Letter to my teenage self 2023

 

Dear teenage me, 

I know this sounds weird, but this is yourself over 50 years from now. I am writing this letter from the future to give you some advice on life. Pay attention for once. This is important.

I can tell you something now that will be even stranger than me writing to you from the future; You will run your own business someday and make a decent living at it. Yea, I know, pretty ironic, huh? Mr. I don’t give a damn about business. As much as you suck at math now, in the future there will be calculators that you can fit in your pocket. Math will be easier. But learn it anyway. Counting on your fingers when there is no calculator is embarrassing. However, your saying when ever you make a math mistake of “I learned to draw in math class” is still pretty funny after all these years.

Continue to be curious about everything. It is the single biggest factor that makes running your own business possible, and you will be surprised at all the talents your curiosity will lead you to.

On the other hand, when your father tells you to get a civilian job at the Air Force base, or at the post office, make a bigger effort to do it. You could be retired by now.

Your instincts on the factory jobs are spot on. You would hate it. Most of them are closed now.

I know you have no interest in the business world, but when you first hear of a company called “Microsoft” buy all the stock you can afford. Sell any and all stock before 2001. Wait nine years and buy as many houses as you can afford. Sounds like crazy talk, right? Trust me.

Do buy a house as soon as you can afford it. Paying rent for something you will never own is a huge waste of money. But you already know that, don’t you?

Follow your instincts! Do all those crazy things that cross your mind. Most things you do will turn out okay. You will rarely be sorry for things you do, but you will almost always be sorry for things you don’t do. Some of that success is because you are a very lucky guy. Not at things like the lottery or gambling, but life in general. Just pay close attention to your instincts when they tell you NOT to do something. Those instincts will save your life…several times.

Travel as often as you can. You may be able to afford it better when you’re older, but you will eventually be so tired that you won’t care if you do or not.

You already know that drinking and drugs are not your thing. You will be amazed at how much cheaper (and easier) life will be without these addictions.

Have someone take your picture. A picture of all of you, not just a head shot. Take a real good look at it and you may notice that you are not as fat as you think you are.

But stop drinking all that Pepsi, because that stuff WILL make you fat.

Don’t be afraid to chat up the pretty girls. Sure they might shoot you down, then tell all of their friends how that goofy chump tried to put the moves on them. But what if they don’t? What if all the other guys shy away from them too? They might be as lonely as you are. Besides, you REALLY don't expect anything to happen anyway, do  you?

Sex is as good, if not better, than you think it will be. Don’t wait so long to check it out. Totally ignore your mothers advice to stay away from the “bad” girls. They have lots of fun things to offer a curious fellow.

Oh, here’s a big one; don’t be so damn gullible. The world is full of shysters and they live to separate you from your money. A lot of them are very good at it.

I’d leave you a link to my blog entitled “Things I have learned about life” but you don’t know what the hell a blog is do you? Don’t worry about it. You will.

You will soon learn that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission. Forgiveness is usually easier to get. Getting permission can stop you cold.

I think that’s about it. My flying car is here to pick me up.

Hah!

Got ya.

No flying cars yet, (well, not production models anyway) but the Dick Tracy watches?…Those are pretty cool. We call them cell phones. They are a major technological invention., even better than FM stereo. They replace phones, alarm clocks, cameras, encyclopedias, newspapers, and probably a few things I can’t think of right now.

It’s a big fascinating world. Go out and enjoy life. Be fearless. Your luck and common sense will get you through most things in life.

GBE 2: Time

 

TIME

“It’s time.” She said.

He would have glanced at his watch, but he had stopped wearing one years ago. Like so many things, his cell phone had replaced it. “Time” he thought as he stood up. “It’s changed so many things.”

As he walked to the garage, he thought about some of those changes that time had brought about since he was a kid. Computers changed the way people communicate and work. Small towns have become androgynous in that where they once had character from small local stores, they all look the same with a Walmart, Mall, Lowes, and drug stores on every corner. Even driving between towns has changed; Where there used to be farm fields and forests, each urban area seems to lead directly to the next urban area.

Traveling and eating out has become so expensive that only the well to do can afford it. The differences between the well to do and the poor seem even more extreme, and even though the population has dramatically increased, the middle class has become the minority.

