Share Your World

SYW/BI — 01/23/2023

Fandango20 Comments
Share Your World
Blogging insights

It’s about 9:00 Monday night here in the post-operative acute care orthopedic rehab center and I just had the best dump I’ve taken in eight days, which makes me a happy camper! So I thought, before I turn in for the night, I’d celebrate my accomplishment by taking a few minutes to respond to two of my favorite Monday prompts, Di’s Share Your World prompt and Dr Tanya’s Blogging Insights prompt.

Let’s start with Share Your World. Di asks:

1. Do you find it relatively easy to fall asleep at night?

Before my accident, I found it relatively easy to fall asleep, but not so easy to stay asleep due to having to get up and pee at least once during the night. Since my accident last Saturday, I’m so exhausted from pain and the physical and occupational therapy sessions I’m having four times a day, I fall asleep almost the instant I close my eyes.

2. Do you remember your dreams?

Maybe for 15 to 30 seconds after I wake up. But then my dreams, for the most part, just disappear from my memory. The only exceptions are recurring dreams that I’ve had and I can usually remember them because, well, they’re recurring.

Interestingly, I’ve had a lot of really weird dreams since being in the hospital, and I do remember at least the gist, if not the details, of some of those dreams.

3. If you can’t sleep, do you watch TV, read or listen to music in the hope you will nod off?

I either play solitaire on my iPhone or read blog posts on my iPhone until I can no longer keep my eyes open and am able to nod off.

4. Can you literally sleep anywhere (chair, sofa, bus, train, flight, etc.)?

If I’m really tired, I can, indeed, fall asleep pretty much anywhere. But a nice comfy bed is always my preference.

Now for Blogging Insights. Dr Tanya asks:

Do you write directly on a device? Are you old school, do you write on paper first?

When I first started blogging back in 2005, I’d draft my post using Microsoft Word on my laptop and then copy and paste it to my Blogger-hosted blog. But for the past six or seven years, I draft my post using either WordPress.com on my iPhone or using the WordPress app for iOS on my iPhone. Today, I almost exclusively use the iOS app.

Do you re-draft? If so, how many times?

Except when I’m responding to a Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, where the only editing you’re technically permitted to do is to correct typos and misspellings, I do a lot of redrafting. I proofread, edit, move things around, re-edit, re-proofread, and do it as many times as I think necessary before I’m happy enough with my post to hit Publish. I’d say, on average, I have ten to twenty redrafts for each post.

Share Your World — 01/9/2023

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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. How long did it take you to get back into your normal routine after the holidays?

As a retiree, my normal routine is pretty routine and quite normal, so it took me no time at all to get back to my normal routine.

2. Which makes you feel more relaxed, putting your feet up in front of the fire with a good book or socializing with your friends?

Definitely putting my feet up in front of the fire with a good book, my blog, or an engaging TV show or movie to watch. I’m not one for socializing much anymore these days.

3. What is your favorite hot drink?

Coffee, of course.

4. If you are feeling poorly, do you prefer to be pampered, or left alone?

Most of the time I prefer to be left alone, although a little pampering ain’t bad.

Gratitude:

I am grateful that after a week, my severe lower back muscle spasms have ceased and, while not yet 100%, my back is much better. I’m also grateful for all the well wishes I received from our blogging community.

Share Your World — 01/2/2023

Fandango12 Comments
Share Your World

Di, at Pensitivity101, is our host for Share Your World each week. Here is her first SYW series of questions for the new year.

1. Did you stay up to see the New Year in?

No way. My wife and I were talking about how we used to think New Year’s Eve was a big deal and we’d have plans to do something special — a nice dinner, a show, a party, something — and we’d always stay up to ring the New Year in. We’d even let our kids stay up to celebrate the special night. But not anymore. It’s just another night for us, just one of 365 each year. We were in bed, lights out by 11 pm.

2. Are there any special occasions or events coming up in 2023 for you or your family?

Other than birthdays, anniversaries, and the standard holidays, there are no special events or occasions coming up this year.

3. Do you keep a diary?

The closest thing I keep to a diary is my blog. I know that my blog is not, nor was it ever intended to be, a diary, but when I go back and read older posts on my blog, it gives me a good sense of what was going on in my life and in my head at the time I posted them. I Also use the Google calendar app and the Apple reminders app on my iPhone to keep track of appointments and specific scheduled or recurring activities.

4. How did yesterday differ from January 1st 2022 or was there no difference?

Yesterday was a very unfortunate day for me (you can read about it here if you want to). I did not fall and injure my back on January 1st 2022 as I did yesterday. So yeah, it did differ, and not in a good way.

Share Your World — 12/26/2022

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Share Your World

Di, at Pensitivity101, is our host for Share Your World each week. Here are her post-Christmas 2022 questions for this week.

1. If you have been given a variety of gifts, do you have to clear out of older stuff to make room for it?

I was more of a gift giver than a gift receiver this year, so no, I did not have to make room for new stuff by throwing out the older stuff. My only reason for ever throwing out older stuff is if it no longer works, is broken, or is worn out.

2. Do you overindulge with food for special occasions and then come to regret it with either weight gain, guilt, or severe indigestion?

I admit that, when I was a younger man, I would stuff myself at holiday meals and suffer the consequences. But I am now at the age where I know better than to do that and I have enough self-discipline that post-holiday meal weight gain, guilt, or indigestion due to overeating are no longer issues for me.

3. What is your favorite part of any celebration?

When it’s all over, including cleaning up, and I can sit back and chill.

4. Are you looking forward to getting bargains in the January sales?

I’m not really the bargain hunting type. I buy what I need or want when I need it or want it.

Gratitude: What are you grateful for today?

I’m grateful that Christmas is over.

Share Your World — 12/19/2022

Fandango5 Comments
Share Your World

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

1. How organised are you in either your working or private life?

More organized than I used to be, not as organized as I ought to be.

2. Do you remember family birthdays or anniversaries and send cards?

I have family members’ birthdays and anniversaries set as reminders on my iPhone. After I get those reminders, depending upon which relative it is, I will buy a present, send a card, or call them on the phone.

3. If you see something in a shop that is an extravagance but you can afford it, do you buy it?

Nope, there’s nothing I need or want that I would consider an extravagance. Unless you consider a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream ice cream an extravagance. I don’t. I consider it to be a necessity.

4. Are you looking forward to the New Year?

I look forward to the new year every year. I was disappointed by 2020, 2021, and 2022. Maybe 2023 won’t continue that disappointing streak. I’m not holding my breath, though.

Gratitude: What simple thing warms your heart?

My grandchildren.