Counting flowers on the wall
That don’t bother me at all
Playing solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one
Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo
Now don’t tell me I’ve nothing to do

(The Statlers)

One of my grandsons told my wife, “…Pop has a lot of words.”

Al Rehm once told me “…shut up and let us talk some, we’re drunk too.”

My brother-in-law once rolled the van window down in the freezing cold.

WHY? WE ALL CHIMED IN.

I had to let some words out of the van! ”

My 80th year (2020) will be known as Covid year. Lots of terrible things went on. Many changes were mundane, boring, lengthly adjustments. Not easy to adjust at eighty.

I had already changed some things in preparation for simple retirement. And, while for many Covid was retirement on steroids, that preparation was useful this year.

DIE BROKE had four basic suggestions: 1. Have only one emergency credit Pay cash. 2. Quit now. limit what you will do 3. Don’t retire. (I will come back to this one), 4. Die broke. “Your last check should bounce!”

President Fred Young of Elon had suggested “…always have a plan for the next day. It can be painting a chair or just about anything. But have something planned”. (#3)

What was left? Had to give up drinking, luckies, corinthians girls already. Can you imagine giving up smoking, booze, BBQ, and double scoops of ice cream while living in Wilson, NC? Even the healthy ones gave out. Tennis, Jogging, Hard to get out of a sand trap dragging a bad leg.

Got a new book on the way. That will be seven that look like books anyway. And where ever prayers of thanks go, some how I began to write. Just for me. For me—it has worked.

*Just wondering what percentage of couples create this scenario:

Spouse one interjects a new dinner table topic for conversation.

Spouse two pounces on the topic and their version overrides.

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One coaching friend said when his uncle ordered any meal at any resturant, the next voice came immediately

from his Aunt, the wife: “Naw–he don’t want that, he had that last week. Give him #4 with mashed potatoes

and green beans!”