Eastern Utah
EMAIL ME AT: mgypsy97 at aol dot com

Friday, May 26, 2017

Friday Miscellaneous

The weekend is upon us once again - seems like I experienced only about a 3-day week, but I'm sure there were 7 days in it!

I should be fixing my lunch/dinner now but I am just not hungry.  I ate a big breakfast and then followed it about 2 hrs later with a great protein shake before going to the gym.  I don't think I could eat a bite right now, so I'll just postpone my next meal.

A little bit about the book on addiction to tech devices, or that's what it looked like it would be about.  The introduction and one chapter toward the end of the book relate to technology addiction.  The rest goes through the stages of substance abuse as well as many other kinds of addiction.  I read some of it but since that wasn't what I anticipated with this book I just mostly skimmed through it.

I can understand that all addictions have the same types of beginnings and well as the stages they go through.  I also think everyone is susceptible to, and probably has, addiction in one form or another.   After nearly a year I still miss TV to the point where I've thought briefly about reconnecting it.  But then I know I would sit there stupidly surfing the channels from one end to another, and then doing it all over again, as if I might have missed something good.  It's mostly all junk to me and not worth paying to watch.   I should note that I've never been much of a TV watcher, don't care for movies (would rather read the book), find the news depressing and monotonous, and so on.

So I've no doubt substituted a mild addiction to the internet and computer games to replace what I lost with TV.  I play Mahjong a lot and am finding that the games often look exactly like ones I've played before.  It's been fun being able to read the last two books I've checked out from the library, even though it is difficult with my eyesight to keep in focus, and I'm not sure if I could read on a regular basis.

I stopped by Home Depot on the way home from the gym and bought a new hummingbird feeder as the old one was leaking.  I keep looking to see when the birds notice it, but so far they must be at someone else's feeder.  It won't take long.   I was so tempted to get a bird feeder and seed for the larger birds but I know I would just be tempting the squirrels.  I don't have too much trouble with them so far but see them around the neighborhood and on my back fence.  I would hate them if they stole the seed I put out for the birds, although I know they find it fair game, and  I'm trying to save myself the frustration of dealing with them. 

I just heard yesterday that my cousin lost his son and son-in-law within days of each other.  Both boys were in their early 30's, and the son-in-law died from a heart attack.   So I've been urging my sons to set up appointments as soon as they can to get an echocardiogram.  Having two young men in the family being taken by a heart attack within a month of each other is so hard to believe.   In the case of the last one he leaves a 30 year old wife with 4 small children.

Hope everyone has a pleasant weekend.

9 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, young men dying in their early 30's. That is so shocking and leaving a wife and 4 children. That poor family. My heart just goes out to them. It's hard to move from such a serious subject to your other topics in this post. If you are willing to spend some money (or ask for it for christmas) a true bird store (like Wild Birds Unlimited) will sell you a squirrel proof feeder. We had two different ones at the farm and watching the squirrels unable to get to the feed on one and being thrown off the other was just so much fun. We don't bring them with us because the feed is too heavy and I don't think I should feed for 2 weeks and then leave. Always wanted to learn how to play Mahjong. Reading the rules left me seriously confused. But then I hate manuals and printed directions. Just show me how.

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    1. I will take a look online and see if I can find Wild Birds Unlimited. I don't think I'll ever enjoy the birds in this area as I did in Asheville, NC. There was such a variety and I must have been right on a migration path because I would see gorgeous birds that only appeared for a few days.

      I didn't have contact with my cousin, but the one that really got all my family was my brother's son (my kids' cousin). My children saw a lot of him when he was little. He was married less than a year and his wife is still in such a state. There will be a small service at a cemetery around the beginning of July, mainly for his parents and their siblings. In August there will be a celebration of his life, and everyone is invited. My son and his family are flying in from NY for the weekend to attend. It will be a long time before we even believe it happened. Young men dying in their early 30's is unusual, but even more so that they are dying from heart attacks.

      Mahjong is easy; you just match tiles by clicking on them until you can hopefully clear the board. There are strategies you work out sometimes, and other times it's just plain luck. Addicting nevertheless. I never played the actual board game but wish I had. I don't know if they even make them anymore since everything is online.

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  2. so sorry for the loss of young men in your family. Such
    heartache, so young.
    I'm like Sherry, who left comment about Mahjong.....it seems heard to
    learn. You play on the computer or IPad? Some of the games you just
    jump in and learn as you play. Is Mahjong too hard for that?

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    1. I don't have an iPad but play on my computer. I downloaded it for free although I think they would like donations for it. The one I play is Shanghai Mahjong and i think it is pretty intuitive.

      Thanks for your expression of sympathy - (thank you too, Sherry - I wrote such a long reply I neglected to mention it). It is hard to come to grips with someone dying so young from an illness or disease. I guess anyone who has lost a loved one from an accident feels exactly the same way, so I should include anyone who suffers such a loss. And parents should never have to bury their children!

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  3. Such sad news Gypsy. It seems the younger generations are experiencing health problems at an earlier age. I am so sorry.

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    1. Thanks, Janet. It certainly seems strange when you hear of such similarities so close together.

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  4. Terrible news on the passing of family. So very young and leaving small children and the other just newly married. Sorry for the families losses.

    A few months ago I disconnected Directv and put up one of those indoor antenna's the prices start at 14.99 and go up. I watch a lot of PBC, old shows when family meant something other than all this crap today. The commercials aren't much better but at least I'm not paying to be annoyed by them. I have no regrets.

    Not to long ago Dizzy Dick posted his creation to keep the squirrels from his feeders it was pretty interesting and cheap.

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    1. Thanks for your expression of sympathy. My aunt & uncle (grandparents of these young men) are in their early 90's. Out of their 5 children they had to bury their oldest daughter a few years back, who died from cancer.

      If I could figure out what kind of antenna to get, where to buy it, and have someone connect it for me, I'd like to go that route. I need to ask one of my kids I guess.

      I saw the way Diz keeps the squirrels from his feeders, and you're right. I should go back and look that up, and get a good idea how to rig it. I need to buy a bird feeder and stand for it first. I had kind of hoped I could hang it from a tree or the porch roof, but bird feeders are heavier than my hummingbird feeder which is hanging.

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  5. My heart felt sympathy to you and your family on the loss of these young men taken away too soon.

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