Getting It Together

Since my move back to my home state of Michigan a few weeks ago, I've been working hard trying to get my apartment in order. When you basically have to restock your groceries from scratch and resupplying home goods that didn't make the move from your former home, you end up spending a lot of money. Every trip to the grocery store or Walmart ends up costing more than you thought and there's always something else you need like a lamp or a rug. I ended up having to buy a new bed a week ago because my old one from Illinois decided to fall apart after the move. It wasn't in the greatest shape anyway, but I thought it could last until next year. How wrong I was. As much as I like my new bed, it cost money I didn't plan on spending. The mattress (and required box spring) were more than the bed itself! I'm still trying to recover from my moving costs and then I had to spend more money on a bed. Yes, I had planned for this move and I'd been saving for it, but now I need to recoup those funds. I'm also still paying for my place in Illinois that has yet to sell. I'm not stressing about that now, but I really hope that place finds a buyer before the year ends so I don't go into 2027 still paying for it. With interest rates going up and the holidays just around the corner, the home buying market is going to shrink. I hightly doubt I'll get a buyer between Thanksgiving and Christmas and I'd like to pay my mortgage off and get whatever I can from that place this year. But, in spite of all of this, I feel I made the right decision to move. I'm in a better place physically and mentally. One day at a time, folks. One day at a time.

Back to the Mitten State

It's been a busy few weeks, but I have officially moved back to my home state of Michigan and I'm glad to be here. As someone who used to move quite a lot during my 20s and 30s, I can say as someone a few decades older now that moving is harder when you're older. The packing and the purging really wore me out this time around. If I move again, I think I'd pay the movers to pack my stuff up. I did a good job with my packing this time around and nothing was damaged (that I've seen; I still have a few boxes to open). But dealing with boxes, bubble wrap, tape, packing paper, etc. was really time-consuming. 

I was really lucky that my movers got my stuff unloaded last Thursday before a huge storm blew into metro Detroit. I'm settling into my new place and I still have to sell my old place in Illinois. My hope is that I'm able to sell my co-op before the end of this year. I certainly don't want to go into 2027 paying rent in Michigan and a mortgage in Illinois. 

It's time (past time really) to move on to the next phase of my life. I largely enjoyed my time in Illinois, but now is the time for me to back home with family in the mitten state. 🧤

RIP, Dolly

I was sorry to hear that Dolly Parton died yesterday. Count me in as one of Dolly's many fans. Her voice was so wonderful and she just brought so much joy to people through her music, her life, and her actions. She will be sorely missed. 

One of my favorite Dolly Parton songs is "Here You Come Again" and I recently read that she didn't write that song, but it was her first crossover hit. It's such a lovely song and she puts so much emotion into the lyrics. I thought about that song a lot when I wrote my last short story "Whenever, Wherever, Whatever" and it's referenced in the story when one character shows up at the door of the man he walked out on, who sees him and says, "This isn't a Dolly Parton song, Jonathan. I'm not going to sing Here You Come Again and fall back into bed with you." But, of course, that's exactly what he does! (Well, maybe he doesn't sing Dolly's song, but he sure falls back into bed with Jonathan.)

RIP, Dolly.

Powerless

Living in the Chicago area, news of the power outages in parts of Indiana that border Illinois, like Gary, has been frequent on the location TV stations and in the local papers. It's a damn shame that some people have been going without power for 10 days now, but it's no surprise to me that places like Gary, a poor, largely black city, has been hit especially hard. Is it a coincidence that power restoration has been slow in a city that's economically disadvantaged? Not bloody likely! Poor communities get poor responses from the government and just about everyone including utility companies. Wealthier communities have more clout to make people hear them when they're dissatisfied with something and their cries usually bring swift action. But when you live in a community where people are struggling to survive on a daily basis, your cries often go ignored. For the United States to have so much wealth and power, some citizens are left behind and rendered largely powerless, unfortunately. It shouldn't be like this, but it is. 

July in My Rear View

My July sucked ass. Just about the whole month was horrible for me due to illness, the heat, the wildfire smoke, and other stuff. I'm so glad to put that month in my rear view and I'm hoping August turns the page and is much better. So far, so good (but I know we're only 5 days in).

I recently returned from a visit to my home state of Michigan and I'll be heading back to the mitten state for a return visit. It's not a terrible drive from Illinois because it's pretty much a straight shot on I-94, but it's still a long drive and the traffic is bad in certain areas, particularly in Illinois and right across the border into Indiana. Then you add pockets of construction in Michigan along with that and you've got a not-so-great drive. Still, I always feel when I make the drive that you're never out in the middle of nowhere for long. You hit so many decent-sized cities along the way that it's comforting to know you don't have miles of barren highway ahead of you. 

In the coming months, I'm planning some personal changes in my life that (I hope) will be positive. I'm also hoping after I get these changes underway that I'll get back to writing because that task has been sorely neglected by me for some time. I just haven't felt like doing it, but I do have a story in the works (and it's been in the works for some time). I'm really going to work to get that done by the end of the year.

Stay tuned!

Slightly Less Crazy (from the Heat and Everything Else)

In my last post, I talked about being ill during the 4th of July weekend while dealing with the heat. Well, my health problems weren't as bad as I worried they would be, so that's great. And the heat did subside, and that's great. But what I got in return was smoke from the Canadian wildfires and side effects from the medication my doctor prescribed. The medication I was given made me anxious, caused a great deal of insomnia for me, and kind of jacked my stomach up. Thankfully, I'm done with it for now. My last dose was Sunday and I hope it's all out of my system this week so I can try to get back to a normal sleep schedule and a reduction in the anxiety I've been feeling. I'm grateful the medication stopped the problem I was having, but it brought a new set of problems that I didn't expect. What a horrible trade-off. Getting old is no fun especially when your body starts breaking down and problems come out of nowhere. 

Over the past few weeks, I have barely been able to sit still and read or do much of anything other than watch TV and do sudoku puzzles because I've been too wound up to do much more than that. Feeling so anxious that you think you're losing your mind if a horrible way to get through the day or (in my case) through the night since the anxiety seemed to come on in the evenings. I was generally okay during the day to work, but at night, I was a basket case. I need to find some meditation techniques or something to calm myself.

Crazy From the Heat

I spent the 4th of July weekend dealing with health problems and trying to keep myself from going crazy from the heat. While I'm still waiting to hear if my health problems are minor or major, at least the heat has subsided in the Chicago area. But last weekend, it was largely awful here due to the "heat dome" that overtook large parts of the United States. As I get older, I find myself unable to deal with hot weather the way I used to when I was younger. I grew up in a house that did not have air conditioning, but there was no global warming back then either, so temps in my home state of Michigan didn't heat up the way they do now. The apartment where I live now doesn't have central air, but I do have a window air conditioner and portable units for my bedrooms. I've been able to get by with those, but "getting by" often means sequestering myself in one room, closing the door, and staying in that room to stay cool. It's a little claustrophobic, but it's the price I have to pay for coolness. The next place I live (and there will be a next place, sooner than later, if everything works out), has to have central air. I'm done with the wall and portable air conditioning units. I want coolness in every room.

Last weekend, I truly felt the effects of being crazy from the heat. It wasn't just the heat that was making me crazy either. It was the heat on top of my anxiety over my health problems that were pushing me closer to the edge. I really need to start getting into meditation or get on anti-anxiety drugs. Not that I want yet another pill to take each day, but I'd do it to have calmness. 

I'm longing for the days in June when we had high temps in the 70s during the day and the 50s and 60s at night. Fall and winter can't come soon enough!