The reprise of "No B Side"

I was looking at some of my old blogs today, and came across this one.  I wrote it in Feb. 2017.  Re-reading it, I see that not much has changed at all in the last 2 years. I think it bears repeating.

February 2017
 As an observer of all things going on around me, it appears that the media has lost the fact there there is a B side to all that is going on in the world right now. 

Let me clarify. "B Side" is a music industry term that originates from when record labels release 45s. One song on each side. and A side (Which was supposed to be the hit song) and a B side which featured another song on the album that was good but not being considered as an A side single.  So, you played the A side song and the B side may NEVER get heard. 

Funny thing, though, sometimes people want to know what's on the B side. And occasionally, a B side song is a hit.  Maybe a DJ at a radio station played it by mistake. It's happened many time in the course of music history. Google "B SIDE HITS" and you will be surprised at what songs charted that were never supposed to be hits.  
Now, in the world of CDs and MP3, and streaming services, the B side is not a factor anymore and we now hear the Chart Cut and it's all we ever hear. (Listen to XM radio and tell me what the repeat rotation is) I was a radio DJ for many years. My luck was that they never made me follow the national rotation, and I was allowed to play what I wanted.  So, I mixed it up a lot and played songs that you didn't hear a lot, but everyone remembered. The songs you don't hear anymore."

I have a point to all this. Really.  It has to do with the news media. 

We are in a time of great division. It is not the first time, and it will not be the last time.  I don't choose sides, I observe what I perceive to be only A Side information.  All the media seems to thrive on is the anger and the negative energy that is spewed forth by people who don't or won't accept the current world and political situation. 
You see riots, and angry mobs, celebs who think they have the voice and ear of the people. And it's only so because the news media shoves it into your face and surrounds you with this hate and anger. All for ratings.  Bear with me. If  you are watching the news and there is rioting in the streets, and cars being set on fire, and you switch to the other news channel and see some warm and fuzzy story about happy people doing good things, do you shake your head and go back to the riots and anger because it's "more interesting?"  It's like listening to the first 10 seconds of a B side single and deciding that the A side song is better because that's what the record company has chosen to give you. It's what the networks chose to broadcast because they know that you will watch. 

I want to see the B side to all this hate and discontent. Show me the good. There is good in everything. It's the Yin and the Yang. You can not have one without the other.  Problem is, we are only looking at the Yang. We need a little more Yin I think.

I used to counsel teens. At the beginning of a group session, which I KNEW was going to be all about bitching about their parents and their life, as teens are prone to, I would go around the room and tell them to give me a HAPPY before we started. It had to be thought out . Not "I'm happy to be here...or I'm happy the 49ers won the Superbowl. (It was a long time ago) It had to be a genuine, happy feeling. It was hard for them. They were so programmed to be negative that it was beyond them to think that they had anything at all going for them. But.. they managed in the end to come up with something thought provoking. 

We have a higher power of some sort watching over us. I believe that.  Sometimes we just need to turn off the constant A side and flip to the B side and see what is there. It might be a better song. 

Have a great day.

My First Month of getting control of Type 2 Diabetes

I write about all kinds of stuff here, but rarely do I discuss personal or health issues.  I feel, though, that it is time to share they ways I am dealing with type 2 diabetes.

Having talked to a lot of people about this, I find that almost everyone I know is 'Pre-Diabetic'.  I was also told this about 2 years ago.  I figured I would lose weight, exercise and cut way back on my sugar intake.  At that time my glucose test came back in the mid 100s.  Not great.  I did well for a couple of days, and then blew it off.  Pre meant I was not there yet.  Then, I had labs done in March of this year and my glucose was at 260 and my A1c was 7.4 ... At that point I called my doctor and started getting pro active.   I hated hearing her say that I had full blown Type 2 Diabetes.  It was a serious wake up call and I needed to heed the warning. 

