. It was said that his recommendation could get a student into any Law School in the country.

I chose “blogging” as a way to earn a few dollars from my writing. Writing novels didn’t pay. They just sit here on the hard drive. Oh, I sent one novel to my Mom and she printed it out–all 167 pages. I just don’t think it is ready for publication; perhaps I’m not really that creative when it comes to being a “novelist.”

So “blogging” it is. I have several blogs besides this one, and I write about politics, the 1960’s, photography, fitness, diet, other blogs and dogs.

At one time or another, I’ve run advertising from many of the popular sites. If you read a lot of blogs you know which sites I am speaking of. If you don’t read a lot of blogs, then–Google Adsense, Project Wonderful, CMF Ads, PepperJam, Adbrite, Text-Link-Ads, Widgetbucks, Share-a-Sale, Adgitize, and Amazon. I think that pretty much includes all that I have used. There are others. As you can see I have tried many; I have also cancelled many.

Some of these sites only pay if someone BUYS something after clicking on an advertisement. Some pay only if a someone “clicks” on an ad. Some pay just based on how many visitors to my sites see the ad. Some bloggers pay just to put a link on my site. I don’t see a lot of money from any of these. Nobody has ever purchased anything after clicking on an advertisement on my blogs that would trigger a commission payment to me. I wonder how many ordinary folks make any “real” money on blogs.

That’s why I say, “today I made another six dollars, maybe seven.” My wife just laughs at me. She asks how many HOURS I spent “working” on my blogs today in order to make the six or seven dollars. I say it comes out to maybe $1.75 per hour. “How wonderful,” she says, “you must be so excited about that.”

Ummm…so that makes me feel like an old geezer just being humored along. I think she hopes I will tire of blogging and go back to work in the real world. That doesn’t even sound like fun any more.