This list may not describe where you are exactly, but it is as precise as the company that I pay to host my blog chooses to be. If you are not from one of the places listed, drop me an email of where you are, and I will either edit this post with your country, or place it as a comment.

This is my big thank you no matter where you live, taking the time to read what I write, and learning what I enjoy and think. Thank you for returning too.

In the order my web host lists visitors:

US Commercial (.com), Network (.net), Unresolved/unknown, US Educational (.edu), Turkey, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Old Style Arpanet (arpa), Canada, Indonesia, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Belgium, Sweden, Poland, Russian Federation, Australia, India, Ukraine, Mexico, Singapore, Finland, New Zealand (Aotearoa), US Military, Hungary, Lithuania, Seychelles.

This is quite a list! I am always surprised with how many people know English as a second language. There are so many of you who are way ahead of my language learning ability. I have a tough time with English as a first language, speak Spanish like a two year old on a bad hair day, and can carry on very simple written conversations in one or two languages from Europe.

Beyond that, I do not seem to have an ear for languages other than listening to the music in them. For musical Languages, Farsi is the prettiest language I have heard. No idea what is said, but the way the language flows is pretty.

I know like me, your time is important, so once again I want to say thank you for stopping by, and thank you for hanging around. I write what I write because I went a long time fighting with my life, and learned how to be happier.

I hope what I write helps everyone enjoy their life more with less pain in the process. When I think of all the people like you from all over the world reading my blog, I am humbled. My grammar and wording is not all it could be, so I know you are not here to learn good English grammar skills but rather because I offer something that helps you in some way.

For the last time for now, thank you again for taking time to stop by. Blogging my thoughts is one way for me to do some small thing for others. Big thing happen in small steps.

When the economy is unhealthy, as it is right now, we start reaching for straws. Suddenly whatever plan B we have, if we have any, does not look too promising. Our current job suddenly increases in value both internally and externally for us. It becomes enjoyable to get out of bed in the morning and have a job to go to. We may realize that we enjoy parts of our job, but we were so busy complaining, and/or thinking how unsatisfied we are to realize just how much our little job means to us.

As time goes on our little job has lost its luster, and soon our little job is back to being as bad as it ever was. Once again we are dissatisfied with what we are ‘forced’ to do for a living. We are starting to dislike getting out of bed in the morning, and heading off to work. We do not care all that much for what we do, and we think about doing something different.

Those key elements that make our work or our job so important in the present moment with a bad economy were also present when the economy was good. I do not think it is that hard to find satisfaction in our present job – if we are lucky enough to have a job right now. I do not think it was too hard to find satisfaction in our work before the economy took a nosedive.

Whatever we do for a living is called work. Work by definition means physical or mental effort in order to achieve a purpose or result. It does not mean we enjoy every moment of our day. The idea that we enjoy even a part of our work is something to be thankful for.

We need to look back to the day we were hired. What made us excited to be working at the job we now have? What feelings were present which we killed off, or allowed others to kill off in us? What extrinsic things is our work doing for us? Is it paying for our home, and car, and the food we eat? Does our work allow our children to be in college, either presently or someday?

Every emotion that was present when we found out we are going to be at what will became our job, whether external or internal to us, are reasons we need to be mindful each morning the alarm clock goes off. The mere fact that we hear an alarm clock in the morning is a luxury. Everything our work provides for us, after the shutting off our alarm clock continues through the day and into the night. Bring them back into your life, and reflect on them daily.

Make your job meaningful once again, which is the least it deserves if consider the alternatives. Take a quick check of your situation. If there was better work out there for you to to do, you would already be doing it. Because you are not doing something different than the work you have, it probably does not exist. Or possibly or you are satisfied with your work.

Look at yourself in the mirror and see look at your clothes, you earned them with your job. Your first meal, no matter how simple or elegant was paid for with money from your job. Look at everything in your life that costs money, your job paid for it. Take a little pride in your job, it is the only job you have. Treat your work with respect, whatever it is. Everything you have is likely a result of your job. Be proud of your work, and it will give you many more returns.

When I was young we did things a little differently. We carried fire crackers, soap, and wax, and eggs with us. It would be a bad time for anyone who did not give us what we thought was our rightful share of candy. Houses were egged, or toilet papered, windows were soaped or waxed, and occasionally a fire cracker was dropped inside the entry way.

Perhaps I did not run with the best crowd on Halloween, but that is how it was where I lived as a child. Some adults were just as bad. They would go out of their way to terrify children who dared come to their door. This year was amazingly different.