The first thing was the medication. Metformin twice a day.  The scary thing about that was reading the side effects.  Severe gastro intestinal discomfort, gas, serious runs, and cramps. The very worst of anti-social behavior. I took the meds and waited for the worst.  Nothing happened.  I was one of the lucky ones.  To this day, I have no  bad reaction to the Metforman. 

Next on the agenda was to lose weight. That meant a drastic change of diet.  Being in Auto Sales, one tends to eat whatever they can whenever they can.  It's a terrible thing to do to your body.  I think the choices we have in fast food nowadays is tantamount to just eating poison . Some of the taco fast food places can't even tell you what the "Meat Product" the put in their taco is. True Mystery Meat. So, I had to adjust what I ate IN A BIG WAY.  No sugar, no white carbs, a little dark chocolate (90%) and less dairy. 

I swore I would never give up my milk, so I found a brand called Fair Life which is lactose free, half the sugar and organic. One 8 oz glass is fine and I am happy.  Also, Mulberry and Cinnamon from the health food store. One of those a day, and 600mg Alpha Lipoic Acid if you have toe tingling. I got a glucose meter and tracked my readings 2x a day to show my doctor in my follow up. She was pleased that my numbers were down over 100 points 1 month after starting my new AD (After Diabetes) life.  I have shed about 16 pounds and completely changed my diet.  I must say my wife, Nikki, was a HUGE part of this too.  It takes a ton of prep time to eat healthy. She jumped in with both feet and she too has shed some pounds. 

After the first month I feel great. More energy, I can put on my socks and breathe at the same time....Kinda nice.  

It is an ongoing process.  But, I have taken a do or die (literally) attitude regarding this issue.  I have been sober now for 35 years, and quit smoking about 18 years ago.  This is the same thing. It makes no sense to me to load my body up with all this crap.  And it is not easy to avoid sugars. High fructose corn syrup is in everything from Ketchup to salad dressing. Start reading labels. If there is fructose corn syrup, you might as well replace that with the words Rat Poison.  It is my belief, since I started researching all this stuff, that the dramatic rise in type 2 diabetes is in direct proportion to the amount of processed foods humans eat.  There are alternatives to these things. Even so called Health foods are not. Become a label reader.  Things you think are okay are NOT. White rice, corn on the cob, every kind of fruit juice and energy drinks are full of sugars. It will shock you.

Anyway, I am on a new journey, and I will keep you updated.

Have a great (Sugar free) Day!

The Super Worm Equinox Moon.....

Soooo....Today is the first day of Spring!  It is also a Full Moon, and evidently it has something to do with worms...

It happens occasionally when the moon is full on the day of the spring Equinox. Today the daylight and darkness are the same length.  (Simplified, I guess that means 12 and 12).  

I love breaking out the telescope and doing moon viewing when there are super moons.  The last event was the blood moon a few months back. Pretty cool.  So, I hope everyone enjoys the Super Worm Equinox Moon. I won't be watching, because, yes, its cloudy and going to rain tonight.  I know this big ol' moon will still be there in its full glory. Hiding.

It's called a worm moon because it's the first full moon of March, and because the ground is thawing, the worms start to come out of hibernation.  I don't know...They could have had a better name like the new flower bud moon, or the thank God winter is over because I am so over shoveling snow moon.  Maybe the we have to turn the clocks ahead and loose and hour of sleep which I think is stupid moon. How about the "It's Spring and I am super randy" moon. The weather is warming up and road construction season is starting moon. or "You think a regular full moon brings out the crazies, just wait til tonight" moon.

I am sure you get the point and can come up with a great name of your own. 

In the meantime, go out and enjoy the Super Worm Equinox Moon. 

Happy Birthday....... to me

 So today I was sharing my yellow shirt blog (August 2017) with a coworker and she said to me "Why don’t you do more blogs?"  So here I am once again thinking about what to write about.

The obvious thing would be my 60th birthday coming up on March 25. Never thought I’d get this far, but since I’m here, when people ask how old I’m going to be my response it’s just,  “A little bit older than I was yesterday”. 

