Some acquaintences have recently started the quitting process.  Quitting smoking, that is.  It has reminded me of many years ago when I quit smoking.  I had tried a few times before and lasted a month or two but when I really did decide to quit, I was determined. 

What made me decide was a couple of things.  First, we were going to paint our living room and thought it would be good to wash the walls first.  What came off the walls was a nasty brownish mess and it had only been a couple years since we had painted those sames walls.  I thought at the time, “If that’s what’s on the walls after a few years, what do my lungs look like after 17 years?”  That was the first real kick in the pants I needed.

The next ‘kick’ was deciding not to smoke in the house anymore because I didn’t want to keep repainting.  So, my husband and I would go outside to smoke.  Then winter came and we would smoke in the garage.  It was a single car garage with a car in it that just about completely filled it up.  Not much room for us both to stand there, sometimes hour after hour, to have our smokes.  Plus, it was pretty cold in the garage.  When I realized most evenings we were spending more time in the garage than in the house, I decided to take the big step and quit cold turkey. 

During a previous attempt to quit, we had ordered an audio tape from the Heart or Lung Association, entitled “21 Days to Quit Smoking.”  My husband used it with the one day at a time sequence that it was designed for–21 short segments walking you through the quitting process.  My technique was to listen to one side of the tape on my way to work and the other side of the tape on the way home.  I listened to all 21 segments each day.  It was good for me to see the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.  I could hear the problems with the initial stages of quitting, then, on the way home, hear about how much better it is to be 2-3 weeks along in the quitting process.  I listened to both sides every day for 21 days. 

Quitting wasn’t easy.  Things that helped were taking walks, getting away from my desk when I felt an urge to smoke, distracting myself with doing something that required full focus.  I know some people eat to compensate for the cigarettes, but I never felt like eating worked as a replacement.  There was nothing like inhaling nicotine.  The urge was always present.  It remained present for about 6 years.

When I finally felt like I had officially become smoke free, I knew that if I ever picked up one cigarette, it would start all over again.  I just couldn’t stand the thought of going through the quitting process again.

Because of all of the above and because it was so very difficult to quit, I always refer to 1987 as, The Year I Quit Smoking.

It’s so easy to spread information on Facebook.  A click of a key on the ‘share’ sign is enough to get information from me to my 150 ‘friends’ on fb and from them on to thousands more. I think this can be a fine thing.  I also think it can be a horrific thing.

I’ve noticed recently, more and more falsehoods spread through fb.  I think it really hit me first during the 2012 Presidential election.  I saw more lies and outright nastiness than I had hoped to encounter in my entire life.  I finally made it through the election period and thought things would settle down.  But what happened, I believe, is that people really began to understand the power of social media during that time. 

I still see political information, false, true, and unproveable one way or the other, on fb.  But, what I am seeing more of on fb is global political/environmental information.  Much of it is unfounded or out dated.  I’ll see something in one month and it will have comments indicating the information is false and accurate websites will be noted for obtaining true information.  Then, three months later the same false story will start circulating. At first I would try to contact the person spreading the ‘false’ story but then I realized, by the time I see it and contact the person, it is already way too late and in the ipads/phones/computers of thousands of other people. Too late to stop, too late to fix.

You might wonder why this worries me so much and I can only explain it by saying I don’t think people are educated enough or careful enough to verify a story/rumor before sharing it. I also don’t think peopole understand how many potential viewers or readers they are reaching when they push the ‘share’ button.
If I could make a change it would be to change how people view social media and to encourage people to think before they share. Before we delete anything on our computers, there is usually a pause asking us if we really mean to delete. If we had that kind of reminder on ‘share,’ it may make us think a bit more before we hit the button.
In the mean time, I encourage people to ‘hide’ or ‘report as spam’ the false or outdated messages and think twice before sharing.

I’ve written once recently about my dissatisfaction with the TV news people.  It’s symantics, not character or personality.  Maybe it is marketing.  I don’t know exactly what’s behind it, but it is irritating.

One station in particular has focused its message on “We’re watching out for you.”  I don’t know how that applies to accurate, informative news reporting, but they seem to think it does.  Somehow I get the impression they want to take care of me or keep me from harmful information rather than report the facts of an event. 

Their secondary marketing story says the listener wants not just the news but wants to be told how it impacts him/her.  How could they possibly do that?  How can news reporters know the needs of each individual listener enough to know how a story impacts them?  I mean, if I live in the city and there is a murder on my block over night, the impact on me will be much different than it will be on a person in an outlying community with sewer/water problems as their main concern.