It started with an almost two year old in a fluffy golden suit, sort of like a snow suit with a fluffy golden hood with ears. Next to him was a little boy of about four. The little boy told me, “I am a scarecrow”. I had noticed he did look a lot like Scarecrow from “The Wizard of Oz”, but how could he know about that movie.

He repeated that he was a scarecrow. I replied, “Yes, and a fine looking scarecrow too!” He was not put off by me. He is a Lion pointing at the littler boy. “Oh, I see that now, and he is a fine Lion”, I replied. Then a little girl stepped out from behind them, and the little boy said, “And this is Dorothy”. It became clear to me, they did know about the Wizard of Oz – which happens to be one of my favorite all time movies.

I told them they looked very nice, and someone worked very hard on their costumes. From farther back, the Father and Mother stepped forward, and I repeated to them what I said. The Father said something agreeable, and the Mom smiled and beamed with happiness. They too were in costume. I asked if they wanted some candy too, and they politely declined.

Their visit and the time they took be sociable filled me with warm fuzzie’s, and I thought what a wonderful family, how creative, thoughtful, and how polite, letting whoever answered the door to be a part of their family, if only for a moment or two.

I was even more taken back as older kids without parents showed up for candy. Thank you sir, have a nice Halloween sir. Good evening sir, thank you for the candy. Even two older girls who looked a little risqué, thanked me for the candy, wished me a good night, and a happy Halloween.

What I experienced this Halloween led me to thinking; perhaps my generation has done some good in the world after all. I also realized I felt grateful for such a magical time, and on one of my favorite nights of the year! I almost felt guilty for the way my friends and I were all those years ago, almost….

I am grateful for the way I have come to view my work. My job is not that important in the larger scheme of life, but I feel good leaving most days, knowing that I did the best I could. I believe the world will be a better place for what I accomplish each day I work. It took years to arrive at a place of being happy to do my little job every day.

I am grateful for those of you in food service who make my life better. When I buy a cup of coffee, or something to eat, we both are in a unique relationship for those minutes we interact. I appreciate your taking care of me the best you can. Some of you are very good at what you do, and I think it makes my coffee, or meal taste much better because you are happy doing what you do.

I am grateful the new bean and chili crop is here. Living in New Mexico means beans and chili are a staple food. In a few weeks the apple orchards will be harvesting their crop, and I will also have fresh apples to eat.

I am grateful to the folks who make my blog possible. The last programming I was any good at was basic on Radio Shack and Commodore computers. If I had to design my own blogging platform, and themes, I would not be writing this now. I would have given up in frustration. At times as I am update my blog, I think about how creative and talented you coding artists are.

I am grateful that you are taking the time to read what I write. I hope something I write either helps make your life better, gives you a knew perspective, or brings a smile to your face for a moment or two. I know your time is precious, and I try not to waste it by filling space with words. Thank you for your time spent reading. Thank you for sharing what read with your friends, I hope they enjoy it too.

Other posts of possible interest:

Grateful for a bowl oatmeal with coffee or tea

Thank you for reading!

A world of memories returning. Thinking thoughts I haven’t thought in decades. Old friends and family members I have all but forgotten will become my closest companions. If my body is wasting away in a corner, or perhaps a bed, waiting for me end, my memories will help comfort me.

If I am very lucky, I will go to bed one night, lay down, turn out the light, think about those most important to me and how much they mean to me, how perfect the world is, and go to sleep. Never to waken again. Someone will find what is left of me, and go through the motions that we go through at times such as those, but my race will have been run.

I can not be sad about it, I have spent my life knowing death waits with me, marking time behind me, over my left shoulder. I am grateful for this knowledge. Death has been my councilor and guide for many years, and there is nothing to fear in death for me. Whenever I question what I should be doing, all I have to do is look over my shoulder, and I see that little swish, the flash of what is visible changing into what is not.

I make my best decisions at that moment. Decisions are easy to make in that instant, because everything I have done up until that moment is weighed, and my path is laid out before me. I can move forward confident that the path I take is the correct path. Consulting death brings me calm, knowing what is important and what is not.

Life is what is important. Making decisions that benefit others without impairing or causing harm to myself is important. My life is my most important possession. Something I do not own, and have so little control over is the most important thing in the world to me. Without my life, I can not do those things I must do. I am not even a spec of dust in a sunbeam.

So when the music, darkness, and my thoughts are aligned, I can feel death behind me, marking time. I know my time is not this instant. I also know that I can not waste what little time I have. Time is too precious, and there is too much to do.