 Birthdays are a funny thing... they come along once a year and they mark the date of your birth, but time really doesn’t really care if it’s your birthday or not. I tell people I’m going to be 60 and they look at me and say "oh my God you don’t any older than being in your late 40s." I find that is complementary because I try to take care of myself, and I don’t want to look or act my age. If one were to really think about it  when you hit 60 you’re really not much older than you were when you were 59 yet we’re starting a brand new decade and psychologically that can be a bit daunting.

 I’m proud to say that I’m only on one regular medication at 60, and that’s for a blood sugar issue. Between diet and exercise and this light medication I think this shouldn’t  be a Big deal. I do feel much better and have a lot more energy since I’ve watched my diet in the last couple of weeks.. as a matter fact my wife and I took a nice long hike in the high desert around Las Vegas last weekend it was great. So I guess I’m as young as I feel right now I feel like I’m probably in my mid 40s. I look in the mirror And the guy looking back at me doesn’t look at all like the 60-year-olds I remember when I was in my 20s. I guess everything is relative and I do see that the passage of time seems to go faster, as people say it does when you get older.  I never really understood that concept because time doesn’t pass any faster now than it did when I was 18. Maybe it’s because when you’re older,  One tends to use their time more wisely, therefore you have less wasted time and the time you do use seems to go faster because when you’re doing something you never have enough time to get it done. When you’re sitting around, time seems to go by in a crawl.

I hear a lot that 60 is the new 40. Actually 60 is 60 and 40 is 40.  Even in  good health I enjoy now, I know there are things that I won’t do now that I could easily do when I was 40 years old. I won’t go into a long list but those of you were in your late 50s or early 60s know exactly what I’m talking about. And… It’s OK. I don’t have to be at 40-year-old.  I can be proud of where I am and know that people look at me and don’t think I’m a broken down old man.

In my job I see a lot of people who are younger than me with one foot in the grave, and it is really sad because they have that “ I’m old”  state of mind.  This is not really a healthy thing because you can talk yourself into being old at any time in your life. I’ve run into 40-year-olds who think life ends at 40,  and it’s very sad. But all you have to do is just look in the mirror every day,  and thank your higher power that you woke up on the proper side of the lawn this morning, and then get on with your day... embrace it, love it and enjoy life instead of thinking about the fact that you might be a day older today than you were yesterday. People ask me...”you’re going to be 60 ...are you having a big huge celebration? ...what are you doing? It’s a big birthday ....yada yada yada”...I just tell them every day is a celebration for me and every day is a Birthday I’m 21,900 days old!  I think all in all I’m doing pretty damned well. Embrace today like there’s no tomorrow. And take each day like it is a gift. Take care your health because it’s stupid not to. And if you don’t take care yourself, then you have no place to bitch about feeling like you’re 1000 years old. I’m looking forward to my birthday although I’m a little sad that I can’t eat the cake. But I’ll let others enjoy that for me.

Happy 2019 ... Resolutions?

Tick Tock...2019 is almost here.  If you had resolutions for 2018 that are not yet achieved, you'd better get on it! You are running out of time, and soon you will be too late and will have to stack them up on your 2019 list....Personally, I don't do resolutions, because, in general they are just too stressful....Especially when you tell EVERYONE what your resolution is...'cause then they are watching you.....and REMINDING you....

New years day. New years Eve, actually the whole "time" thing is just an illusion.  Time is a relative thing. I mean twice a year we all RESET time either ahead or back..Every 4 years we add a day to the year...WE are the only ones that care about time.  Our ancestors didn't give a crap about time. It was like 'Big ball of light in sky...go hunt. try not to be food to saber tooth cats...Big ball leave sky, small white light, dark...go to cave go to sleep...start again tomorrow...'

People are the only ones who are ever "late" for anything.  All other animals arrive when they get there. 

