Funkyjimmer's Blog

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

ANOTHER GREAT RENTAL CAR

For my trip this week the car rental company has given me another 2008 automobile--a Chevy Malibu. I really like it. And another good thing is that I'll be able to keep it for my personal trip this coming weekend.

Friday morning one of my daughters and I leave for Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to attend the first of two University of Alabama football games this season. I'm looking forward to the trip and the game. I'm also hoping to visit a cousin who lives in Alabama. So it should be a good trip.

Last weekend was good also. A long-time friend from church took me to dinner and the Colts football game. We were accompanied by one of my daughters and a gentleman whose wife passed away earlier this month. It was a nice evening. The restaurant was Italian and the food and service excellent. And the Colts played well and even won the game!

That's all for now!

posted by jim 10:08 AM 0 comments

Monday, August 27, 2007

OFF AND RUNNING -- AGAIN

After some time in the office tomorrow (Tuesday), I'm off to northwest Indiana for work Wednesday and Thursday. They will bring my rental car to the office in the morning. I wonder what I'll get this time! If I like it, I'll just keep it for my weekend trip. They will just close it out on the company card and re-do it on my personal card. If I don't like it I'll lobby for something else.

We leave Friday morning for Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to attend the first of two University of Alabama football games we will attend this season. I'm looking forward to the trip. I'm looking forward to my other trips, too. I have a couple of friends I knew in their college days that I want to visit. One trip is already set--the first week in October--to North Carolina. I may take a weekend trip west, too.

I appreciate all the prayers I know many of you offer on my behalf. All the insurance "stuff" is worked out and I invested a bit today, both to get the interest and to get it out of my reach so I won't be tempted to do anything foolish with it! :) I'm doing okay but there times it is really hard without my mate of almost 38 years. Today as I thought about all the changes that yet need to be made, for some reason I felt scared for awhile. Fortunately, I didn't dwell on it and the feeling went away. It's just sort of "scary" not knowing what the future is going to be like. I really felt the need to talk to someone. I was able to talk to a friend of mine by cell phone and talking to him a bit helped. Sometimes I just need to verbalize in order to process things. My problem is that I'm usually too proud to call someone. I'm afraid I'll be bothering them or something.

posted by jim 10:38 PM 0 comments

Friday, August 24, 2007

THE WEEKEND

For me it's one of those imponderables: "Why does everyone want to know what I'm doing for the weekend?" The Enterprise car rental driver who took me to get my car; my office mate and other fellow workers; the barber--on and on the list could go. Why does everyone ask? Why do they want to know? Why does one have to have "BIG PLANS" for the weekend? (That's usually what they ask: "Got any big plans for the weekend?"

I guess an even more relevant "imponderable" I should ask is, "Why does this irritate me so much?" (I'll have to "ponder" that one!) But I have to admit, it does irritate me. It's not that I don't have plans--usually I do. But why should they want to know? Why should they care?

If Karon were here she'd say I was just a "grouchy old man"! Guess I'll try to get over my irritation. Maybe I should ask people first, "Any big plans for the weekend?" But honestly--I really don't care!

Jim

posted by jim 3:52 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

ON THE ROAD

I'm traveling again--this time for my Company. I'll be in the Evansville area this week until Thursday night. Next week--Wednesday and Thursday--I'll be in Northwest Indiana--Merrillville and Munster area.

My rental this time is a brand new bright red Dodge "Caliber". When I got in to drive it, the odometer showed 14 miles! They are good to me at Enterprise. I'll be renting several cars between now and December 1st.

Jim

posted by jim 4:26 PM 0 comments

Friday, August 17, 2007

DREAMS

At the time of Karon’s death and for a time thereafter I slept very well at night. I didn’t sleep long at a time but I slept well while I was asleep. Some people wondered that I would be able to sleep at all—but I did.

The past few nights have been different, however. I’ve not slept particularly well, waking up several times and having some difficulty getting back to sleep. And I have had some weird dreams. Two recent dreams were the wildest and weirdest. They weren’t frightening or horror dreams—just weird. I have a friend who is expert at recording his dreams in his Journal. I’m not that capable. I probably should try. It might help me process the whole matter. Of course this could also just be the result of eating too much of the wrong things at the wrong time of night! That’s always a possibility!