When you look at me, and it looks like I am doing nothing, wasting my time, remember that wasting time is not something I do. I may be resting, or collecting my thoughts. I may even be consulting my final end, to determine how whatever weighs me down at the moment ranks in importance to my final end.

Even if I am lounging about, taking naps between sips of now cold tea, know that I have received my guidance from an honest source. Even now as I type this and listen to the music dancing through the air, I know this is exactly what I should be doing. I also know that when I am done with this task my most important tasks of today are almost done.

The dishes did not get washed, the grass and weeds did not get cut, and dinner did not get cooked. But none of that is important when weighed against those things I did that really matter. If tomorrow I do not wake, I will have passed over knowing that I took care of those most important things in my life with all the thought and care and attention to detail that I was capable of. If I do wake up in the morning, it will be a wonderful day, because I will already know those things which are most important and which things do not matter.

Stepping away from myself, these are the things I wish for you too. It is my desire that you too finish each day knowing that if you do not wake in the morning you have completed those things which mattered the most in your life. If you do wake in the morning, I pray you know what matters most, and what is idle distraction at best. Unfortunately, and it makes me sad to write it, but your time too is short. Make the most of each minute, and when it looks like you are wasting time doing nothing, you and I will know the truth of your actions, and how well your time is spent doing what is most important in your life at that exact moment.

I am grateful for my Dentist, and one other Dentist that proceeded him. As someone who spent more time in a dentist chair in school than most people do in their lifetime, I can say, my dentist is a great Dentist and, and a great person too. On one of the fingers of my right hand, I have a scar where a ‘dentist’ jammed the broken remains of a Novocain vial into my hand because he was angry. Most of the other dentist’s were not much better. The Dentist I see now is light years beyond them all!

I am grateful for my Doctor. He is not a pill pusher, and he actually listens to what I have to say and models whatever I need around me whenever possible. I know many people have doctors who hand out pills like they were candy, but that is not medicine to me, that is hiding problems. There was a doctor I had to see due to my job who wanted to do a prostrate check on every male patient he saw. Doctors like him used to be the standard, little knowledge and little caring.

I am grateful for the mechanics that work on my car. The job has become so specialized tool equipment wise, that the days of shade tree mechanics are about gone. Over the years I have listened to and watched customers be taken advantage of by mechanics. It is a sad thing to see, the greed in the automotive repair business, I am grateful my mechanic is honest, and recommends used parts whenever possible.

I am grateful I was given the opportunity to travel around the country and see some of the world when I was younger and mostly single. There is nothing like going to another country and actually living in it. Understanding peoples lives in that area of their country to help me appreciate how good life is here. We want for little that we need, and for almost all of us, we live much richer lives than we need to. This kind of life is not possible for most people in some other countries, even those countries we see as aligned with us.

I am grateful for the person delivering my mail, and the person picking up my trash. They do excellent jobs, and are rarely if ever recognized in their line of work by their customers. I have never delivered mail, but I have family members who did. Often they were out in the worst of weather, working like dogs in the Christmas seasons, and generally working harder than most of us on most days. I had been a garbage man for a short stint, and it is a hard nasty filthy job when dumping cans by hand. When trash is picked up by one person and a truck, it becomes a job something like the person delivering the mail. So much work, and sometimes not enough time.

Finally, I am grateful for the wonderful people that check me out at grocery stores. They stand in one spot all day, talking to hundreds of people a day…and most of those people are complaining. They listen to complaints about the store, or the prices, or the parking. When it is not complaints about the store, it is about something that they have no control over, the traffic, someone’s neighbors, kids, dogs, on, and on, and on. I think these people should be paid by the minute for listening to complaints.

My list of things I am grateful for goes on and on too, but I think I have mentioned enough big small things I am grateful for this week.

Some days are fun, and some are hard when I am sit here typing a post. Some days, I am really comfortable with what I am writing, other days I feel like I am really stepping out on a slippery ledge. Through these last months which seem to have been so quick, you have taken the time to read my thoughts, find something useful, or at least a worthwhile read. When I was a poker forum junkie, I would go from site to site, and inhale every word that someone took the time to write. Eventually it dawned on me that I had been reading mostly the same things every day.

That was one of the big hurdles I had with this blog. Power Blogger’s suggest that a blog stick to one main subject, and everything be written towards the blog’s focus. They also suggest that articles be kept to three hundred words or less, because longer posts tend to turn off readers. There are some other rules that are out there that I should have be following too, but I have not. That was one of the things that kept me from starting earlier, I could not imagine how I could have a blog that anyone would actually read, when I was going against all the generally acceptable ideas about blogging.