The weather has become increasing severe with radical changes in temperature that lead to intense and dangerous storms. Even with all of these changes, some things haven’t changed all that much. Racial issues still abound. Women and minorities still struggle with equality. Politicians only seem to get worse as time goes on.

He stepped out into the vestibule that lead from the house to garage. “Do you have the address?” he asked.

“Yes” she said “It’s in my phone.”

The vestibule door slid closed behind them as they climbed into the car.

She inserted her phone into the dash slot. The roof of the garage slid to one side and the car began it’s accent into the sky. Once it reached operational altitude it spoke. “Off for dinner and a hike, I see. Happy 120^th Birthday.”

“Thank you” she said as the car went into auto pilot and flew towards their destination. “Isn’t this a great time to be alive?”

 

How is time treating you? 

 

Want to read more time related blogs of mine? Of course you do!

https://niceinohio.blogspot.com/2012/06/more-things-change.html

https://niceinohio.blogspot.com/2012/05/tic-tocwhen-i-grow-up.html

https://niceinohio.blogspot.com/2020/08/buckys-visit-to-2045.html

 

GBE Reincarnated week One: Loss

 I am so happy to see that the GBE (Group Blogging Experience) is starting up again. It was a major Loss to Bloggers when Alicia retired the series way back in 2009. (I think?)

I usually try to keep things light and fun when I blog. This week the GBE subject is Loss, so I am not even going to try to keep it fluffy.

LOSS

I’m pretty sure 2020 turned out to be a year of Loss for everyone.

It certainly was for me.

Before 2020 I was self employed and made custom cabinets and vending décor. Almost all of my work goes into commercial public places like company break areas and cafeterias. 2019 ended with me completing one of the largest jobs I had ever done in my solo career. Oh, did I mention that I am a company of one? I quote, design, engineer, build, deliver and install all my jobs all by my little lonesome self. Here is a sample of what I build.

 

 

After that job I felt a little tired but just thought it was because it was a busy year. January hit and let’s face it, who feels peppy in January?

Then my stomach started hurting. In my usually “let’s wait and see if it goes away or I die” manner of handling health issues, it was a month before I bothered to make a doctors appointment.

Quite a few tests later, it was decided that I had several stomach ulcers. I got some drugs and that started to fade away. I was still feeling more tired than my usual lazy self. So I made finally made another doctors appointment.

About the second week of March Covid hit. By the third week, my business phone calls and emails dropped to zero. Nada. Zilch. It was as if the world just stopped. This actually turned out to be as good thing, because I was getting so tired and winded, that I don’t think I could have done a job.

Because of the Covid, it was difficult to get doctors appointments. Try to make an appointment? Four weeks. Try to get a test done? Four weeks. Get those results back? Four weeks. Set an appointment with the doc to talk about those results? Yep. Four weeks. It was about the middle of June before the tests determined that I had a blocked heart artery. By then, I felt like I was running on about 25% of my life battery.

It was almost….wait for it….three weeks before they could get me scheduled to have a heart stent put in. A few days before surgery, my back seizes up and I can barely walk. I am pretty sure the reason I had the ulcers was because I was eating Ibuprofen, so that option was out for the back pain.

More doctors visits and tests with the four week period between each one.

Long story short... (I know, too late for that.) Because of the back issues I spent a lot of time in bed when I should have been doing cardio therapy.(which, because of Covid, I couldn’t get scheduled until August)

As a result of not moving much, my weight dropped from 285 to 210 over a matter of six months. I weighed 220 in high school. Most of the weight loss was muscle mass.

Almost a year after the first stent, probably because I wasn’t getting much movement, I would need another. A year after that, they gave up on stents and did a triple bypass. That was fun.

I now feel like I am running at about 45%. I have only done a couple of small jobs since 2020 and they required a lot more effort than normal. Fortunately, I was old enough to start drawing Social Security. So the last few years haven’t been a total LOSS.

I’m not writing this to get sympathy, just stating facts.

However, If you are going to tell me how handsome, smart and talented I am, ya’ better do it quick, haha! 

How did 2020 affect you?