Anyway, I’m hoping this is just a “phase” of the grieving process. Time will tell, I guess. Now I wonder what each night will bring—rest or no rest?

posted by jim 9:08 AM 0 comments

Monday, August 13, 2007

STATE FAIR EXPERIENCE

Saturday afternoon I took the family to the State Fair. I had decided that we would ride the State Fair Train since our grandson seems to like trains a lot. It took 2 automobiles to get us to the train depot but we all made the train—barely! The grandson was not sure about the experience at first but seemed to warm to the whole idea as the ride progressed. It was about a 30-minute ride.

The fair was great. We really didn’t suffer from the heat. It was warm but also partly cloudy and there was a breeze. The humidity was low, which also made it more comfortable. We managed to stay in the shade a lot, too. It was fun. The baby did real well and the grandson seemed to enjoy himself. Feeding carrots to the goats seemed to be his favorite thing to do but he also enjoyed the fish exhibit in the DNR building.
It was neat to notice the difference in his reactions this year compared to last year at the State Fair. He wasn’t nearly as afraid of the animals this year. He still didn’t want to ride the pony but he didn’t hesitate to pet the pony, cow, sheep and the huge oxen! I was sure he’d have nothing to do with feeding the goats but I was wrong. As I said, he enjoyed it.

I think we each got some of our favorite “Fair Food”. I had my huge smoked turkey leg. I also like the pineapple ice cream swirl but had to settle for an orange one. The grandson had a turkey corn dog and some fries. Of course there were funnel cakes and elephant ears on which we all nibbled.

We were on the back side of the fairgrounds and probably didn’t cover half of that area. But it was enough for one day with little kids. We had to hurry to make the train ride back to our cars or we would have had to wait another hour and a half. That would have made it too late to get home and get kids to bed for church the next day. We cut the timing to get to the train even closer than on the trip to the fairgrounds. It was too close for me—but we all made it on the train! (I was praying hard about that one!) I’m glad we did the train but I prefer having a car to be able to go and come according to my time schedule—not the train schedule.

The plan is that the two unmarried daughters and I will go back this Saturday and “do” the rest of the fair. (We’re taking a car this time!) I am sure I’ll have another smoked turkey leg. I’ll try to find that pineapple ice cream swirl and also I’ve got my eye on those special fried potatoes!

posted by jim 12:33 PM 0 comments

Monday, August 06, 2007

NOTHING MUCH NEW ABOUT WHICH TO WRITE

This is a difficult era in my life in which to write in this journal. It doesn’t have to do with lack of time but rather, about what do I write?

Thinking of things about which to write isn’t hard but knowing whether or not to write my thoughts is more difficult. It is hard to know what things other people might be interested in. There are a bunch of topics I think about and would like to post in this journal. But as I sit down to write I think, “Who cares?” I don’t get much feedback from this journal so it is hard to know.

It is especially difficult to discern whether to write certain things at this point in my life. Karon’s death and the thoughts, feelings and events regarding that occurrence make up the major portion of my life right now. But I am well aware that as far as other people are concerned, I’m past the time when people think it should an issue.

So I am trying hard not to be one of those people who constantly talks about their deceased spouse. Those people can be real bores and I don’t want to become one of those—either in person or in this journal. If one becomes like that, when people see you coming, they turn and head the other way. Or if they can’t “escape”, get that “deer-in-the-headlights” glazed look in their eyes.

There are times I really feel a need to talk to someone -- like the other night standing in a checkout line at Wal-Mart. There’s no logical reason why that should have occurred in that setting at that time. But I was really the most overcome and overwhelmed I have been since Karon’s death. I did the only thing I knew to do without leaving my place in the very long checkout line! I called a dear friend who lives a long way from here. It probably wasn’t a convenient time for him because he was heading home from the grocery store. I didn’t talk long and I didn’t talk about how I was feeling at that time. But talking to him helped. I’m grateful for that and for his willingness to let me talk to him for a few minutes. But I try to keep that sort of thing to a minimum. I don’t just go calling people every time I feel the need to talk to someone. So the alternative would be to write in this journal. But the same danger of boring everyone exists. So until I become more imaginative in my selection of topics, I’m prone not to write at all. I hate that because I like writing. Oh well, maybe I’ll settle for being a “partial bore”!

posted by jim 8:21 AM 0 comments