I wish the news media could get back to reporting news events and giving the details, accurately, of the events.  That’s all.  If I listen to 3 stations I can get 3 different sets of details and the difference can sometimes be a matter of 3 people dying or 1 person dying.  It can also mean a difference of the criminal on the loose being 48 or 15, white or black, male or female.  Accuracy and details have gone out the window.  Of course, the stations need time to be able to tout their wonderful capabilities to the listeners and don’t have time to spare to actually do the job correctly.

If I could give one piece of advice to our local stations it would be this:  What do I, the viewer/listener really want from them?  Just the facts, just the facts.

What is it about Mondays?  Even for those of us that love our work and look forward to each and every day, Mondays are a drag.

It starts with Sunday evening usually.  I start thinking about the week ahead and all I want to accomplish, then I have to think about what I am going to wear and make sure the car has enough gas to get me to my first appointment.  After I spend about two hours with my planning and preparation, I start wondering if I will be able to get enough sleep to be alert on Monday morning.  I always wake up early so that isn’t in question.  What is in question is whether or not I will be able to function clearly when I get moving in the morning.

So, Monday morning arrives.  I am up very early and trying to organize my thoughts, take a shower, find my clothes, access the weather, watch the news, and feed the cat and the birds.  All of that usually goes well.  Driving to work can be an issue.  School buses, wrecks on the interstate, icy roads, trafic too slow or too fast or both all cause the route to work to be a challenge.  It’s not always unpleasant but Monday mornings there are typically more wrecks.  I think people forget how to drive over the weekend.  Or maybe they are just too crabby or still to sleepy to drive with civility and common sense.

When I arrive at work my first inclination is to read the news and take it slowly.  I don’t know why.  I’ve already had about three hours of taking it slowly before I even arrive at the office.  It seems to be a recovery period from inactivity over the weekend that is the issue. 

By Tuesday the engines are running, the mind is going full force and life is back to normal.  I am starting to think we should either do away with weekends or do away with the need to work.  Let every day be Saturday or Sunday.  I’m game.

It’s that time of year when the weather swings from 60 degree sunshine to 30 degree sheets of ice and snow.  As long as a person is prepared, it’s not too much of a problem but sometimes the ice can cause power outages and life can move from being fairly simple and routine to being a moment to moment challenge.

Cell phones have made a world of difference in cases of bad weather crisis.  People can easily call out for help and, even if the person on the receiving end isn’t in a position to help, at least they can lend an ear and give sympathy.

But, that doesn’t solve the power outage problem.  We have a gas fire and gas stove so we won’t have to face freezing temperatures in the house.  We also have lanterns and flashlights and won’t ever be totally in the dark.  But lack of entertainment, lack of computer access, are things I would worry about.  How long could I last without connecting via internet?  How long would I make it without watching TV? 

A few years ago we had an outage for 6 days and it was in the hottest part of summer.  First the refrigerator was a problem.  Everything in the freezer started thawing out after about 7 hours of no power.  We ended up cooking on our outside gas grill and eating more meat than I would normally eat in a month.  There was no air conditioning of course.  I would spend hours trying to fall asleep then wake up sweat soaked and exhausted.  I could take a shower but there was very little light in my bathroom so I wasn’t sure if I was completely clean and certainly couldn’t get my make up right.

There are other challenges to power outages in the winter and I don’t know if I would choose to go without power winter over summer.  Both are inconvenient and both could be life threatening.  I believe the best thing to do is stay as prepared as possible and have an escape route to a hotel or friends house if it gets too tough to handle.

Why is it such a hard choice?  I mean, there are so many examples of people making poor health choices and paying for it with disease and/or early death.  Is it simply too hard to exercise and not take up bad habits like smoking or drug/alcohol abuse?  And, could it possibly be too hard to avoid the temptation of foods that are hard on the body?

Usually good health habit choices come to us through our parents and family.  If we have a family that over eats or eats fatty foods and doesn’t eat fruits and vegetables, we will most likely prefer that method of eating as well.  And, if we have a family that doesn’t exercise or spends a great deal of time just sitting, watching TV or using the computer, we will probably pick up those habits as well.

What does it take to make the choice to be healthy if we haven’t learned it from our family?  Sometimes it is the death of a friend/family member or watching a loved one suffer a long illness caused by a preventable disease.  Sometimes it is more positive.  Family or friends can choose a healthy lifestyle and bring us along with them.  Sometimes it is because we have woken up and ‘smelled the coffee.’ 

