JimGorski.com

Dear drivers who merge at the very last second,
I hate you and I’m not certain why.

Maybe it’s the inconvenience of having to slam on my brakes as you cut off the minivan in front of me.
Maybe it’s knowing that I could also have raced around sixty people and then cut in across the bike lane at the last second, and yet I didn’t.
Perhaps it’s that I assume you think you’re better than the rest of us.
Maybe I am just shocked that you could be so clueless and still be allowed to operate a motor vehicle.

Maybe it’s all of those reasons and more.
Maybe there are two kinds of people in this life, people who do the right thing and people who take advantage of those people.

I still hate you, and I still don’t know why.

It’s probably unhealthy to harbor fantasies of a last minute merge accident where I leap from the car and run to your wreckage, throw open the flaming door with super human strength and then scream “I told you this would happen!”

Well I feel better having said that - I just had to get it out!
(still hate you)

Apparently diverticulosis is the one I am recovering from.

The symptoms are the same though, you get pain, bloating and other less mentionable symptoms. Mine started Saturday and I assumed it was just a bout of food poisening.  Tuesday my doctor was talking about surgery and sepsis while I grimaced and yelled through the worst round of poking I’ve ever had to endure.

Here we are almost a week later and I’m graduated from clear liquids to soft foods. Tomorrow I can step up to normal foods again in moderation - I can’t wait!

Here’s a free business idea: When I asked my pharmasist how I should ‘take with food’ and consume only ‘clear liquids’ at the same time? No one had any good ideas, and three days of chicken broth was not the answer. So get into your kitchen and come up with a nuetral buffering satisfying clear liquid - the market is wide open!

Back to work before I fall asleep…

I had some very thoughtful comments about the first half of this posting (here), so I thought I should dig a little deeper and clarify my position.

These are the areas that are important to me.  I’ve added one more since my last post - Physical Health.

• Physical Health
• Family Relationships
• Work Reward and Recognition
• Home (Domicile) Location and Condition
• Transportation Method and Use
• Education Level and Frequency
• Spiritual Fulfillment
• Friendships and Morality

Now this list may not be for everyone.  I have few friends who think school is a joke, and still others who would probably want to add Fame or Leadership to this list.

But I think this list suits me.

In every one of these areas I have a bottom line - a lowest level of performance or achievement that helps me define where I am happy.

This doesn’t mean that I need things to make me happy - I am very happy (almost giddy tell the truth) by my very nature.  I’ve led an excellent life, and I am thrilled with my place in the universe today.

However, if I drop below that line in one of those areas - I start to get less happy.

For example, I am not a seasoned athlete with chiseled muscles and the speed of a jungle cat.  I lean more towards housecat if we’re comparing.  But as long as I can run a 5K without hurting myself or actually passing out, I am happy.  My health then ‘falls out’ of the things I need to work on.  I really don’t think about it - it’s above the bottom line.

Another example is Education Frequency.  If I’m not learning something - anything - every month, I get edgy.  Learning how to start a fire without matches kept me above the bottom line there for three months last year!  It was blissful.

I’m writing this down to remind myself that if I am unhappy, something has just slipped a little below the bottom line. It’s not the end of the world, it just means it’s time again to look at my list and figure out what area is making me blue.

I hope you write your own list the next time you feel down - or send me an email and I’ll help you write it.

That always helps my bottom line too…

:)

Guess what’s here..?

NaNoWriMo

Or National Novel Writing Month.

This is a personal challenge to complete a 50,000 word novel in the space of one Month - specifically November.

My pal Nancy brought it up - and now I can’t put it down.

In the same spirit of focused improvement - I am considering adding these as well this month.

Go from couch to 5k in 6 weeks.
http://hundredpushups.com/

I may never get to update my blog again (kidding).

I haven’t forgotten to elaborate on my happiness post.

I received such thoughtful feedback I don’t want to rush my response.

Have a Happy Halloween!

Martha Stewart ‘got nuthin’ on me - check out my Pony Pumpkin!

Qtpfsgui - Home

Reread that title.  Then read it again.  What will it take - minimum - to make you happy?  I read this question the other day while cruising the interwebs and I haven’t been able to shake the thought yet.  That means it is time for a quick bit of soul searching.

The first real question is - what do you mean by happy?  Where are you happy - at work, at home, out with friends?

I’m going to start by defining where I want to define my happiness - the spheres of influence within my awesome little life:

• Family
• Work
• Home (Domicile)
• Transportation
• Education
• Spiritual
• Friendships

I’ve looked at this list for a while, and I can’t think of any other ‘area’ that I need happiness in.  I went back and forth a few times about adding ‘finances’ to the list, but I came to the conclusion that finances is really a tool to enable happiness in these areas.  I could be a multimillionaire who is miserable living in a part of the world that lacks a clearly defined set of seasons (for example).  Another one I waffled on was Family.  I finally committed it to this list because I actually mean ‘Family Relationships’.  So I had better expand that list a bit more below:

• Family Relationships
• Work Reward and Recognition
• Home (Domicile) Location and Condition
• Transportation Method and Use
• Education Level and Frequency
• Spiritual Fulfillment
• Friendships and Morality

Friendships and Morality sounds like an odd combination - I’d better split this into two posts and think about that one a bit more.

If you ever have the opportunity to change a full size tubeless tire on a steel rim, I suggest you pass.  If you ever get the chance to work on two of them in the course of one weekend - I suggest that you punt.  And then run screaming.  On the other hand, I feel that I have grown as a person - my patience levels are overflowing.  And I got the damn thing to seat, hold pressure, and it’s towed out back by the treeline where it belongs.  I also managed to spread my last fertilizer of the year, cut the grass (including the new stuff), and I cleaned the hydraulic links on old Maggie.  Of course my fantasy football picks wet the bed - you can only balance so many plates on sticks before something crashes at your feet.

Amazon.com: Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor: Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh: Books

This is my next Library book - if I can find it anywhere…

And I can’t wait to see her!