Today is Winter solstice. The shortest day of the year. so, there are cycles, but time is really meaningless.  So, as January 1st comes and goes, know that if you make a resolution, just do it. Don't put a time limit on yourself.  It's just passing of the big ball of light into the smaller ball of light. 

Happy New Year....

Wow...Holidays are HERE!

I didn't think it had been this long since I last wrote.  I have been busy finishing my book which we will E publish soon.  I have also been working a lot on my KIA blog.  Too much to do, never enough time to do it all. Which brings me to today's idea.  The Holidays are HERE! Thanksgiving was last week... here....gone.... Christmas is now upon us!  We are a bit desensitized because, after all, a lot of the stores have been green and red since mid October.  I did hear Christmas music in the first week of November this year. Wow.  

So, now you had your family in for a huge gathering last Thursday. In 1 month you get to do it all again.  It's too much!!! No one has time in 1 tiny month to do anything new that you can talk about around the dinner table at Christmas. So you get stuck hearing all the same stories that you heard at Thanksgiving...

Having family stay with you is tough.  You get so used to your routine and suddenly you are cooking for twice as many, (Stuff you would not normally cook), watching movies your houseguests want to watch, and just totally wonking up your daily routine in general.  By day three, it's like an episode of the Twilight Zone. Rod Serling standing in the corner of the room with a cigarette in his hand and that choppy cadence in his voice reminding you that there is no leftover gravy in The Twilight Zone!

Here are a few tips for surviving Holiday Guests. 

1. Remember...YOU invited them (most of the time)  If you dive into a pool of sharks, knowing there are sharks there, that's on you!

2. Wait to do your Christmas shopping. That way, while the Family is there, you have an excuse to get out for a couple of hours by yourself, hence a bit of peace and quiet. 

3. Practice breathing. When you get frustrated just inhale...exhale...repeat as necessary. 

4. Remember the definition of insanity...doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.  Maybe THIS year try inviting less people, or better yet, go to their house and annoy them for a change.

5. Send love to those who annoy you. Remember, they are your teachers. 

6. Look for the gift. If your folks are older, you may not be able to spend Christmas with them next year. And believe me, once they are gone, you will wish they could be there. 

7. Watch Christmas Vacation.  The Griswalds can teach you a few things. Like thank goodness Cousin Eddy belongs to them and not you. 

Happy Holidays / Merry Christmas / Happy Hanukkah / may you be blessed in whatever manner you celebrate. 

Happy Father's day

It's that time of year again.  Happy Father's day to all the Dads out there. 

I think I mentioned last year that I am lucky enough to have 2 Dads.  My Dad, and my Stepfather.  Both of them amazing men who did a great job raising me. I am grateful to them every day. 

Sometimes we take Dad for granted, knowing they have always been there for us, and then suddenly something happens. You get that phone call that there is a medical "procedure" that needs to be done, and though it's not anything "serious" it's still an indication that everyone get older every year. My step dad just had some back issues that have effected his mobility. Not a huge thing, but still, a reminder that he is not getting any younger. He is 85.  To me he is still, you know, in his 40s. 

I think we have a hard time dealing with parents getting older.  It also reminds us that we are driving down that road as well, and putting some miles behind us all the time.  

For some reason, Father's day get a second tier rating.  It's never as big a deal as Mother's day, which is a huge card and flower day. Fathers day is more of a hardware store event.  Dad would much prefer a power tool to a bunch of roses and candy.

I have a Son who is going to come hang with me on Sunday. He and my wife, (His Stepmom) and I will go up the mountain for a picnic. It will be a great day.  The nice thing is, he loves to spend time with us, and it's always great to see him.  

Not to dwell, but it is also the day I lost my oldest son.  So Father's day is always a bit hard for me.  We will take a moment on the mountain to say a prayer. 

Bottom line is this...No matter what your situation, let your Dad know that you love him.  Because he is here today. He may not be there tomorrow.  If Dad has already passed on, say a prayer and talk to him. He will hear you. 

Have a great day!!