Realizing that a healthy lifestyle can be pleasant and also promote good personal results causes a wonderful awakening.  It gives us an opportunity to improve our day to day life and also, perhaps, set an example for our children or other loved ones.  It can be done in baby steps or can be done full out over night. 

What ever way it is done and for what ever reason, it’s worth it!

Whether you are in school, working, retired, unemployed, or never employed, Friday always seems to be an important day. 

I understand for working people and for students, but what could it possibly mean to the rest?  For the two just mentioned, it means putting down the tasks at hand and taking a break.  It means relaxation, or just doing what you really need to be doing (including shopping, laundry, cleaning, errands, etc.).

For everyone else?  It could be that major sports are played and aired on TV more on the weekend.  It might be because people want to attend religious services.  It could also be that more people are around to visit with or just to see out and about.  I’m not really sure.

I’ve always liked Fridays because most people are in a good mood.  They kind of let loose early and walk around with more of a smile on their face.  Probably planning for the weekend events or just getting ready to take off the work clothes and slip into something more comfortable. 

The only challenge is hitting the highway first and making my way home past the over- anxious-to-get-there crowd.  Seatbelt on, headed to another weekend.

I get up very early most mornings.  In fact, I usually just sleep about 4-5 hours a night.  Nothing wrong with me; I just don’t need much sleep.  Probably because I don’t do much during the day, but that’s another story.

I have a routine when I get up which includes turning on the early morning local news.  They always seem to be reporting something that happened over night and prefacing it by saying:  Here’s what happened while you were sleeping.  That really bothers me.  I mean, I would have stayed up if I knew that was going to happen.  I would have watched it live.  But, wait a minute.  I think it also happened while THEY were sleeping.  They get to the station at 3:30, probably got up at 2:30.  If the event happened at midnight, my guess is that they were asleep.  I have heard the news people say they go to bed at 8 or 9 p.m.  That means most sports games were still in play when they went to sleep, most break ins and smash and grabs happened while they were sleeping and also many auto accidents and drive by shootings.

So, why are they acting like it happened on my watch and I missed it?  I think they should be apologizing for not being on the job to cover the action.

I’ve never written in or called in to complain about this and I probably won’t.  It may seem a bit obsessive.  But, I do wish they would quit pointing the finger and admit they are at fault.

I’ve been a label reader most of my life, partly because I have always been an avid reader of everything. When I was in college and really started paying attention to nutrition, I read every label on every food item I purchased. Very educational to know what is in the can or the box. Sometimes it isn’t too complicated but other times I wondered why some of the items were included. I stopped buying products with ingredients I didn’t understand. After a while, I switched to making most meals from ‘scratch.’

Some people are more focused on clothing labels or automobile labels. Is it from the right store/designer? Does it convey the right message of your net worth? Or the message of your success? I never really cared too much about this type of label, but still, they are important to quite a few people.

Lately the government has gotten very involved in the production of labels. Or, rather, the wording on labels. We need to know the country of origin for our produce and meats, calories and details of nutrition, and on our autos, where each part is made and where assembled. These labels aren’t the only ones. Everything has a label now from phones to computers to sofas and flooring, everything. And oh my goodness, the labeling for cigarettes. So glad I don’t smoke. I can’t imagine using a product that tells me I will die if I use it.

Anyway, I am glad I read labels but could get along with much less information. It has become too scary.

We took a drive recently to do some eagle watching along the Mississippi River.  It was cold and windy out and I suspected we might see quite a few eagles as we usually do in mid January.  I planned and packed a ‘car picnic’ to make it more of an event and give us something to do beside looking through the binoculars. It was too cold to get out of the car and take a walk so I knew we would be car bound for the afternoon.

These mid January rides always turn up more than ‘just’ eagles. We normally get to see flocks of swans and flocks of pelicans and snow geese. I especially love the pelicans. When they fly they have a tight formation and because of their coloring, they sometimes flash white and sometimes totally disappear. Magical. But, when they land on a pond covered with ice, they look like clowns. Their big feet are clumsy on the ice and they stagger and fall over quite a bit. Comical.

And the swans. Who knew there were huge flocks of hundreds of swans migrating to southern Missouri each year? I was knocked over the first time I saw them. Thought it was a mis-sighting. Very beautiful–breath taking.

This trip however did not grant us even a sighting of one eagle. The weather has been too mild so far and they have not migrated this far south yet. I am guessing with a week of cold weather, they will make it into our area. Still, all in all, it was a very nice picnic.