The five months this blog has been in existence have shown that what is right for me, is absolutely okay. If I was writing this solely for myself, I would still be saying breaking rules is correct. I have read of other who have started their blogs, and they say they are enjoying amazing results, and I am happy for them. I have been to some of their sites, and most of them I will not be going back to because they are targeted at a specific audience for a monetary reason. I wish them the best but that is not my purpose at this time for my blog.

I thought it was kind of interesting the other day, when I was thinking about a comment my wife made to me. My wife had mentioned out of the blue, that if skate boards were out when I was a kid, I would have been a very good Skateboarder. I mentioned in reply, that I would have enjoyed it because fear does not enter in my life very often. My wife replied, “I know.”

Good or bad, everything you have read for the last months is what goes on in my head. If my writing was dragging, or moving fast, you have read my thoughts, and so many of you come back again and again! I am glad what I chose for the correct path for my blog, is something you too enjoy. I hope that you find something worth your time out of what I write, even if it is nothing more, than you mentioning to someone, that you wonder how I manage to get through each day writing what I write.

I am also grateful, that you are not grammar critics. I work full time, and all my typing tutor software has never helped me achieve anything above twenty words a minute. I have this odd three finger, two finger typing style with an occasional flurry of using all my fingers as I should. You have been kind enough to over look my odd wording, and my grammar errors – thank you for your patience.

What makes this a blog and not a personal diary, is you take the time to visit and read. Thank you for being you, and reading what I write! I hope at some level, my blog helps you in your life, even if that is only a laugh, or a how not to for your own life.

Thank you!

When I was a child we would get rare phone calls during the holidays. Usually Christmas, New Years, and Easter were the big days. People from out of town would lay down a few dollars to call our house, extend holiday greetings, and do a quick catch up on life since the last phone call. That was back when a phone call like that was a few hours work by someone to pay for the talking.

As a teenager, it was great fun to pick up the telephone, and ask to be connected with an operator somewhere in the United States. Once connected I would make a few seconds of small talk, and then end the connection once they caught on to me. That was about as big as my world was at the time, somewhere in the States.

With computers, there are very fast connections to all over the world. I have spoken with people in Denmark, Germany, England, Malaysia, the Philippines, Portugal, Brazil, Mexico, New Zealand, and Canada as easily as you are reading this. All it took was a little daring on my part, and a lot of patience on theirs. We traded thoughts, and hello’s, sometimes even simple conversation, even in their native languages! Written language seems to have commonalities that spoken language does not.

Now with blogging, my world is even a smaller place. No longer am I reading, and sharing one line messages, but reading and sharing complete thoughts, ideas, and concerns. I am grateful for this opportunity because every year more countries and people are online and sharing. When I read something that was written, I can focus on the ideas.

I have the opportunity to share ideas, and concerns in my life. When reading and posting, it does not matter how many areas of our lives are different, or how little we have in common, what happens is we start enjoying what we do have in common. We start to see and understand, that under all our layers, we are people. We want the same things for the most part.

I prefer a life that can be lived in peace. I want my family, and children to be safe. I want a comfortable life where I want for nothing important. I had always felt that deep down all people wanted the same basic things for their lives, but the internet has made it possible to know how alike we really are. It was odd at times when I would be trading messages with someone when their country, and mine were having problems, sometimes small, sometimes not so small. But both of us, one sentence at a time, reaffirmed to the other we wanted peace to prevail over all else. What a warming thought that was when it happened knowing that perhaps our country’s disagreed, but we were the same, and wished for the same things.

Which brings me to you. I am grateful you take the time to read this, and learn a little about me in the process. It does not really matter if you are down the block, or around the world. I am grateful you are here. Hopefully we share the same wants for ourselves, our family, the world.

Because others like you taken time with me, I have learned a lot about you too, and I enjoy the idea that such good people like you are out there. I hope we can continue to make the world smaller, and a better place for us all. Thank you for your time, for learning about me, and for being you!

I had turtles when I was very young. I only remember because I did not know how to take care of them when it was time for them to hibernate, they started to stink instead of sleep like I was told they would do. While I never learned how to create a place for turtles to hibernate, I did have a quick lesson in death.

Next it was Guppies I had in a glass one gallon aquarium. I was given some weeds to put in so the guppies had some place to hide. They hid so well, when my Mom decided to clean the aquarium we counted over ninety guppies in various stages of growth. Deciding there was too much weed, the population was quickly reduced by guppy cannibalism. I learned about predatory behavior from Guppies.

