Author: Johnnyboy

I’m very sorry, dear readers, for not posting more regularly, or at all, in the past 2 weeks or so. I have been busy, caught up in the troubles of others, and trying to figure out some things on my own…which is never smart. Thankfully I gave that idea up for dead and picked up the phone. I won’t say that I’m all better, but life is a little clearer than it was when I last posted my angry and unmanageable missive.

I am in the middle of summer semester, and the math class is going very well. I am looking forward to finishing up my philosophy tutorial with the 20th century. I need a break from the philosophical world.

My sponsee doesn’t call me, which isn’t my problem.

I call my sponsor, which helps me greatly.

I came home from Greece with what I thought was a sinus infection. 2 days ago the doctor checked me out and proclaimed me healthier than I have been in years, and the clogged right eustachian tube was probably the result of air travel. He recomended some over-the-counter nose squirts and Clariten D, in case it was a seasonal allergy. The results were overnight. I can now hear perfectly, my nose has stopped running, and the sinus pressure is gone. There are some side effects, however.

It seems that once I got sober, even the slightest of OTC drugs really changes my body chemistry. The Clariten D, for example, kept me up all night (or maybe it was the nose squirts), so that this morning at 5AM, I finally gave up, put on my clothes, and went downstairs. Thankfully I do not live alone and was able to ask someone to run interference for me until I could get a little sleep. I changed my therapist appointment to tomorrow, climbed back in bed, and tossed and turned for another 2 1/2 hours until whatever it was wore off. I managed to grab a handful of sleep before 11AM, and now I feel pretty good. If I can stay awake until 11PM I’ll be in good shape and sleep soundly through the night, and no more Clariten or squirts!

I’m having my haircut this afternoon with a new cutter at the place where I usually go. My regular snippette is big with child and has cut down her work week to 3 days from 5, so she is too busy for me to get an appointment. I’m having a man cut my hair, which is fine, but for some reason I have always preferred women. Maybe I’ll try something new instead of my usual close-cropped look, or maybe that’s the residual OTC pharms talking.

My heart soars with gratitude when I think of how fortunate I am to be here now, instead of somewhere else, unable to be of help to those around me and unwilling to turn over the obstacles in my path to my Higher Power to build with as It sees fit.

Asking for help is one of the greatest gifts I have been given.

Johnnyboy

So it’s been a while since I’ve posted, so I should have a lot to say, but I’m afraid there will be some ranting going on.

I have finished all four seasons of “24”, the real-time TV drama starring Kiefer Sutherland. I must admit, that despite my frustration at the human flaws of the characters, I found the series to be gripping and enjoyable. Boy Scout-Hero-Superman Jack Bauer finally defeats his enemies and confronts his own personal demons along the way, one of which is heroin addiction. Another character, Tony Almeda (my personal favorite), also falls into the pit of alcohol addiction, but recovers in the final reel. We don’t see how, other than burying himself with work, but my sneaking suspicion is that there was some Program going on during the scripting of the show.

The highlights for me were many in seasons 3 and 4. When Sherry Palmer is killed I shouted “yes!”. The world didn’t need another socio-pathic bitch running around, and she was always causing trouble. There were many more boosts, but that was my specific fave. In the end Jack is “killed”, and the last scene has him walking off into the sunrise of a new day, a civilian, with a false identity. A new day, a new man, and the world has been saved, again, by Jack Bauer, who modestly assumes the role of a man just doing his job.

My rant these days is about turtles, or rather dead turtles on the road. It breaks my heart and makes me angry to see such things. Personally, I stop and help the critters to the side of the road, always in the direction they were headed. Unfortunately this doesn’t always happen. I have seen a few in the past 2 weeks, and two of them have been large Aligator Snapping turtles. Big ones. Messy and avoidable. My suspicion is that some of the red-neck country fucks around here actually try to kill them. In the words of Bruce Cockburn, “If I had a rocket launcher…”

My garden is in, and when we get some freakin’ sun maybe stuff will grow, but right now it’s cool and windy, with intermittent rain. Soon come the sun…

My grades are great, but I am doing the work.

Sweetie Pie tangled with a feral cat the other night and is now on anti-biotics. Nothing grave, but the other cat managed a couple of good bites in the haunches. Needless to say, she was hesitant about being outside for a couple of days, but that seems to have been a passing thing. All is back to normal. I’ve also put her on Science Diet Light, so she can shed a few pounds. 2 or 3 would suffice. She’s not as active as the last feline inhabitant of the residence, so this makes good sense, I think.

I have loads of homework to do, so I’ll update later…

Johnnyboy