My Strides Must Be Getting Longer

My strides would explain 13,506 steps equaling 29.31 miles

Yesterday I saved many lives. I hoofed-it to Walgreen's in the rain to pick up Cha Cha's meds, On the way I saw about 100 worms on the sidewalk because of the rain and I made sure not to step on a single one of them. On the way back I saw a gang of hooligans tormenting a bunch of innocent citizens and they scurried when they saw me coming in my, just below knee-length, bright orange rain jacket with reflector strips coming. Because of this trip my watch said that I did 29.31 miles yesterday but only 13,506 steps. I did 22,580 steps the other day and that was only 10.93 miles. My watch is linked to my phone and my phone battery signaled me that it was running low on juice on the way back; I wonder if that has anything to do with it? Maybe I am taking bigger strides now? The watch is 61% charged. But, no MATTer what, nearly twice as many steps should not equal less than half the distance. I was never really that proficient at math but even I know that one.

Incidentally, I do not believe in personally killing any living creature. I do not feed birds and rabbits and squirrels... and then want to kill a worm or a bug or anything. Who am I to decide what creatures deserve to live and which deserve to die? I will worry about me and mine and try to help whose and there's how I can.

 I have dethroned the king 

On the way to Walgreen's I listened to the Coldplay Pandora station and, on the way back, I listened to AC/DC. I forgot to tell you that the other day, when I was coming back home from the library, I went to add the George Harrison station and a message came on that said something about how I could not have more than 100 stations. I had no idea that I had created that many stations. I guess that makes me a network or some kind of a conglomerate. And Howard Stern proclaims himself the "King of all Media." I scrolled the stations and deleted the Hipster Dinner Party and the various Christmas stations that I had and the Thanksgiving holiday music station and a few of the calm meditation ones and others.... I add stations like people change their underwear apparently. I will start to do some heavy rotation on the stations.

I have been doing a lot of meditating lately and I believe it has really been beneficial. I am learning (and I say learning because I believe that learning is something we do constantly throughout our entire lives) to let small things go. I know I am better than I was and I also know I have a long way to go and that I will be fine-tuning until I draw my last breath. I have always liked the saying, " we have two ears and one mouth so we should listen twice as much as we speak" and I try to center myself around that adage. I know where I have harbored most of those bad habits from and I will have them pretty much licked just before I draw my last breath so I will be peaceful in the Happy Hunting Ground; hopefully I will have them licked anyway.

I have not heard or seen or read much news lately. I think the word "news" is derived from the Greek word newsakath for "negativity." Okay, I made that Greek word up and news probably comes from "new" but that is boring and most of our news these days is recycled so it is not really new at all. Maybe "news" should be changed to "sensationals?" All the political stuff going-on now with the forthcoming Presidential election is mostly negative and disruptive and disrespectful... and is a waste of our energies. I was a news reporter many different times and a news editor and an associate editor and I don't believe it was anywhere near as embarrassing as it is these days. Yes, there are still plenty of respectable and reliable news outlets and reporters but nobody seems to want to hear that much these days. People want sound bytes with shock and awe. I can say that here because a blog, in this case anyway, is entertainment more than news. Remember when The National Enquirer and The Star... (tabloids, rags...) were so popular? I bet they are boring now compared to what the supposed credible news outlets are spewing a lot of the time. People need quick shockers to put on social media so the "news" gives the people what they want to sell their advertising space and/or time. We are all to blame for this.

Rest in Peace Gus!

One of our neighbors' dogs passed away yesterday. Gus seemed like a gentle soul and a good fella. I did not know Gus as well as I know a lot of their other dogs but it is always a sad time when a family friend of about 13 years leaves. I know Jeff Helser is only four years old and he is a big part of our lives. We will miss him a great deal when he passes. Who will ride in the car with me when I need a quick run to the store?When Maisy (Jeff's predecessor) died we were all very sad for quite some time. We still have Maisy's ashes in a little urn with the collar and tag she wore every day on the bookshelf in our front room; I think about her often. I realize animals are not people but that is good because they are not judgmental and don't hold grudges over little things. Pets aren't sarcastic or condescending and most of them don't have evil intentions or thoughts unless trained to be that way. I think of the pets throughout my life and know they have made me a better person and, though it was a tough decision to get another dog when Maisy died because we knew we would probably outlive another friend, I think it was a great thing for the family to have Jeff to give us unconditional love without judging us. That's all I have to say about that!

I hope you have a great day and that you will be kind to all living things today and tomorrow and beyond. Thank you for letting me filibuster about my views on some nonsense and some sense whether you agree with them or not. I appreciate you and you make me better just by reading the blog - thank you! Have a great day (currently only 36 degrees at 10:34). TTT?...MITM (out) TA!