Day: March 6, 2023

WDP — I Can’t Live Without You

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What are three objects you couldn’t live without?

Okay, I have to think about objects, not people, huh? Fine, let’s start with my iPhone. Just the other day I posted a Flashback Friday post from March 2018 in which I admitted to being addicted to my iPhone.

My iPhone is my lifeline to the world. It’s my constant companion, and it’s an extension of who I am. I honestly can’t imagine being without it.

So what are two other objects I couldn’t live without? That’s tougher. I was considering saying a TV, but if I had to, I could live without it as long as I still had my iPhone. Pretty much everything I watch on TV I can stream on my iPhone. So a TV is something I could live without.

My car? Well, even though I’m not driving right now because of my bum hip, my wife is acting as my chauffeur and driving me to doctor appointments and physical therapy sessions. So, I suppose having our car to get around is a necessity. Although if I didn’t have a car, I could always use Uber or Lift to get where I need to go.

And that leaves my house. I wouldn’t want to be homeless. I don’t think I’d survive that for very long. But my house, yes, I need it. Not necessarily my current house, but some form of shelter to protect me from the elements and to give me a comfortable and cozy place to rest my weary bones.

So, three objects I couldn’t live without: my iPhone, my car, and my house.

Share Your World — 03/06/2023

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Share Your World

Di, at Pensitivity101, is our host for Share Your World each week. Here are her SYW questions for this week.

1. Does your spouse/partner (or do you) help with the household chores?

Normally my wife and I share the chores around the house that need doing. However, since I fell and broke my hip and shoulder in January when I was up on a ladder cleaning my gutters, my wife has had to assume responsibility for most of the chores. At least until I’m once again able-bodied.

2. What is your least favorite chore?

I can now say without hesitation that getting up on a ladder to clean my gutters of debris is my least favorite chore. And it’s a chore that, from now on, I will hire someone to do for me.

3. As a kid, did you have to do chores to earn your pocket money/allowance?

Yes, I had to make my bed and keep my room clean. In the summer, I had to cut the grass. In the fall, rake the leaves. In the winter, shovel the snow from the sidewalk and driveway. In the spring, weed the beds. And yes, my allowance was predicated on doing those chores at my home. But I supplemented my allowance by cutting the grass, raking the leaves, and shoveling the snow for other homes in my neighborhood.

4. Did you save any of your pocket money or spend it all?

My father encouraged me to put aside and save one-third of my allowance or whatever money I earned doing chores for neighbors. I spent the other two-thirds of my allowance on comic books, baseball trading cards, and shit like that.

Gratitude:

I am grateful that the chaos of having a houseful of HVAC technicians for most of last week installing my new heat pump is over. The installation was successful, my house is nice and toasty, and it’s once again just me, my wife, and our dog. Yay!

Work-Life Balance

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Sarah’s tone was, well, caustic. She’d had it with Ted’s focus on his job to the exclusion of his wife and children. She couldn’t let it roll off her back anymore. “Dammit, Ted,” she said, “I know this sounds like a cliché, but you need to endeavor to find a balance between work and family. You’re constantly working, even when you’re home. It’s like the kids and I don’t exist and that must stop. I know you don’t like it when I bring this up, Ted, but you’re absent and the kids and I need a husband and a father who is present. So it’s your choice. Do you want a more serene life spent with family? Or do you want to work yourself to death? If it’s the latter, let me know. I’ll take the kids and move back in with my parents. That way you can totally devote yourself to your job.”

Ted didn’t say anything. He just looked blankly at his wife.

Sarah’s eyes welled up. “Your silence speaks volumes. The kids and I will be out of the house by the time you get home from work tonight.”

Written for Greg’s Five Word Weekly Challenge, where the words are:

One Minute Fiction — The Arbitrator’s Office

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Millie was torn. Her parents said it wouldn’t take too long and instructed her to sit and wait for them in the hallway outside of the arbitrator’s office. But it had been more than two hours and the thirteen year old girl was getting hungry.

She remembered them passing a small doughnut shop in the building’s lobby when they first walked in, so to assuage her growing hunger, she decided to go get a doughnut to tide her over until her parents were done.

Millie bought the doughnut and a boxed drink, brought them back with her to the seat outside of the arbitrator’s office, and was about halfway through the doughnut when she heard what sounded like gunshots coming from across the hall.

Instinctively Millie knew what had just happened inside the arbitrator’s office. She calmly finished her doughnut and took some sips from the boxed drink as two security guards busted through the door to the arbitrator’s office.

Written for Cyranny’s One Minute Fiction Challenge. Photo credit: Cyranny.

FOWC with Fandango — Type

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FOWC

It’s March 6, 2023. Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).

Today’s word is “type.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. Show them some love.