We also had dogs over the years. One was a Spaniel/Labrador mix who had been hit by a car as a pup. His stomach muscles were hurt, and his belly was very low to the ground. One of the neighbors accused him of jumping a six foot fence and breeding with their Chihuahua. I was too young to understand about sex, but I did learn that sometimes people tried to pass off stories that were not completely true. That poor dog could barely climb stairs without dragging his belly let alone jump.

A few years later another dog who had made into his late twenties was dying in a painful way. My Mom and Dad talked it over, and decided the best thing to do was put him down. Put him down meant a bullet in the head in those days. My Mom took out the vacuum cleaner, and furiously started vacuuming an already clean floor as my father went outside with the dog, and did what had to be done. He was gone a while, but when he came in my Mom and I knew the dog was asleep, never to waken again. I learned about sorrow, and loss from that dog.

Next was a horse my folks had bought me. He was a Tennessee Walker colt. I could not ride him as he was too young, so he roamed the pasture with my sisters horse. One week we had some friends horses in our pasture, along with our own, and they were close to fighting. It was cold outside, so I dressed in a jacket with a hood and went out into the pasture among the horses. My horse picked me up by the hood of my coat and shook me all the way to the fence, and then threw me over the fence. I did not know it at the time, but I was given a harsh lesson in love by animals for their human family members. I do remember crying for about thirty minutes though….

Some years later the Spaniel/Labrador was at the end of his life. He was arthritic, and moving even slightly was very painful for him He could no longer walk, and did not care to eat or drink water. A family discussion was held, and it was decided that I would be the one to put him down. I had to carry him from the basement to the appointed place. I remember how hard it was to see where I was walking, stumbling at times. I said what I could manage to get out, and pulled the trigger. As much as it hurt, I knew what I did had to be done for his benefit. I learned about life, and love that day – and the pain of loss.

Many more animals came and left over the years, all of them leaving me with those special lessons that only a pet can give. I am grateful for all of them, and hope there are many more pets waiting for their turn in my life.

I have been using this little one cup maker for a number of years now, and I have been very happy with it. It has replaced my Braun coffee maker, and it replaced my French press coffee maker, although my French press makes a slightly better cup of coffee.

The Braun coffee maker makes an excellent cup of coffee, it just makes too many of them at one time. I do not see the sense in making a single cup with a big coffee maker. The French press makes the best coffee, but it too makes more coffee than I usually drink in a morning, unless I am really into twitching that particular day.

I have owned my thrifty little Brew n’ Go for a number of years now, and it has rarely failed me. The only problem I have had with it is a the little one way valve where the water is let into the heating unit, comes out every few months. I simply push it back in and it is good for another three or so months.

A second of my favorite drinks in the morning, and occasionally later at night is a nice hot cup of tea. There is nothing challenging about making tea. I am all for simple is better, so for my cup of tea, I simply fill a mug with water, drop in a tea bag, and heat it up in the microwave until it is just short of boiling. I then let it sit and steep for about two minutes, and I have a great cup of tea waiting for me. I have enjoyed different teas in different areas of the country and world, but a few brands do stand out for me. I really enjoy Rose tea. I also enjoy a Japanese tea, Yamamoto Yama Green Tea. I think they are good value for the money and they taste very good.

I am happy having a nice bowl of oatmeal these days for breakfast. There is nothing outstanding in the oatmeal department in my weekday morning. I usually am very happy with the Walmart brand of instant. It is quick and I think it tastes okay. Others have told me it is not that all that great, but it works for me.

One the weekend though, especially in the winter, I really like to make a steel cut oatmeal that is imported from Ireland. The oatmeal is named John McCann’s, and it is different than oatmeal most of us are used to eating. McCann’s oatmeal has a different texture and a nice nutty flavor that is really good with a little butter, and some sugar to sweeten it up a little.

I have moved far away from my little coffee maker and into breakfast, but I am grateful for these other foods too in the morning. They make life a little more interesting, especially on the weekends. Now if I could only find some black cherry tea here locally. There is one brand here that I have found, but it tastes like hot black cherry soda pop. Not exactly my idea of a good hot drink.

I do not live in snow country, but I used to live in the snow belt. When I did I would have been really grateful if all the snow that fell overnight, or was pushed back into the driveway by the snow plow would remove itself without my help. Unfortunately, that would be moving from being grateful to fantasy.